In the landscape of Sri Lanka’s corporate and legal sectors, few names carry the quiet weight of . While he may not be a headline-grabbing public figure, those who navigate the upper echelons of finance, taxation, and corporate law recognize him as a formidable architect of modern regulatory practice.
: His career includes significant teaching positions at the University of Sussex , Birkbeck (University of London) , and the Workers' Educational Association . Critical Perspective
: He has analyzed representational strategies used to depict British hill stations prasannajit de silva
De Silva explores "Anglo-Indian hybridity," investigating how British individuals adopted indigenous culture—a phenomenon often referred to as "going native". His research analyzes portraits and visual renditions of British households, including the portrayal of native mistresses and "bibis," to understand the social complexities and power dynamics of the time.
, researching the art of the British in India during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Academic Roles : He has held teaching positions at the University of Sussex Birkbeck, University of London Workers' Educational Association Current Activities : He is a featured lecturer for The Arts Society , delivering programs such as " British Portraiture in India the-arts-society-peterborough.org.uk Research Interests & Expertise Visual Culture of Colonial India In the landscape of Sri Lanka’s corporate and
Prasannajit de Silva’s methodology relies heavily on qualitative sociology and deep ethnography. Rather than looking strictly at macro-level statistics, his research prioritizes human narrative—conducting extensive field interviews in native languages, parsing through local newspaper notifications, and closely reading historical visual culture.
Second is his focus on . His book, as its title suggests, is centrally concerned with how the British in India visualized their identity and how they distinguished themselves from both the British at home and the Indian people around them. He explores how visual culture was used to assert, negotiate, and sometimes complicate these markers of identity. Academic Roles : He has held teaching positions
Traditional Water Sharing (Dug Wells / Communal Tanks) ──► Prosperity & Sacred Rituals │ ▼ (Pollution / Agrochemicals) Modern Water Reality (Reverse Osmosis / Bottled) ──► Commodification & Individual Strain The Metamorphosis of Water
It is important to note that the name “Prasanna de Silva” (spelled with a single ‘j’) also refers to a different individual: Major General Prasanna de Silva, a retired senior officer of the Sri Lanka Army who served during the country’s civil war. Major General de Silva has been the subject of international legal controversy regarding alleged war crimes. However, this article concerns Dr. Prasannajit de Silva (spelled with the ‘‑jit’ suffix), the art historian and lecturer, whose work is entirely unrelated to the military figure. The two men are distinct individuals with entirely separate professional histories.
: He has authored significant texts and reviews, including exploration into Colonial Self-Fashioning in British India , examining cultural hybridity through art and portraits. Professional Recognition