Buddhist Poetry and Colonialism : Alagiyavanna and the Portuguese in Sri Lanka

"Many researchers have explored the impact of British and French Orientalism in the reinterpretations of Buddhism in South and Southeast Asia during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Less noticed, however, and infrequently discussed is the impact of Portuguese colonialists and missionaries upon Buddhist communities in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries across Asia. Stephen C. Berkwitz addresses this theme by examining five poetic works by Alagiyavanna Mukaveti (b.1552), a renowned Sinhala poet who participated directly in the convergence of local and trans-local cultures in early modern Sri Lanka. Berkwitz follows the written works of the poet from his position in the court of a Sinhala king, through the cultural upheavals of warfare and the expansion of colonial rule, and finally to his eventual conversion to Catholicism and employment under the Portuguese Crown. In so doing, Berkwitz explores the transformations in religion and literature rendered by what was arguably the earliest sustained encounter between Asian Buddhists and European colonialists in world history. Alagiyavanna's poetic works give expression to both a discourse of nostalgia for the local religious and cultural order in the late sixteenth century, and a discourse of cultural assimilation with the new colonial order during its ascendancy in the early seventeenth century. Employing an interdisciplinary approach that combines Buddhist Studies, History, Literary Criticism, and Postcolonial Studies, this book yields important insights into how the colonial experience contributed to the transformation of Buddhist culture in early modernity."--Publisher's website This book examines five poetic works by Alagiyavanna Mukaveṭi to describe how Buddhism in Sri Lanka was shaped and transformed by the encounters with Portuguese colonizers and missionaries in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. By following the written works of a renowned Buddhist poet from his position in the court of a powerful Sinhala king through the cultural upheavals of warfare and the expansion of colonial rule and finally to his eventual conversion to Catholicism and his employment under the Portuguese crown, this book uses the poetry of a single author to reflect on how Sinhala verse fashioned new visions of power and religious identity when many of the traditional Buddhist institutions were disappearing and in retreat. The volume traces the development of Alagiyavanna’s poetry as a medium for celebrating the fame of rulers, devotion to the Buddha and the Dharma, morality and truth in the Buddha’s religion, and finally the glories of Portuguese rule in Sri Lanka. Employing an interdisciplinary approach that combines Buddhist studies, history, literary criticism, and postcolonial studies, the author constructs a picture of the effects of colonialism on Buddhist literature and culture at an early juncture in the history of the encounter between Asia and Europe This Title Examines Five Works By The Poet Alagiyavanna To Demonstrate How Buddhism In Sri Lanka Was Transformed By The Encounters With Portuguese Colonialism In The 16th And 17th Centuries. Stephen C. Berkwitz. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Buddhist Poetry and Colonialism examines five works by the poet Alagiyavanna to demonstrate how Buddhism in Sri Lanka was transformed by the encounters with Portuguese colonialism in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.