The Examining the Colonial Era in Sri Lanka using Historical Evidence: The Times of Ceylon Christmas Number Periodicals

Abstract

The Times of Ceylon Christmas Number (TCCN) publications, released each year from 1909 to 1979, serve as essential historical artifacts for piecing together Sri Lanka’s colonial history. By employing methods from archaeology, media studies, and historical analysis, this interdisciplinary research investigates these publications as complex representations of British colonialism. The study sheds light on the TCCN's role in mediating colonial ideologies, hybridizing cultural identities, and documenting socio economic transformations by analyzing textual content, visual imagery, advertisements, and material features (such as typography and paper quality). The insights into print culture, consumerism, gender roles, and cross-cultural exchanges revealed by the periodicals position them as essential resources for historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists. This research promotes the incorporation of ephemeral print media into postcolonial studies, highlighting their importance in safeguarding intangible heritage and contesting Eurocentric historical narratives.