An Identity of One’s Own: The Use of Sri Lankan English in Ru Freeman’s A Disobedient Girl

Abstract

"… to convey in a language that is not one’s own, the spirit that is one’s own." Raja Rao, Foreword to Kanthapura The attempt at establishing a form of English with a Sri Lankan identity goes as far back as 1896, with the publication of Glossary of Native & Foreign Words occurring [sic] in Official Correspondence & Other Documents (Gunesekera, 2005: 84), yet its revival after Independence owes to academics of the calibre of Professors H. A. Passe, Doric de Souza and Thiru Kandiah, and Godfrey Gunatilleke, promoting Sri Lankan English. However, it was as late as the early part of this century that the topic became a general subject of interest, with the media and the public being drawn into the debate. Today we see the symbol of the sword ( "kaduwa”" ("lvqj")2, gradually giving way to that of the manna ("ukak"),3 as the new generation of Sri Lankan scholars and writers becomes more and more aware of the need for an English of their own. In this article, I shall discuss Ru Freeman's A Disobedient Girl (2009) in the light of this theory. Sabaragamuwa University Journal Vol.13(2) December 2014; 1-22