Abstract
The paper relates that the book "Running in the Family" is an autobiography by author Michael Ondaatje, a Canadian citizen who was born in Sri Lanka (once known as Ceylon). The paper discusses how Ondaatje's work is a recollection of his ancestors' lives in Sri Lanka, connected with his own upbringing, and throughout the book is the continual theme of "home" and what it means to Ondaatje. The paper explains that as an expatriate, Ondaatje's sense of home is divided; his home is both in Canada and Sri Lanka, however, in a soulful sense, Ondaatje's real home is in Sri Lanka, where home is represented not only by the family that inhabits the house but the nature and culture of the landscape.

From the Paper
"The book "Running in the Family" is an autobiography by author Michael Ondaatje, a Canadian citizen who was born in Sri Lanka (once known as Ceylon). Ondaatje's work is a recollection of his ancestors' lives in Sri Lanka, connected with his own upbringing. Throughout the book is the continual theme of "home" and what it means to Ondaatje. As an expatriate, Ondaatje's sense of home is divided - his home is both in Canada and Sri Lanka. However, in a soulful sense, Ondaatje's real home is in Sri Lanka,..."

Tags:ondaatje, home, ceylon

Abstract
The paper looks at how Michael Ondaatje, in his family memoir "Running in the Family", presents readers with an account of his exploration of his family's history on the island of Sri Lanka (Ceylon). The paper discusses Ondaatje's intertwining of his family history and the history of early 20th century Ceylon with a particular emphasis upon how Ondaatje's personal focus obscures the historical reality that of the period. The paper argues the thesis that Ondaatje, writing for a largely white Canadian audience, mines the exoticism of family history while overlooking the realities of collective history in a colonialist context. In this discussion, key issues of central concern in Canadian literature - identity, hybridity, and the meaning of belonging - are prominently addressed.

From the Paper
"Michael Ondaatje, in his family memoir "Running in the Family", presents readers with an account of his exploration of his family's history on the island of Sri Lanka (Ceylon). Ondaatje represents this not only as his journey through space to Sri Lanka to meet distant relatives, but also as a journey back in time to Ceylon under British colonial rule in the early 20th century. This essay will discuss Ondaatje's intertwining of his family history and the history of early 20th century Ceylon with a..."

Tags:literature, canadian, culture

Abstract
The paper discusses how Michelle de Kretser's "The Hamilton Case" is a novel which complicates notions of identity, using the post-colonial genre as its method. The paper focuses on Sam, the novel's main character, and his obsession with being exclusively English despite his skin color, his location and his status as the colonized. The paper shows how Sam confuses our ideas of identity, allegiance, nationality, or even right and wrong in the colonial and post-colonial scene.

From the Paper
"An argument may be made that Sam argues for, and inhabits, an integrated Ceylonese identity--one which recognizes its English history, but remains as something separate. At one point in the novel, Sam is mocked by Jaya, who questions his allegiance to Englishness: "[Jaya] snorted. 'A grove, a glade - why use words designed for an English forest? They have nothing to do with this jungle of ours'" to which Sam replies "'English is our inheritance too,'... 'Why shouldn't we mould it to our needs? Grove and palu in the same sentence - isn't that distinctively Ceylonese?'" (de Kretser, 71). At another time, Sam reflects nostalgically on his schooldays, claiming that the culture there was one of integration, despite the backgrounds, religions or races of the students: "'As any Old Edwardian will attest, the prevalent tone of the school was one of comradeship unmarred by racial or religious strife. We spoke English, our only common tongue, to each other as well as to our masters." (deKretser, 26). "

Tags:empire, colonization, Englishness, Ceylon

Abstract
In this paper the author takes an in-depth look at British Colonialism and its rise and fall. The author also examines the effect that Colonialism has had on the countries that were previously part of the Empire, in particular Africa, and how there countries are dealing with this even today.

From the paper:

?The newly drawn map of the continent of Africa was then superimposed over the one thousand nations of indigenous people living in the various regions of Africa. In some instances, the new borders divided groups and nations of people that had formerly been united, and at other times the borders merged groups and nations that had no wish to be merged.?

Tags:edward, w, said, empire, imperialism, exploitation, captain, james, cook, india, australia, new, zealand, cape, colony, mauritius, ceylon, sri, lanka, trinidad, tobago, st, lucia, british, guiana, guyana, malta, africa, bismarck, joseph, harris, biafra, iraq, palestine