Being a stranger and a suspect: being Sri Lankan Tamil

Abstract

Based on the visual narratives of works produced by the Sri Lankan Tamil artists during the time of war, this article tries to foreground the complexities of ‘being’ and ‘becoming’ in the locations of forced migrations, exile, displacements and militarization. The paper also attempts to reveal how co-existence of the self in incommensurable geographical, historical, psychological and cultural locations alters the way in which persons experience their own being. It also questions the notions of self as rooted in the categories of nation, state and history. The article argues that the making of Sri Lankan Tamil personhood is primarily grounded in the feeling of being a stranger and suspect in everyday life; a grounding that draws and redraws the ‘difference’ between being a Tamil and being a Sri Lankan.