SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis is an attempt to assess the 13th century Sinhala text, Saddharmaratnavaliya, a work based on the 5th century Pali text Dharamapadatthakatha. The introductory chapter examines briefly the period in which the work was compiled, the authorship and the contents in general. Chapter 2 attempts a classification of the stories of Saddharmaratnavaliya broadly into four categories, viz. realistic, didactic, historic and fantasy. The contents of the text are considered under the headings of themes, allusions and characters in Chapter 3. In Chapter 4 the author's use of language is examined with special reference to his ability to use prose to communicate human experiences. Chapter 5 is devoted to a study of the author's use of literary techniques. In this Chapter special attention is paid to the use of psychological narrative techniques such as the technique of the stream of consciousness or the internal monologue. In the last Chapter, an attempt is made to examine to what extent the modern literary concept 'modernity' is applicable to the stories of Saddharmaratnavaliya.