First of all, I'm not in the field of anthropology and social sciences.
But my depression led me to read and become an introvert, leading me to read a hell of a lot of books.
I finished reading Sapiens (2011) by Yuval Noah Harari on 27.03.2025, and there was a Gananath Obeyesekere (1930 - 2025) reference in the text.
It is as follows,
Chapter name - 15 The Marriage of Science and Empire
James Cook, The Explorations of Captain James Cook in the Pacific, as Told by Selections of his
Own Journals 1768–1779, ed. Archibald Grenfell Price (New York: Dover Publications, 1971), 16–
17; Gananath Obeyesekere, The Apotheosis of Captain Cook: European Mythmaking in the Pacific
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1992), 5; J. C. Beaglehole, ed., The Journals of Captain
James Cook on His Voyages of Discovery, vol. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1968),
588.
I have a very superficial understanding of him and his academic contributions.
I purchased 6 contemporary books by Prof. Gananatha Obeysekara, and the image is shared below.
One of the books has his signature as well.
He is criticised by Nationalists for being Eurocentric and elitist in his research, claiming that many of the Sri Lankan traditions came from India. (Narada and Collette) And also for his concept of 'protestant buddhism' he was heavily criticised.
But his contributions are immense, according to many of his students and followers, and his readers, to the field of anthropology.
This post is to praise his ability to leave a mark in the global academic literature as a Sri Lankan and to make the country proud.
