Abstract:
In multicultural and multilingual societies across the globe, the language
question has been central to notions of unity and equity. This is especially
so in contexts of war based on ethnolinguistic division. Sri Lanka has had a
history of linguistic injustice and denial of minority language rights, which both
preceded and fed into its 26-year civil war. In the post war period, processes
of transitional justice need to be oriented to the central role of language as
a part of reconciliation.This talk draws attention to the notion of linguistic
reconciliation and examines how it contributes to post-war peacebuilding in
Sri Lanka. As the country enters a new post-war phase, with the election of
its first leftist government, it is timely to consider the possibilities for achieving
linguistic reconciliation amongst the many pressing areas in need of reform.
The presentation is comprised of two qualitative studies: 1. A study on an
online adult Tamil language course in Sri Lanka which involved qualitative
interviews with students and teachers of varying ethnicities and language
backgrounds. Reflexive thematic analysis of interview transcripts was used to
understand the influence of language politics, war and trauma, and language
policy on learners’ motivations to study Tamil. Results showed that learners’
motivations extended beyond the norm of the instrumental/integrative
dichotomy and revealed the role of social, historical, and political influences
and a shared vision for societal multilingualism. The results helped to form
a preliminary conceptualisation of linguistic reconciliation and to promote
language learning “of the enemy” as an integral and impactful component.
2. A pilot study to understand the future for language rights and linguistic
reconciliation in a ‘new’ Sri Lanka. This study is based on interviews with key
language stakeholders in Sri Lanka to gain their historical perspective on the
journey for language rights following the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Report in 2011 and into the first six months of the new national leadership.
This study is in the preliminary phase, so initial impressions will be offered.
This talk aims to provide an overview of how language politics have played
out in Sri Lankan society in recent history and generate discussion regarding
the advancement of minority language rights into the near future, under a
new political regime.
