CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2025
| Author | Palyathayyil Xavier, Krispin Joseph |
|---|---|
| Title | 'Eating Against War': Food Identity in Post-Civil War Sri Lankan Tamil Region |
| Summary | This thesis argues that food (Mullivaikkal Kanji, a rice porridge) is used as a symbol to heal the wounds inflicted on the Sri Lankan Tamil people by the long-standing internal turmoil and the ensuing civil war (1983-2009), as well as to protect Tamil identity and remember the war in the post-war period. 'Mullivaikkal Kanji' simultaneously represents and symbolises displacements, marginalisation, resistance and various forms of insecurity that arose in the war and continued into the post-war period. In addition to serving as a means of sustaining the lives of the Sri Lankan Tamil people during the conflict, the dish "Mullivaikkal Kanji," which is prepared and shared collectively, serves as a "war monument" for the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are not allowed to erect tangible war memorials. In addition, embodying the identity of the post-war Tamil folks in Sri Lanka, this saltless dish also personifies their resilience and survival, encapsulating the identity of a people who had survived a civil war. I contend that the post-war Sri Lankan Tamil community articulated "eating against war" as an actual result of that war through the collective cooking and distribution of Mullivaikkal Kanji. |
| Supervisor | Dafinger, Andreas; Monteresc, Daniel |
| Department | Sociology MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2025/palyathayyil_krispin.pdf |
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