Music for the Majority: Sinhala Song and the 1956 Cultural Revolution of Sri Lanka

<p><em>Music for the Majority</em> investigates the lives and thought of Sinhalese lyricists, vocalists, and composers employed at the Sri Lankan radio station, Radio Ceylon, and the <em>sarala gī</em> or light classical musical genre they fashioned on the brink and aftermath of the "cultural revolution" of 1956. I explore how these men's songs coincided with the first postindependence election of South Asia to transfer the locus of political power to the majority, and precipitate a switchover in the official state language, from English to Sinhala. These lyricists, vocalists, and composers were members of the rural intelligentsia, the constituency that spearheaded the cultural revival that ensued. They worked to represent the majority population, assert the value of Sinhalese culture, and raised the standards of Sinhalese music. In this study, I explore the local and transnational forces that motivated their aspirations and analyze how they used music and language in song to achieve their objectives.</p>