Historical Power Imbalances and the Branding of Vannam Dances as Sinhalese Cultural Heritage

Eshantha Peiris

doi:10.4312/mz.60.2.67-79

Authors

Eshantha Peiris University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.4312/mz.60.2.67-79

Keywords:

Sri Lanka, vannam, ethnic cultural heritage, decoloniality

Abstract

Vannam is a genre of music and dance associated with the Sinhalese ethnicity of Sri Lanka. This article takes the historical development of vannam as a lens to focus on inter-ethnic cultural politics in Sri Lanka and its postcolonial contexts, offering nuance to widespread ideas about cultural heritage and decoloniality.

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