Author: By Sharika Thiranagama. Foreword by Gananath Obeyesekere In May 2009, the Sri Lankan army overwhelmed the last stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelambetter known as the Tamil Tigersofficially bringing an end to nearly three decades of civil war. Although the war has ended, the place of minorities in Sri Lanka remains uncertain, not least because the lengthy conflict drove entire populations from their homes. The figures are jarring: for example, all of the roughly 80,000 Muslims in northern Sri Lanka were expelled from the Tamil Tiger-controlled north, and nearly half of all Sri Lankan Tamils were displaced during the course of the civil war.Sharika Thiranagama's In My Mother's House provides ethnographic insight into two important groups of internally displaced people: northern Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan Muslims. Through detailed engagement with ordinary people struggling to find a home in the world, Thiranagama explores the dynamics within and between these two minority communities, describing how these relations were reshaped by violence, displacement, and authoritarianism. In doing so, she illuminates an often overlooked intraminority relationship and new social forms created through protracted war.In My Mother's House revolves around three major themes: ideas of home in the midst of profound displacement; transformations of familial experience; and the impact of the political violencecarried out by both the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan stateon ordinary lives and public speech. Her rare focus on the effects and responses to LTTE political regulation and violence demonstrates that envisioning a peaceful future for post-conflict Sri Lanka requires taking stock of the new Tamil and Muslim identities forged by the civil war. These identities cannot simply be cast away with the end of the war but must be negotiated anew.

Author: Greg Robinson NA

Can the art of gossip help us to better understand modern and contemporary poetry Gossips ostensible frivolity may seem at odds with common conceptions of poetry as serious solitary expression But in Word of Mouth Chad Bennett explores the dynamic relationship between gossip and American poetry uncovering the unexpected ways that the history of the modern lyric intertwines with histories of sexuality in the twentieth century Through nuanced readings of Gertrude Stein Langston Hughes Frank OHara and James Merrillpoets who famously absorbed and adapted the loose talk that swirled about them and their workBennett demonstrates how gossip became a vehicle for alternative modes of poetic practice By attending to gossips key role in modern and contemporary poetry he recognizes the unpredictable ways that conventional understandings of the modern lyric poem have been shaped by and afforded a uniquely suitable space for the expression of queer sensibilities Evincing an ear for good gossip Bennett presents new and illuminating queer contexts for the influential poetry of these four culturally diverse poets Word of Mouth establishes poetry as a neglected archive for our thinking about gossip and contributes a crucial queer perspective to current lyric studies and its renewed scholarly debate over the status and uses of the lyric genre

Author: Edited by Andrew Preston, Bruce J. Schulman, and Julian E. Zelizer Despite constitutional limitations, the points of contact between religion and politics have deeply affected all aspects of American political development since the founding of the United States. Within partisan politics, federal institutions, and movement activism, religion and politics have rarely ever been truly separate; rather, they are two forms of cultural expression that are continually coevolving and reconfiguring in the face of social change.Faithful Republic explores the dynamics between religion and politics in the United States from the early twentieth century to the present. Rather than focusing on the traditional question of the separation between church and state, this volume touches on many aspects of American political history, addressing divorce, civil rights, liberalism and conservatism, domestic policy, and economics. Together, the essays blend church history and lived religion to fashion an innovative kind of political history, demonstrating the pervasiveness of religion throughout American political life.Contributors: Lila Corwin Berman, Edward J. Blum, Darren Dochuk, Lily Geismer, Alison Collis Greene, Matthew S. Hedstrom, David Mislin, Andrew Preston, Bruce J. Schulman, Molly Worthen, Julian E. Zelizer.