Abstract:
The classificatory lens of projecting females involuntarily made the ethnographic female
marginalized from the female identity disposition by the majority of the country and by
the hegemonic patriarchy. The idea of the ‘Tamil Tigress’ arises in the Tamil minority and
refers to an abstract spatiality of belonging that extends beyond conventional femininity.
As women negotiate the complex interactions between gender, ethnicity, and social upheaval, it creates an illusionary space for the creation and rebuilding of female identity
in Sri Lanka. Kamala’s childhood traumas related 1983 Black July draw her to a sense of
retaliation towards the Sinhala majority. On the other hand, the brutal sexual victimization
of Saraswathi by the troop of Sinhala army soldiers led to a sense of retaliation and she
undertakes even the extremist ideology of becoming a female martyr to regain her lost
chastity and re-affirm her identity through the movement. Kamala’s dedication to the
mission and her desire to achieve the required objectives by the success of the mission
dilutes boundaries and polarizations offered by the societal formation of the female body
in Sri Lankan society. The capability of female identity affirmation by the minority
females’ empowerment is suggested by both Munaweera and De Silva by the active way
of handling the multiplicity of spaces encountered by their respective female characters.
