ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the role of language and nationalism in shaping the political climate of post-independence Sri Lanka. As the island gained its independence from British colonial rule in 1948, Sri Lanka embarked on a radical promotion of its dominant language, Sinhala, at the cost of the value of other important languages of the island, such as Lankan Tamil and, to some extent, English. This act, both symbolic and substantial in terms of linguistic capital, has been often recognized as the most direct cause for the conflict that ensued between Sinhalese 1 and Lankan Tamils. The conflict that led to the establishment of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, a notorious independence group infamous for its brutal terrorist activities, was to hold the island in the grip of a 26-year-long civil war that cost the lives of approximately 80,000 people and ended finally, in May 2009, in a bloodbath in which as many as 30,000 soldiers and civilians died.
