Ummath
A Novel of Community and Conflict
Published on 5. July 2018
360 pages
978-93-5277-902-4 (ISBN)
Description
Spanning the three decades of the deadly Sri Lankan civil war, Ummath highlights the plight of women across communal and ethnic divides. Through the lives of three women, Thawakkul, Yoga and Theivanai - one a social activist, the other a Tamil Tiger forced into joining the movement as a child, and the third a disillusioned fighter for the Eelam - the novel lays bare the complex equations that ruled life in Sri Lankan society during and in the aftermath of the civil war. In Ummath, Sharmila Seyyid - once forced to live in exile for her outspoken, liberal views - interrogates Islamist fundamentalism, Tamil nationalism and Sri Lankan majoritarian chauvinism with her characteristic courage, honesty and sensitivity.
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06/2018
HarperCollins Publishers India
€15.50
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Person
Sharmila Seyyid is a writer, a social activist and a fearless critic of the injustices in society. She has two books of poems and this novel to her credit. Gita Subramanian, who took up translation after a long teaching career in Hong Kong, has published four translations of Tamil novels. In 2010, she won the Nalli Thisai Ettum award for the best Tamil to English translation.
