Sri Lankan literature is the literary tradition of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The largest part of Sri Lankan literature was written in the
Sinhala language, but there is a considerable number of works in other
languages
Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
used in Sri Lanka over the millennia (including
Pāli
Pali () is a Middle Indo-Aryan liturgical language native to the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pāli Canon'' or ''Tipiṭaka'' as well as the sacred language of ''Theravāda'' Buddhism ...
,
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nati ...
, and English). However, the languages used in ancient times were very different from the language used in Sri Lanka now.
Up to the present, short stories are a very important part of Sri Lankan literature; the output of Sinhalese short story writers has elicited a greater measure of critical analysis.
List of writers
Sinhala writers
Sinhala poets
Essayists and non-fiction writers
Sinhala playwrights
Sinhala radio play writers
Sri Lankan Tamil authors
Sri Lankan Tamil poets
*
Neelaavanan
Sri Lankan and Sri Lankan diaspora authors who write in English
See also
*
Sri Lankan culture
The culture of Sri Lanka mixes modern elements with traditional aspects and is known for its regional diversity. Sri Lankan culture has long been influenced by the heritage of Theravada Buddhism passed on from India, and the religion's legacy ...
*
Henry Parker, a British engineer who studied and compiled the
oral literature
Oral literature, orature or folk literature is a genre of literature that is spoken or sung as opposed to that which is written, though much oral literature has been transcribed. There is no standard definition, as anthropologists have used vary ...
of Sri Lanka
References
External links
All Authors Listed by Country: The South Asian Literary Recordings Project (Library of Congress New Delhi Office)
{{Asian topic, , literature
Sri Lankan writers