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| Wednesday, 2 March 2005 |
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Focus on Books Setting a new tradition in Sinhala novel writing Chaya Prantaya (the penumbra), At a time when the Sinhala novel is going astray without any specific aim or objective it is heartening to see that an effort is made by the interested parties concerned taking an active interest to take it into the main stream of creativity elevating from that low level. I feel that in order to achieve this goal two factors are essential. The first one being the understanding of the nature and the background of the creative process of the genre called novel from a historical point of view. The second factor is the experience gathered via the reading process of novels created in the orient as well as in the occident.
The life experiences as well as the reading process are seen in the best manner possible in the creation of the new novel of professor Sunanda Mahendra titled as chaya prantaya [the penumbra]. His basic effort is to create a new trend in the actual writing or the structuring of a creative work for the modern reader. As such one envisages a new tradition in this work. Lack of criticism There is also the added problem of the lack of good criticism in our country. Instead of the evaluatory process of assessment of a work of art the emerging factor is the reporting kind of sweeping comments devoid of any depth. In this direction the works of a better type is even pounced down as unwanted by the so called critics of the day. These factors too may add to the down fall of good writing. In this climate it is heartening to see the appearance of this new novel chaya prantaya by Prof. Sunanda Mahendra. At the outset it has to be stated that there are no strict rules or narrow guidelines laid down for a creative artiste or any writer. If that was the status the novel would have disappeared or been in the state of extinction long time ago. The content, structure, the rules of narrative methods and the tradition on which it rests are all in all determined by the wide outlook of the creative writer himself. This could be deemed as an inner discipline as well as a world outlook of the writer. His vision too is determined by the same nuances which in the reciprocal effect of the presentation of his factors such as the humanism the laying of the characters, conflicts, and the social issues irrespective of the classes such as the middle class or the upper middle class or what ever the social class. Apart from these areas there are also some hidden spiritual and mysterious troves one needs to unravel. This is also a vital role in the narrative construction of a modern day novelist. This then is one of the main streams as found in the novel of Sunanda Mahendra. He makes use of almost all the modern techniques as well as the traditional techniques of expression to mould a better narrative. As such the novel under review, chaya prantaya is a trend setting creation from many an angle. Welcome variant He makes use of the diary technique to express the inner feelings of some of the characters. This should be reckoned as a welcome variant to the existing pattern of using the narrative technique as observed in the conventional type casting and summary writing. The writer with this kind of technique widens the horizons of the reader from several points of view creating a credibility. Although this was not clearly observable in the Sinhala novel a reader of the English, French and the American novel would have observed the technique in such works as Georges Simenon's The Heart of a Man and Four days in a life time. In addition such novels as Nelson Algren's Somebody in the Boots, Angus Wilson's Hemlock and After and Ralph Ellison's Invisible man could be cited as good examples. As these novels are world reknowned they have a close resemblance to the human relationships to the present Sinhala novelist Sunanda Mahendra's work under discussion. Like Ralph Ellison, who was awarded the coveted National Book prize for his experimentations in the expansion of the content and the structure of his works Sunanda Mahendra too is trying to expand the vision of the Sinhala reader towards a new direction. In his preface to the novel Chaya prantaya he says that the novel is a sort of a case study of a university don who lived in this country who actually possessed a sensitivity. But he also says that to know the actual character of such a person who lived may not be of much use instead what he left as legacy may be of immense value. In the actual understanding of the life around us. But instead of that if a person is interested in knowing his mere personal life styles as they happened in the natural manner may not lead you anywhere. Gossip monger Such a person will only be a gossip monger. As the writer Sunanda points out that his mission is to usher the reader into the realm wider than the world of gossip. The preface to the novel by the author Sunanda Mahendra is a fitting epitome for the contents are by no means lowered from the naturalistic or photographic intentions instead elevated to a upper strata of thought and emotions. One good example emerges from the work itself, for the two characters Ayusena and Subhadra are living together though they look as if married. We constantly come across this kind of character in day-to-day life but the writer gives a new dimension to each one of them. The writer has a multi-dimensional vision pertaining to his character portrayal for he goes into the inner nature of each of the characters and attempts to introduce the subtext of their life patterns. The title penumbra [chaya prantaya] is used with a wider symbolic meaning in a holistic view for there is not only a mere shadow of one single person but a shadow which is gradually fading off from the experiences of a galaxy of characters minor and major in interaction. Certain religious susceptibilities too emerge such as the attempt to find the meaning in life the meaning in the death and the meaning in love and jealousy and what one does during his short span of life. The people who go in search of these aspects end up in certain types of asapuvas or abodes of sanctity. They are in a way either saints or sages, who go from place to place and birth to birth. The central theme of the entire work could be formulated through the vision of the sage like men who try to find the meaning by bringing about a sense of clarification in the actual complexities in lifestyles. Dr. Ranjit L. Abeywickrama Vivid vistas of Mahavamsa Historical Romances of Lanka, John Still has purely filtered out his broad-minded outlook of man's
sharing of the generous gifts of nature - as a solace to his mind and body
in "the still, sad music of humanity," the sylvan forest being a
free-store for the denizens there of for sustenance - which are of
