Abstract:
Jaffna Christian fisherfolk communities are ardent Christians, and they have many
folklore within them related to their work, religion and culture. The Jaffna Christian
fisher folk have a long history with their traditional folk forms which are incorporated
with unique dance, song and theatre settings. The main objective of this study is to
identify the role of new media in promoting the unique culture of Jaffna Christian
fisherfolk communities. This research hypothesises that fishing communities are poor
in finance and education. But, they are rich in their culture. They are unpopular
around the world. Five villages have been chosen from the coastal areas of the Jaffna
peninsula. The researcher has used recipient analysis for this study. Interviews, focus
group discussions and questionnaires have been used as research tools for this study.
Findings suggest that the old generations of fisherfolk communities have their own
identities and they used manuscripts for the documentation of folklore. Only a few
aged artists are competent in the documentation of this fork lore. But, due to the lack
of patronage resulting from three decades of war, and economical barriers, they are
unable to reach the mass audience. New media are doing its part to realize the
vitalization of folklore culture. But there are both positive and negative sides. New
media lead to the loss of unique identities of this particular community to some extent.
So, the purpose of this research is to probe the ways in which media can expose the
folklore of Jaffna Christian fisherfolk communities to the globe without diminishing
its unique identity.
