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| Wednesday, 25 August 2004 |
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Gleanings Sinhala short stories in Thamil by K. S. Sivakumaran Has any publisher from the Sinhala community cared to get Thamil short stories by Lankan writers translated into Sinhala and published it for a larger readership? Never, Occasionally the Dinamina, Nawaliya, Vivarana and Mavatha might have published translations of a few selected writers. Why is this? It is because most people in the majority community do not care to know anything about their brethren in the north, east, hill country, Wayamba, West and the South. This is a pity. Would you be surprised to know a collection of short stories in Sinhala has come out in Thamil. 'Sengai Aaliyan' (S. Gunarasa), a prominent writer in Thamil has compiled a collection of 25 Sinhala short stories and Mallihai Pandal, owned by writer Dominic Jeeva, has published it.
The writers, whose stories have been translated are: Martin Wickramasinghe, G. B. Senanayake, Gunasena Vithana, K. Jayathilaka, Gunadasa Amarasekera, Ratna B. Ekanayake, Nihal Ranjith Jayathilaka, Edwin Ariyadasa, Nimal Sarachchandra, Gunadasa Liyanage, Mrs. T. B. Subasingha, V. M. Jayawardena, Bobby B. Boteju, R. G. Wijayawardena, George Stephen Perera, Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Thilak Chandrasekera, Ariyawansa Chandrasiri, V. Piyasoma Perera, Hema Liyanage, Somasiri Pallewala, Wimal S. Samarasundara, Buddhadasa Galappathige, Wimaladasa Samarasinghe and Priyantha Sujith Aththanayake. Most of the writers are unknown to me, while a few are well-known. Translators The translators of these stories are wellknown writers in Thamil. Among them is Siva Subramaniam, the present editor of the Thinakaran and Thinakaran Vaara Manjari. The others include Thambi Aiyah Thevathas (An authority on Sri Lankan Thamil cinema and translator of K. Jayathilake's and Karunasena Jayalath's works) M. A. Nuhman (a poet and co-author of a booklet on Lankan Thamil literature) Ibnu Afumath (interested in the writing 'free-verse'), Sentheeran (I don't know much about him), M. L. M. Mansoor (a fine short story writer in Thamil), S. M. J. Faizdeen (a journalist working for the Thinakaran, an essayist and a commentator on Sinhala culture), 'Neelkarai Nambi' (an essayist from deep south, Dickwella), Peri Shanmuganathan (passed away, a writer and essayist), Yaathavan (a writer, whose whereabouts are not known) Kanagasabai Thurairaja (I don't know anything about him), A. Piyadasa (I don't know anything about him) Dickwella Sabwaan (a writer from the Islamic community). Most of these translations have appeared in the monthly literary magazine Mallihai edited by Dominic Jeeva. A few have appeared in Malar. There was a fine literary magazines edited by R. Nagalingam (Anbumani) of Mattakalappu. But that was a short-lived journal. Perhaps there was another journal by the same name of Malar. I have not seen this. Some stories are not attributed to any particular journal - mere mention of the issue's number. Some are left blank. These translations have been originally translated during the 1970s. One story was translated in 1967. Ralahamy written by Mrs. T. B. Subasinghe and translated by Siva Subramaniam. Another also in 1967 - 'That violinist' by V. M. Jayawardena and translated by Peri Shanmuganathan. Also in 1967, Siva Subramaniam translated 'Bird's Nest' by R. G. Vijayawardana. Three or four stories were translated in 1969, and the 1980s and one in 2004. Foreward I discovered from this collection that a knowledgeable person by the name Saminathan Wimal exists. There is no mention about his background or what he is. He has written a foreward to this collection. Here is a brief summary of his foreward written in Thamil: The first short story in Sinhala in modern terms was written by Piyadasa Sirisena in 1909. The story, "Daisy's unfortunate Day turned Sumana's Fortunate Day" was published in the publication, Sinhala Jathiya. The pioneer Sinhala short story writers were: Ariyadasa Sirisena, W. A. Silva, Hemapala Munidasa, T. G. W. de Silva and Martin Silva. Piyadasa Sirisena's stories were based on Sinhala Nationalism. His stories have not been collected into a book form. T. G. W. de Silva and Hemapala Munidasa were criticle of evils in the society. There are three collections of the former now available. Hemapala Munidasa's collection Manaliya appeared in 1928 and Wahal Vendesiya came out in 1946. W. A. Silva's collections became popular. He combined both realism and romanticism in his stories. He was a novelist too. Martin Silva was not only a creative writer but also a critic. Most of his characters hailed from the rural South Sri Lanka. Martin Wickramasinghe among the pioneers wrote artistically too. He had five collections of short stories to his credit. He was influenced by Russian writers, particularly Anton Chekov. He was also inspired by Guy de Maupassant. Among the next group of writers, G. B. Senanayake was important. He also introduced free verse in Sinhala. His stories are available in two collections. He portrayed the urban middle class social life of the Sinhalayas. He used symbols to depict psychological situation. Gunadasa Amarasekera was responsible in elevating the Sinhala short story to greater artistry. His first collection came out in 1953 and it was called Rathu Rosa Mala. His story Soma was considered one of the best 49 stories in the world in 1950. K. Jayatilake and Madawala S. Ratnayake were two other important short story writers. They depicted the middle class in rural areas. The 1970s saw the emergence of Socialist Realism in short story writing. A.V. Suraweera, Simon Navagaththegama, Gunasena Vithana were important writers during 1970-1977 period. A.V. Suraweera also contributed to the development of Sinhala Literary criticism. Important present writers are Jayatilake Kammalaveera, Eric Ilayapa Arachchi, Nissanka Wijemanne, Somaratna Balasooriya and Tennyson Perera. They are realists. Ajith Thilakasena excels in the use of language for creative purposes. K.K. Saman Kumara, Asoka Handagama, Manjula Wadiwardana, Dimuthu Siriwardena, Henry Warnakulasuriya, Dilina Weerasinghe and Sunethra Rajakarunanayake question the establishment in their stories. Reading the book Sinhala Chirukathaihal, I learnt a lot in understanding some aspects of the Sinhala cultural scene. * * * * Anthony Jeeva One of the self-made, maverick, unorthodox literary personalities in Sri Lankan Thamil Literary scene is Anthony Jeeva. He is a columnist, playwright, producer, magazine editor, orator, organizer, author and many more. His latest book is Thirunthiya Asokan, a book for children was elegantly printed and published. It's available from the author at P.O.Box 32, Kandy. JIKKI A popular South Indian playback singer, Jikki, passed away in Chennai last week. Her real name was P.G. Krishnaveni and she was married to A.M. Rajah another great singer. Both had sung in Sinhala films too. Contact: [email protected], 2587617. **** Back **** |
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