Sinhalese Buddhist identity was imagined long before modern nationalists weaponized it

Evidence

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 speaks to the reader’s core question of manufactured vs primordial enmity — an imagined-origins claim (à la Anderson) applied specifically to Sri Lanka. — connects to: Sinhalese Buddhist identity is constructed through mythic history rather than primordial descent.; Sinhalese Buddhist identity was antiquarian but its modern nationalist ideology is reinterpreted and manipulated — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 85; Sinhalese nationalist identity is constructed as inseparable from Buddhism — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist…, 193 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Sinhalese Buddhist identity was antiquarian but its modern nationalist ideology is reinterpreted and manipulated #expands (0.90) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 85
• Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism is reactive, not primordial #qualifies (0.80) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 105
• Sinhalese nationalist identity is constructed as inseparable from Buddhism #contradicts (0.75) — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 193