摘要：Kemper.s study seeks to address the debate on the birth of nationalism by focusing on the nature of the emergence of a distinctiveSinhala-Buddhist identity in Sri Lanka. He discusses the short-comings of theoretical interpretations of history and nationalism and at-tempts to provide an alternative. Kemper unravels the historicity of eventsand the characterization of heroes depicted in the .chronicle. literature,assessing the intentions of the many authors of the Mahàvaüsa, a workrecording the history of the island that was begun in the 6th century by themonk Mahànàma and was extended several times (most recently in 1977).In doing so, he demonstrates, among other things, the power of the trope ofunity as a central agent that has contributed towards the formation of thenotion of a Sinhala-Buddhist identity
