The City as Text: The Politics of Landscape Interpretation in the Kandyan KingdomIn this book James Duncan convincingly argues that landscapes are not only culturally produced, but that they also influence governing ideas of political and religious life. He analyzes this dialectic relationship between landscape and the pursuit of power in the royal capital of Kandy in the central highlands of Sri Lanka during the early years of the nineteenth century and demonstrates how the Kandyan landscape was consciously produced to further the perceived interests of the Kandyan kings. Using extensive archival sources, architectural analysis and mapping, the author reveals how the landscape was designed to foster a certain hegemonic reading that spoke of the power, benevolence and legitimacy of the kings in their capital. |
Contents
Introduction | 3 |
TOWARDS AN INTERPRETIVE FRAME | 9 |
Landscape as a signifying system | 11 |
The discursive field of Kandyan kingship | 25 |
Concretizing the Sakran discourse from landscape of the gods to landscapes of the herokings | 42 |
The Kandyan Landscape 13121815 | 59 |
THE POLITICS OF LANDSCAPE INTERPRETATION IN EARLYNINETEENTHCENTURY KANDY | 85 |
From discourse to landscape a kingly reading | 87 |
From landscape to civic ritual a kingly reading | 119 |
From landscape to discourse contestatory readings and material interests | 154 |
Conclusion | 181 |
Appendix | 185 |
Notes | 194 |
| 206 | |
| 226 | |
Other editions - View all
The City as Text: The Politics of Landscape Interpretation in the Kandyan ... James S. Duncan No preview available - 1990 |
Common terms and phrases
adikar allegorical ambassador Anuradhapura argue Asala Asokan asuras audience hall Behavior bo tree bodhisattva Buddha Buddhist building program cakravarti capital Center of rectangle century Cloud wall cosmic axis cosmic mountain cosmic ocean Culavamsa Culavamsa 1953b cultural geographers dagobas Dewaraja discursive field eastern rectangle elephant Embassy four gate geography god-king gods H.L. Seneviratne 1978a heaven hero-kings Hocart Indian J.P. Lewis Jonville Kandy Kandyan Kingdom Kataragama king's kings of Kandy kingship Kirti Sri ksatriya Lake Anotatta Lanka located lotus Mahavamsa metonymic moat monks Mount Mandara Mount Meru mythical narrative The world Natha Devale Nayakkar nobles Number of Number Obeyesekere 1984 Ocean of Milk P.E. Pieris palace/temple complex Pattini Perahara political Polonnaruva pond Portuguese recurrence references to references religious ritual river royal sacred Sakra Sakran discourse Silva Sinhalese South Sri Vikrama Stutley symbolism synecdoches Tamil Tavatimsa Temple texts textual throne Tooth Relic top of Mount traditional Visnu Devale wave wall