Abstract
This chapter uses the concept of memory activism to explore the experiences of Tamil people’s political activism in the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s civil war. It draws on a larger historical study about the resettlement experiences of 36 young Tamil people who arrived in Australia in the 1980s and 1990s. The chapter shows that Tamil people use personal and collective memories to achieve political change in the present. It reveals the pivotal function of memory to sustain how Tamil people challenge dominant post-war structures that overshadow their experiences of the civil war and ongoing plight in Sri Lanka and Australia. I argue that this process of linking memory with activism forms part of Tamil people’s creation of a sense of home in exile.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank Charishma Ratnam and Dr Nirukshi Perera for their critical feedback on earlier versions of this chapter.
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Kandasamy, N. (2020). Home, Continuities and Resistance: Memory Activism in the Aftermath of Sri Lanka’s Civil War. In: Kandasamy, N., Perera, N., Ratnam, C. (eds) A Sense of Viidu. Palgrave Pivot, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-1369-5_4
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