practical use to them: "To men of the jungle the whole forest is a free store of nearly all they may require; the bark of one tree makes string, that of another is pungent and good to chew when tobacco is scarce, and of a third, infused in boiling water, provides a safe and powerful purgative; one leaf is cool and healing when bound upon ulcers, another yields emollient juice that relieves the itch of tick bites, a third if applied in a compress is said to make dislocations easy to reduce, and a fourth holds some occult value in the practice of the submerged religion of the people." Similarly, the Mahavamsa, Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka, has been the fountain-head for a number of writers in and on Sri Lanka providing them with ample source material for various interesting and intriguing anecdotes of a wide variety of versatile characters both historical and romantic which are useful to man. Intellectual sustenance Premasiri Mahingoda draws freely for intellectual sustenance and sensual delectation of readers some popular episodes from the Mahavamsa which glamorize royal romances reaching us down the corridors of the legendary and logical history of our land. This English version which was recently launched is none other than his own earlier popular work, "Itihasaya Kalambu Pemkata." Among the early writers who had ventured to touch on exciting historical and legendary figures in the Mahavamsa, there are two stalwarts whose capabilities are well-known. One of them, a foreigner, is Madame Marie Musaeus Higgins, Educationist and the Founder Principal of Musaeus College, Colombo and the other, Lucien de Zoysa who was a playwright and actor, a student of history and a proven cricketer some of whose historical and original plays had been produced over the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. Although there are two or three episodes earlier re-created by the above mentioned writers appearing in Premasiri Mahingoda's work, he has been resourceful enough to project them in a new light and has extended his search light from Vijaya to Kandyan Kings with more thrilling and elaborate details. Premasiri Mahingoda pertinently focuses his attention on the need of the hour acting as a guiding star to the English educated young generation in the right direction of re-searching for personal growth, our long-standing Sinhala glory which has had a more refined civilization over that of the barbaric West in the remote past. Human passions However, with the high tide in the flourish of English language and literature in England wealthy Sri Lankans were educated abroad and a fair number of them, thereafter, became weaklings in their national outlook, dignity and character, relying on the white Sahibs to enlighten the Sinhalese on Sinhala history! In the light of that sense and to meet a crying need of offering historical knowledge couched in a pleasing romantic background, Premasiri Mahingoda's attempt is praiseworthy. Apart from love stories, his anthology contains an array of legends based on basic human passions like anger, vengeance and unrequited sex. The opening episode, "Chithra the Enchanting" reminded me simultaneously of two classical characters, one of Bandula Mallika elaborately described in Pujavaliya and Juliet of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. "A Queen's Forbidden Love" unfolds the natural disaster of a tidal wave that devastated Kelaniya which has become topical now with the havoc caused by the tsunami tidal waves. A clandestine affair between King Kelanitissa's brother Uttiya and the King's Chief Consort ends up in a national and natural catastrophe. I reckon the third story, "The Prince who loved a Peasant Girl," is the most important one among the twenty two interesting romances in this collection because very often little or no mention is made of King Dutugamunu's Queen Consort though there are vast volumes about his power and prowess. This work amply fills that gap. The writer's insightful over-view of the Island story from Vijaya to Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe is commendable. Legendary Another bright piece of historical and legendary value painstakingly gathered by the writer is evident in the anecdote: "For the Love of an Outcast" in which much information little known to the ordinary readers is given about Prince Saliya, the only son of Dutugamunu. It resembles Enobarbus' portrayal of Cleopatra's beauty in the Barge scene. "An Infamous Queen" is none other than the notorious whore, Anula who is rightly introduced as "carnal desire incarnated." As an example of a despicable figure to complete the variety, this story is useful. "The nun who eloped with a Prince" is an interesting romance which portrays how incest and a big gap in age destroy the real bliss of a wedded life emanating from the contentment arising out of a fusion of carnal and spiritual aspects of love. How two worthy scholars, King Kumaradasa of Anuradhapura and the Great Indian Poet Kalidasa perished because both of them sought sexual gratification with the same courtesan is the substance of "The Great Bharatha Poet killed by a Lankan whore." Their tragic end creates pathos in the reader. Tragic lovers In "The Sinhala poet who died for a Chola princess," the tragic lovers, Harisena and Amarawathie reminds one of the ill-fated Romeo and Juliet. "The Sinhala General who tamed a Pandya Princess" adds to the general belief that God Skandhakumara is out to help any clandestine affairs. So the account of ratifying the marriage between Pandya Princess Jinadari and General Navarathne is fancifully presented calling up images of Ditthamangalika on the one hand and "Taming of the Shrew" on the other. The benefactress Queen Leelawathie seems to be the schemer at the bottom of this marriage. "The joke that destroyed a harem," bears a similarity in a slightly different context to the fatal joke in "Subha and Yasa." The peasant lass who became a Queen" forms the background of the philosopher King Panditha Parakramabahu IV's wedlock with Queen Weerasundara. "A poisoned mango killed a king's fiance", presents a realistic and effective description with a Lawrential lovability and it is also a lovely legend of how Pepiliyana was named and Sunethra Devi Pirivena was set up. Noble virtue "A life sacrificed for the sake of friendship" records the admirable and nobel virtue of self-sacrifice reminding the reader of Malini's life-giving depicted in W. A. Silva's novel, "Kelehanda." "The king who eloped with a peasant girl" is a romantic feat of King Rajasinghe II. "Daskon's love to Queen Sumithra" is yet another attempt at eating the forbidden fruit. "King's love killed two lovers" is a rare instance of a king's love rejected. The mysterious death of Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe is the sum total of "A king killed by a kid," the last story. Now the reader will see the success of the rule of ancient Kings with first-hand information keeping in touch with their subjects at large and maintaining a sort of a think-tank and a pleasure resort with their harems except a few good-for-nothing fellows. Somapala Arandara **** Back **** |
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The failure to fulfil these two factors result in the birth of
denatured narratives of varying types. This is seen today as a problem in
the creativity of the Sinhala novel. The novelist is by no means a person
devoid of experiences gathered both through his own life experiences as
well as by reading other high calibred works.
