The Impact of British Colonialism on Ceylonese Culture in Cinnamon Gardens

 

Somir L. Wilson
Dr. Hena Ahmad, Faculty Mentor

Shyam Selvadurai’s novel, Cinnamon Gardens, is set in 1920’s Ceylon during a highly transitional period in politics and nationalism. The novel focuses on an elite, upper-class family residing in Cinnamon Gardens, a wealthy suburb that has a known past of enforcing strict societal norms within their community. Selvadurai portrays repressive traditions through the central character, Balendran Navaratnan, the son of a powerful patriarch who works for the British colonial government. Balendran’s father is instrumental in breaking up Balendran's relationship with Richard Howland in England. This paper will analyze how the novel delineates Balendran’s attempts to suppress his sexuality in order to protect his position as father and traditional upper-class man. This paper will also show how Balendran’s role in Cinnamon Gardens represents the political and cultural tension in Ceylon and exposes the hypocrisy of the upper-class during this period.

 

Keywords: Shyam Selvadurai, Ceylon, British Colonialism, Sexuality, Cinnamon Gardens, Balendran Navaratnan, Nationalism, Mudalivyar Navaratnan

Topic(s):English

Presentation Type: Oral Presentation

Session: TBA
Location: TBA
Time: TBA