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Elites and Aristocracy in Colonial and Postcolonial Sri Lanka
[journal article]
Abstract "Elites and Aristocracy in Colonial and Postcolonial Sri Lanka" attempts to answer two major questions: First, what is an "elite" and how can we define one? Concentrating on aristocracy and with reference to Georg Simmel, I will describe forms of social and cultural self-aggrandisement and self-cons... view more
"Elites and Aristocracy in Colonial and Postcolonial Sri Lanka" attempts to answer two major questions: First, what is an "elite" and how can we define one? Concentrating on aristocracy and with reference to Georg Simmel, I will describe forms of social and cultural self-aggrandisement and self-construction, which have served many elites as a model and ideal type for emulation and further development. My second question is: How did the Sinhalese up-country Kandy aristocracy in Sri Lanka react to British, colonial change and how did it interact with newly emerged and much more numerous low-country elites? This interaction will be described as a process of political marginalisation of the Kandy aristocracy and of cultural emulation on the part of the new low-country and Colombo elites.... view less
Keywords
elite; aristocracy; social class; social stratum; colonialism; post-colonialism; elite formation; caste; Sri Lanka; South Asia
Classification
General Sociology, Basic Research, General Concepts and History of Sociology, Sociological Theories
Social History, Historical Social Research
Document language
English
Publication Year
2017
Page/Pages
p. 15-32
Journal
International Quarterly for Asian Studies (IQAS), 48 (2017) 1-2
Issue topic
Cultural Elites and Elite Cultures in South Asia
ISSN
2566-6878
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed
Licence
Creative Commons - Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0