Sri Lankan memory institutions and the culture/conflict dialectic

Abstract

This project examines the nature of cultural violence in Sri Lanka by focusing on historical and political elements that contribute to civil war in this setting. Particular attention is paid to the impact of cultural violence on memory institutions and the effect this has on memory and identity formation in Sri Lanka. The research takes a liberal humanist perspective with Petersen's emotion-based theory of ethnic conflict providing a framework. The theory looks at the emotions of resentment, hatred and fear as a part of the identity and memory of conflict participants. The emotion-based theory sees the experience of these emotions as instrumental to ethnic conflict. The relationship between conflict and culture is revealed through the research to be reflexive, context-dependent and highly complex. Culture and conflict interact having destructive and constructive effects on memory institutions. This project concludes that there is much work to be done before Sri Lankan information professionals are able to develop strategies to deal with the violence that has damaged their memory institutions, collections and the people's connection with their cultural heritage.