Exploring the Impact of War through Literature

On Wednesday, October 9, the Human Rights Program had the honor of hosting author and UMN English Professor V.V. Ganeshananthan in a discussion of her critically acclaimed novel, Brotherless Night. The book tells the story of a Tamil woman named Sashi, who reflects on her life during the first decade of the Sri Lankan civil war, which took place from 1983 to 2009. HRP Director Carrie Booth Walling interviewed Ganeshananthan.

Brotherless Night is not simply an account of the war, but also questions the labels that are often put on individuals and groups. It is a story of how we look at human rights and what it means for different groups, and how war is not always one side versus the other, but can hold multiple and conflicting perspectives.

Ganeshananthan’s research for the book included interviewing historians, activists, anthropologists, and various individuals who lived through the period of time depicted in the book. As a trained journalist and given the human rights themes in the book, Ganeshananthan knew she had a great responsibility to take care of the  stories she heard. “This book was written for Sri Lankans,” said Ganeshananthan, addressing a question about her audience. “But not only was it written for Sri Lankans, the book was written for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka.” Like Brotherless Night’s main character Sashi, Ganeshananthan is Tamil.

Tamils in Sri Lanka, a minority group, have long experienced state discrimination and violence. The story also features  the militant Tamil Tigers, who, claiming sole representation of the Tamil people, are fighting for a separate homeland. But the Tigers, state security forces, and Indian peacekeepers were all responsible for war-related atrocities, with Tamil civilians at the center of the violence. 

“The book is from the Tamil people’s perspectives of the war and how it deeply affected them, even though it was a group that is considered ‘terrorists.’ It was also important for me to write such a book because most Sri Lankan literature does not focus on Tamil people,” Ganeshananthan says. Her goal was to look beyond the binaries of stereotypes and labels and to explore how the war deeply affected civilians. Readers will be able to relate to the timeless themes in the book and connect them with other conflicts today.

Sashi eventually joins a group documenting human rights violations. Ganeshananthan spoke about how documentation creates a historical record of events, helping to preserve the truth about atrocities for future generations. This keeps the possibility of robust human rights discussions alive, and also empowers the affected communities.

Attendees left the event not only eager to read the book, but also thinking about how to talk about human rights and to tell stories of those whose histories are underrepresented or marginalized. Reflecting on her takeaway from the event, Master of Human Rights student Sarah Kuhns said, “I appreciated [Ganeshananthan’s] perspective on how international crises are not always black and white. Putting people or situations in boxes may not always reflect the complexity of real life situations like civil war.”

Brotherless Night engages with urgent questions around identity and human rights in the world today.