{"id":118663,"date":"2014-01-21T02:05:46","date_gmt":"2014-01-20T20:35:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=118663"},"modified":"2014-01-26T19:02:33","modified_gmt":"2014-01-26T13:32:33","slug":"professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/","title":{"rendered":"Professor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jude Fernando<\/span><\/a> –<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah,<\/b> a world renowned social anthropologist, Esther and Sidney Rabb Professor (Emeritus)<\/i> of Anthropology at Harvard University passed away on the January 19, \u00a02014 at the age 84.\u00a0 He was born in Sri Lanka and studied at University of Ceylon, Cornell and Harvard universities.\u00a0 Having served as a UNESCO technical assistance expert in Thailand from 1960 to 1963, he joined the faculty at the University of Cambridge, and was a Fellow of King’s College. He went to the University of Chicago in 1973 as a tenured professor, and joined Harvard University in 1976. He was also the curator of South Asian Ethnology at the Peabody Museum.<\/p>\n

\"Professor<\/a>

Professor Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah<\/p><\/div>\n

He specialized in studies of Thailand, Sri Lanka, and Tamils, as well as the anthropology of religion and politics.\u00a0 His academic interests were in comparative analysis of the ways Western categories of magic, science and religion have been used by anthropologists to make sense of non-Western cultures. \u00a0He started his career by studying Buddhism in Thailand.\u00a0 He brought in new dimension to study of religion in anthropology in particular and social sciences in general.\u00a0 He His work also made a significant contribution to the study of state formation in colonial societies.\u00a0 His commentary on Edmund Leach, the author of Pul Eliya<\/i>, is still regarded s masterpiece in anthropology.<\/p>\n

After 1983 riots<\/span><\/a> in Sri Lanka, he focused on religious and ethnic identities and their role in violence in Sri Lanka.\u00a0\u00a0 His book \u201cBuddhism Betrayed\u201d, apparently banned in Sri Lanka, is still popular among those interested in role of religion ion ethnic conflict.\u00a0In this book, Tambiah was critical of the essentialized notions \u201cBuddhism in terms of its pristine teachings and viewed all subsequent developments, especially those of political kind as deviations from the canonical form.\u201d\u00a0 The controversy over the book has to do with how it seeks to provide a scholarly answer to \u201cthe question of how the Buddhist monks in today’s Sri Lanka\u2014given Buddhism’s traditionally nonviolent philosophy\u2014are able to participate in the fierce political violence of the Sinhalese against the Tamils.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 In this book, Tambiah was critical of the essentialized notions \u201cBuddhism in terms of its pristine teachings and viewed all subsequent developments, especially those of political kind as deviations from the canonical form.\u201d\u00a0This book is misunderstood and misinterpreted by many of his critics.\u00a0 As a pacifist who believed in Buddhist notions of non-violence, Tambiah was greatly disturbed by the ethnic violence in Sri Lanka and always hoped for a peaceful settlement.\u00a0 His negative experience during the ethnic riots during 1950s and threats following his book prevented him from visiting Sri Lanka frequently.<\/p>\n

In November 1997, Tambiah received the prestigious Balzan Prize for “penetrating social-anthropological analysis of the fundamental problems of ethnic violence in South East Asia and original studies on the dynamics of Buddhist societies [that] have opened the way to an innovative and rigorous social-anthropological approach to the internal dynamics of different civilizations”. \u00a0Later Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland awarded him the Huxley Memorial Medal and Lecture, the highest award by the institute.\u00a0 In 1998, he was awarded the Fukuoka Asian Culture Prize by the city of Fukuoka, Japan. \u00a0In 2000, he was inducted as a corresponding Fellow of the British Academy a title given to those who have “attained high international standing” in a discipline in the humanities or social sciences. He also served as the president of the Association for Asian Studies (1989-90) and was a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984) and a member of the National Academy of Science (1994).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":118665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-118663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-constitutional-reforms"],"yoast_head":"\nProfessor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Professor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-20T20:35:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-01-26T13:32:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"89\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"104\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/\",\"name\":\"Professor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-20T20:35:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-01-26T13:32:33+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg\",\"width\":89,\"height\":104},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Professor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3\",\"name\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Professor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Professor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2014-01-20T20:35:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-01-26T13:32:33+00:00","og_image":[{"width":89,"height":104,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/","name":"Professor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg","datePublished":"2014-01-20T20:35:46+00:00","dateModified":"2014-01-26T13:32:33+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg","width":89,"height":104},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/professor-s-j-tambiah-a-humble-and-passionate-intellectual\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Professor S.J. Tambiah: A Humble And Passionate Intellectual"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/9db3d0cfcfa59e1997e3c3524d454cb3","name":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/920b3181b0bf86b5c339ad9f0963a89f6a8b19c4b971e629987a021ba7a663df?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"COLOMBO TELEGRAPH"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/colombo_telegraph\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/Tambiah.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=118663"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118663\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118672,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/118663\/revisions\/118672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/118665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=118663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=118663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=118663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}