Nelani De Costa

University of Sri Jayewardenepura · Department of English

In Sri Lanka, university subcultures within the higher education institution impose dress codes on both male and female undergraduates. However, the gendered nature of this imposition on women undergraduates is imperative as it works in subtle ways to discipline the female body and sexuality by subjecting her to sexual objectification and harassmen...

This study examines the disciplining mechanisms of power which operate within the institutions of selected literary works by Franz Kafka (1883-1924) and Albert Camus (1913-1960). It also gives an in-depth analysis of how social institutions exercise their overbearing authority to transform individuals into ‘docile bodies’ to control, normalize and...

The absurd can be defined as the conflict which arises due to the human inclination to pursue meaning and purpose in life, and human incapability to find any in a disordered and unreasonable world. Absurd heroes in literature perceive the world as meaningless and irrational and thereby revolt against the dynamics of power which are pervasive within...

Research related to reception studies on queer representation in fiction within higher education institutions (HEIs) is a vastly unexplored area in Sri Lanka. This study intends to fill the gap in existing research by prioritising the need to factor in receptors’ positions and practices in teaching and learning these works. This research aims to un...

In the contemporary society, Cyber Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) has become a common phenomenon on social media. This can be particularly seen on Facebook which is at present the most widely used social media platform in Sri Lanka. The research problem of this study is based on an exploration of the gendered nature of cyber violence on Fa...

Migrant women workers are the main income generators of their families and they contribute to the Sri Lankan economy as a vital part of the labour force. This research explores their representations in Sri Lankan English fiction in terms of how they are perceived and negotiate with their identities. The methodology of this study includes a textual...

In the contemporary society, Cyber Violence against Women and Girls (VAWG) has become a common phenomenon on social media. This can be particularly seen on Facebook which is at present the most widely used social media platform in Sri Lanka. The research problem of this study is based on an exploration of the gendered nature of cyber violence on Fa...

This essay refers to select Sri Lankan novels written in English (Punyakante Wijenaike's Giraya and Amulet, Shyam Selvadurai's Funny Boy, Carl Muller's The Jam Fruit Tree and Brandon Ingram's Living their Lie) to explore how queer sexualities are represented. These radical works are considered controversial in the mainstream Sri Lankan society as t...

This paper engages with Visakesa Chandrasekaram’s dystopian fiction The King and the Assassin to examine how it offers a scathing socio-political critique of the oppressive and restrictive power and influence wielded by the government as well as the dominant and hegemonic social institutions in the country. This paper looks at how these are explore...

Queer sexuality studies focus on what is excluded and devalued within identity binaries as well as what is marginalized within the hegemonic discourse. This study is based on examining the queer representations in Sri Lankan English fiction by engaging with three predominant Sri Lankan English writers. The methodology includes a textual analysis of...

Queer studies are based on the social production and regulation of sexuality by focusing on sexual minorities who are vilified and marginalized within the hegemonic discourse. This study engages with the representation of queer identities to scrutinize homosexuality and homosexual relationships in selected Sri Lankan English novels. It identifies l...

Anglo-Tibetan Chhimi Tenduf-La weaves his debut novel The Amazing Racist through the exoticising perspective of an outsider, who is scanning a classed, urban milieu of contemporary Sri Lanka. The protagonist of the novel, Eddie Trusted, comes from England to Sri Lanka as a school teacher, to teach English where he finds himself facing various trial...