“THEY ASKED ‘US’ TO BE NICE ANGELS”: WOMEN’S IDENTITY (RE)CONSTRUCTION IN POSTCOLONIAL SRI LANKA

Abstract

According to the historical and socio-cultural trajectory of Sri Lanka, women’s identities have been shaped by intertwined forces of patriarchy, colonialism, religion, and nationalism. With successive waves of South Indian influence and nearly 450 years of colonial rule under the Portuguese, Dutch, and British empires, the island’s political, economic, and cultural structures were profoundly transformed. Within this milieu, the Victorian notion of respectable femininity, intermingling with indigenous cultural traditions and patriarchal norms, continues to play a significant role in constructing women’s identity in the postcolonial Sri Lankan context. Drawing on postcolonial feminist critiques, particularly the concept of double colonisation, this literature analysis explores how Sri Lankan women’s identity construction reflects the convergence of colonial power and patriarchy. Even as women enter the workforce in modern contexts, expectations of morality and respectability continue to regulate their behaviour, dress, speech, and professional choices. Thus, respectable femininity operates as a normative framework through which postcolonial women negotiate their identities within a hybrid cultural order. Therefore, this study reveals that the construction of women’s identity is far more complex in a postcolonial context.