Big match 1983

• Yasmine Gooneratne


  Acclaimed South Asian writer who has authentically portrayed political and social reality in Sri Lanka
• Yasmine Gooneratne


  • Completed her undergraduate degree from University of Ceylon
  • Received PhD in Literature from Cambridge University
  • Became a resident of Australia in 1972
  • Received the most honoured Degree of Doctor of letters by Macquarie University, Australia in 1981
  • Was Foundation Director of Macquarie University's Postcolonial Literatures and Languages Research Centre between 1989-1993
  • Became an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1990 for distinguished service to Literature and Education
  • Has written volumes of literary essays, poems, short stories, a family memoir and two novels
• Yasmine Gooneratne's works


  • A Change of Skies
  • Pleasure of Conquest
  • Word Bird Motif
  • The Lizard's Cry and Other Poem
• Yasmine Gooneratne has acknowledged her success in the field of literature to her native soil which nurtured her with sublime sensitivity and sensibility of a creative writer
• Literature


  Records history from the precepts of an individual's life and thereby critiques the social, cultural and political life of that period
• History as recorded in literature

  Is always read with reference to the present problems
• Past history is seen as a solution to the problems of today operating within the power structures of society that ruins the union of the different races
• Literature as a vehicle of social change

  Attempts to preserve the bond of peace and the order of civilized community amidst diversity
• The traumatic experience of the ethnic crisis has inspired many poets of Sri Lanka
• Yasmine Gooneratne's poems


  Critically aware of Sri Lankan social reality and use literary calibre as a consensus to critique the dimensions of the racial prejudice that annihilate equality in the society
• Recurrent themes in Yasmine Gooneratne's works


  The interactive forces of the past and its implication in the present
• Yasmine Gooneratne's poetry


  • Simple language style
  • Appropriate imagery used in an exquisite manner
  • Maintains a swift and rhythmic flow
  • Arrangement of suitable words
  • Emotive language with clear syntax and tone
  • With a touch of mild satire
• The poem "Big Match, 1983"


  Set in the background of the social unrest or the ethnic riots of 1983 in Sri Lanka
• The escalation of violence in Sri Lanka against the Tamil minority had its beginnings in 1958 and 1977
• The poem "Big Match, 1983"


  Presents a clinical and critical perspective of the violence and analyses the politico-social factors behind it
• The events of July 1983 were a watershed/turning point in Sri Lankan history
• There was an attack on Tamils in Colombo and elsewhere in the country starting on July 24th and coming to a halt on July 30th, 1983
• The attack on the minority Tamil community was carried out to retaliate the killing of 13 soldiers in Jaffna by the LTTE
• The riots began immediately after the cremation of the dead soldiers in Borella Kanetta
• The attack seemed to have at least some official sanction/approval, evident from the fact that the attackers had access to official resources/documents and the way the then government reacted to the riots
• The violence paved the way for the militant groups in the North to supersede the democratic political parties proclaiming their role as the representatives of Tamils in Sri Lanka, suggesting that the Sri Lankan state was a racist oppressive state against which violence was justified
• Though after July 29th the government called a halt to such violence, and though this has never been repeated in the quarter century that has passed, many Tamils, especially those who left in 1983 or soon afterwards, see Sri Lanka through the prism of 1983
• The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora feel understandably bitter, and have striven since to ensure that nothing of the sort can happen again, leading to support for the concept of a separate state and the existence of Tamil militant groups
• Although successive governments rightly dealt with the anti-Tamil racism, there are political forces that wish to undermine elected governments, and may therefore encourage racist violence for their own shadowy reasons
• "Big Match, 1983' is an interesting title for a poem because of its different connotations and nuances of meaning.
• 'Big match' is an annual event in Sri Lanka in most of big schools. it is an annual cricket encounter during which students of big schools very often engage in indecent and rowdy behaviour on roads violating the rights of pedestrians and motorists.
• One similarity we see between school big matches and the racial riots of 1983 is that

  Like the principals and school authorities who allow indecent behaviour by students and old boys, the government of Sri Lanka also allowed violent behaviour by the racist rioters.
• The poetess refers to the 'Big Match fever' that these big schools have during the Big Match season.
• Reducing the '83 riots to the Big Match fever is also quite upsetting because the brutality of the violence is far more gruesome than the usual Big Match fever.
• In essence, it is an encounter between two groups.
• The title of the poem could suggest that the match was a game or encounter that was between the two ethnic groups, namely Sinhalese and Tamils of Sri Lanka.
• This kind of interpretation may not be just because though the Tamils of Sri Lanka were the target of the attackers could not be called as the people of Sinhalese as only a handful of people of the majority, politically and racially misguided people, became engaged in the riots of 1983.
• Usually in an encounter, both sides will be engaged in an equal way but in this situation only one group is actively involved.
• Another interpretation of the title is that the word 'match' used in the title could mean a stick that is used for igniting a fire.
• This interpretation has some relevance to the riots of 1983 because literally both the Tamil people and their properties were set on fire by the rioters.
• The word 'match' can denote the horrible experience of plunder and death that the Tamils experienced in the southern part of Sri Lanka.
• The riots could be considered as setting Sri Lanka on fire because the last line of the poem says: "Sri Lanka burns alive."
• Despite the fact that the poem deals with subject of communal hate/ riots/ violence and the fact that the poetess shows sympathy and feels for the minority group that was affected in the riots, she maintains a matter of fact attitude and a sensitive tone, which while bringing out the gravity of violence perpetrated on the minority, it does not hurt the feelings of the helpless majority, who had nothing to do with the violence committed, in fact, many from the majority group risked their own lives to save some people from the minority group.
• The poem begins by saying how the local media reported the violence.
• It is important to notice the vital role played by the media in the political affairs of a country.