역사적 진실 찾기: 마이클 온다치의 『아닐의 유령』

Abstract

This paper is to analyze Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost in terms of conflicting knowledges of the Sri Lankan civil war. Main characters of the novel such as Anil Tiserra, Sarath Diyasena, and Palipana show dichotomous ways to understand the reality of Sri Lanka during its civil war period. Anil, the protagonist, is a diasporic subject who has just returned to her homeland Sri Lanka after fifteen years of education and work in countries like England and America. Visiting her homeland as an investigator of the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva, Anil adopts western science discourse represented by forensic pathology in delving into the violated human rights cases of the country. Her use of human rights discourse and western science discourse is gradually challenged and contested by situated, local, and subjugated knowledges, which are emerged from the intimate experiences of the indigenous people and utilized by archaeological scholars like Sarath and Palipana in their process of knowledge production. This paper examines these approaches to history and truth as they conflict and explores Anil's journey in Sri Lanka as a process in which as a diasporic subject she reestablishes her intimate relationships with her homeland.