Sri Lankan-British Characters
Now, before I start writing this, let me just say that if there are any stereotypes on the biracial people mentioned in the title, I am completely unaware of them and as such will not be able to provide much information on avoiding such stereotyping.
However, I will try my best to give you guys information and tips on the subject to the best of my capabilities. So, without further ado, let us begin!
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What type of Sri Lankan-British person is your character?
By this I'm not referring to their age, gender or anything of the sort, but more to their upbringing, because believe me when I say that that is a very important aspect of determining your character's personality.
So, there are a few types of these biracial characters (but, of course, nothing is written in stone so take each of these with a pinch of salt) and I shall give you a (not-so-brief) description of each.
- The Sri Lankan-British characters brought up in Sri Lanka:
These people tend to be more Sri Lankan in their personality and behaviour if they happen to be brought up around other Sri Lankans.
I say this specifically because there are quite a number of Sri Lankan, half-Sri Lankan and foreign kids living there who mostly associate with other foreigners or "westernized" Sri Lankans, who tend to send their kids to prestigious (and very expensive) British and American-style private schools. These kids are usually more like their foreign counterparts than your average Sri Lankan kid but there are, of course, exceptions.
So, if your character happens to be one of these private school kids, you won't have much trouble writing about them because they're really not all that different from you.
But if you're writing about a more middle-class character with parents who prefer to mingle with the average locals, they'll most likely go to either a government (public) school or a less expensive private school that follows either an American or British school curriculum but in most other ways aren't much different from public schools.
These characters can be of two main types: westernized with a touch of Asian-ness or pretty much a complete Sri Lankan.
By the first type I mean that they will be heavily influenced by their British parent and therefore be more like them but also be influenced by their Sri Lankan parent - but only to a certain extent - like being able to speak Sinhala (aka the native tongue) and/or have a Sri Lankan accent (though a lot of them tend to have a more American accent for some reason) and also have a taste for the local cuisine. There is also a high chance that they will be sent to a private school (because almost all private schools are taught in English).
The second type will be far more influenced by their Sri Lankan parent and the local culture and will most likely be fluent in the native language (which isn't always the case with the previous type, since they will be brought up in a mostly English-speaking environment) and could have attended a public school.
Since their families have such a huge impact on what sort of people they become, I will include more information on that subject further down this chapter.
- The Sri Lankan-British characters brought up in Britain:
These characters are literally just British. It's as simple as that. Regardless of what type of school they go to or how Sri Lankan their Sri Lankan parent may be, they will not exhibit many qualities of a Sri Lankan, except for their physical appearance (more on that later) and (perhaps) a taste for Sri Lankan food.
There's also a high chance that they won't be able to speak or understand Sinhala, though some may be able to understand it but not speak it. And writing is pretty much out of the question.
- The Sri Lankan-British characters brought up elsewhere:
These characters can go three ways: they can either be more British, more Sri Lankan or more like the locals of the country in which they reside. It depends on the age from which they grew up there and, once again, on their families, which I will next shed some light on.
Now that we've had a look at the main types of these biracial characters, let's take a look at their families because, at some point or other, you're bound to write about them too, right?
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The families of Sri Lankan-British characters - what are they like?
Families are all weird in their own way, but in a good way, of course. It's what makes us all that much closer as a group of humans of common genetic heritage, right?
But what is it like to live in a biracial/multiracial family? Well, that's just what I'm about to tell you! Sure, it can be crazy sometimes, but we love it anyway.
The main difference, of course, would be the cultural differences that may arise among the parents. From something as simple as "Does one eat soup or drink it?" to more serious things like hitting/slapping one's child in order to "discipline" them, disagreements are bound to occur and your character might even have to take up sides in the (inevitable) debate.
Then there's the matter of food. A lot (but not all) of traditional Sri Lankan food tends to be pretty spicy so, unless the British members of the family can handle the heat, meal times will definitely have to be re-thought out. But that's mostly if the Sri Lankan parent is responsible for the cooking; if it's the other way round, things should be pretty chill, although the occasional complaint about missing spicy food might surface every now and then, assuming they're a fan of chillies - because even some Sri Lankans dislike spicy food.
Another thing regarding food is that if your character happens to be living in Sri Lanka, unless they're from a rich family, they will most likely not be able to spend the ridiculous amount of money required for purchasing food items that are commonplace and cheap in England. So, unfortunately for the British parent, a taste of home will be a pretty rare thing.
Now, another thing that might be an issue is the whole dating thing. Sri Lankan parents don't really encourage any sort of romantic relationships until their children are at least eighteen years old (because, by then, the kids would have typically finished school) but even then it's iffy. If they're the really traditional type, chances are that your character will probably be single for a very long time, unless their British parent intervenes. Or they'll just have to keep their relationship a secret, which a lot Sri Lankan kids tend to do.
But if your character happens to be one of those lucky few with a really awesome, open-minded Sri Lankan parent, then, brilliant! Just make sure you're back home before midnight.
When it comes to family influencing the character, the most important thing I've noticed is that it depends a whole lot on who spends the most time with them and, naturally, this tends to be the mother. So, depending on what your character's mother's nationality and characteristics are, chances are that your character will tend to take after them (especially where accent and vocabulary are concerned), at least until they're old enough to want to be a certain way themselves.
And that's pretty much it for this section, I won't bore you with too much. Next up is a very brief section on physical appearance!
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What would your Sri Lankan-British character/s look like?
It's quite simple, really.
Regardless of what their British parent's physical attributes may be, a Sri Lankan-British child will always have dark hair because all Sri Lankans (unless they're albino) have either black or dark brown hair and the gene involved is pretty much the dominant one. The character's hair, however, will likely be a little lighter than their Sri Lankan parent's and so, will most likely be dark brown instead of black. However, black hair is not uncommon and neither is a mix of both.
But if you want your character to have hair of a different colour, go ahead! That's what hair dye is for!
Eye colour, however, is a little trickier. While most have either dark- or light-brown eyes, other eye colours are not uncommon. Grey, hazel or green eyes are also a possibility, but that also depends on the British parent's eye colour. Blue eyes, however, I have yet to encounter in a half-Sri Lankan person.
Last of all, I shall provide a little information on skin tone and stature. Most Sri Lankan-British people are quite light-skinned, although they will always have a slight tan. In other words, they will always have lighter skin than their Sri Lankan parent (unless they spend a lot of time in the sun, in which case they can get a pretty dark tan) but still be tanner than their British parent.
As for stature, while this also depends on their parents, Sri Lankan-British kids tend to be taller than your average Sri Lankan kids because Sri Lankans are a generally short race of people. But this really does vary an awful lot, so feel free to make your character petite or crazy tall!
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So, there you have it! Some basic things you might want to know if you plan on writing about a Sri Lankan-British character.
If there's anything else you might like to know, or if you want more in-depth or specific pieces of information, just let the authoress of this book know and I shall be more than happy to help you out! I hope that, even if you didn't quite find it helpful, you at least found this little excerpt slightly enjoyable.
Thank you for reading and good luck with all your writing endeavours!