Sinhalese Buddhist identity was antiquarian but its modern nationalist ideology is reinterpreted and manipulated

Evidence

Scholars disagree about the historical periods when Sinhalese Buddhist identity and its attendant nationalism were forged. K. N. O. Dharmadasa argues that this identity had been established by the fifth century CE (Dharmadasa 1992b and 1996). R. A. L. H. Gunawardana, on the other hand, argues that while successive South Indian invasions and the pillaging of Buddhist temples helped consolidate Buddhist identity in precolonial times, it was only during British colonial rule “that the Sinhalese consciousness underwent a radical transformation” (Gunawardana 1990: 70). K. Indrapala (2005) claims that Sinhalese and Tamils developed distinct identities only around the thirteenth century, although miscegenation and acculturation continued. Gananath Obeysekere suggests it may be impossible to provide a definitive date when such identity and ideology were solidified (Obeysekere 2006: 161–62, fn. 18). Bruce Kapferer traces the provenance of modern Sinhalese Buddhist ideology to the ontological aspirations of ancient monks and argues that “the ideological distortions of the past” have enabled “the foundation of the ideological distortions of the present” (Kapferer 1988: 82). Others (Kemper 1991; Rogers 1990; Sabaratnam 1997; DeVotta 2004b) also make clear that Sri Lanka’s unique Buddhist history has been reinterpreted and manipulated to suit the needs and aspirations of modern times. … Because the requisite imagining had been performed centuries before, modern Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists did not need to recreate a mythohistory when they began calibrating an ideological project to ensure their group’s supremacy. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 85

Categorization

• XREF: Directly relevant to the reading purpose: the manufactured-vs-primordial question. Contrasts with Anderson/Hobsbawm ‘invented tradition’ debates about whether nationalists fabricate or merely rework pre-existing mythohistory. — connects to: Buddha’s mythic visits legitimize Sinhalese supremacy by subjugating indigenous beings — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 71; The Sinhalese-Tamil enmity is a modern retrojection onto an embellished ancient chronicle. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 75; Sinhalese nationalist identity is constructed as inseparable from Buddhism — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 193 (+13 more)
• SEED: The synthesis here — that imagining was done centuries prior, so modern nationalists only had to re-deploy rather than invent a mythohistory — is a usable essay angle on how ‘manufactured’ enemies are assembled from genuinely ancient raw material.

Broader Connections

• Sinhalese nationalist identity is constructed as inseparable from Buddhism #corroborates (0.95) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 193
• Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism is reactive, not primordial #corroborates (0.90) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 105
• Sinhalese Buddhist nationalist ideology rests on mythic history yet betrays Buddhism’s core values #complicates (0.85) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 294
• Sinhalese nationalist violence against Christians is opportunistic rather than primordial #exemplifies (0.80) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 245