Motifs,Metaphors and Mythomoteurs: Some Reflections on Medieval South Asian Ethnicity

Abstract. This article takes account of medieval literary sources in Sinhala Sri Lanka and Tamil South India to describe the existence of notions of ethnic loyalty and ethnic categorisation in premodern societies. Literary tropes such as metaphors and motifs in the two cultural areas are discussed in detail and placed in the context of sociological concepts such as lateral and vertical ethnie. In doing so the argument is made that there have been forms of politicised ethnic solidarity in the past, and that these forms are parallel to modem nationalism.