How very haunting are the melodies
Professor Sunanda Mahendra
FICTION: In the modern context of the development of the short story
with its vital role as a popular genre, it is quite difficult to say
what exactly a short story looks like in simple terms.
There are short stories meant to be read in newspapers, periodicals
and serious journals, and there are short stories written to be listened
over the radio channels. There are so many types of short stories
written in the form of diary entries and notes, and the writers claim
that they cannot say how a short story is created.
The age-old Chekov, Tolstoy and the Maupassant type of narrative
forms have changed from their conventional patterns of expression,
though some writers believe that they come to stay as a particular
literary genre set in a historical perspective.
The thematic content changed from culture to culture depending on the
various types of experiments based on the narrative patterns belonging
to the particular cultural conditions. In this direction, the short
story is written - even today - in the form of a parable or a legend by
writers such as Garcia Marquez and Doris Lessing.
Needless to mention the Kafkian narrative form took a new trend and
influenced a new change altogether in the writing of short stories.
American storyteller
As such the genre differs from culture to culture and from writer to
writer raising the question whether a short story could be compared with
an Aesopian or La Fontaine type (as was once asked once by the American
storyteller James Thurber).
Is it necessary for a writer to borrow models for his creation from
the well-made story writers who predominantly concentrate on the story
line or the plot? Is it necessary that line imagination be imitated by
all writers of short stories? Is not the age old collection of stories
embedded in the Oriental collection of Pancatantraya and Ramayanaya be
regarded as an collection inspiring collection of short stories?
Short story collection
All these aspects flooded into my mind when I finished the latest
short story collection by the award winning author Professor Kamani
Jayasekara of the Kelaniya University Haunting Melodies, (Godage
International - 2007) who has been writing for the last three decades
both in Sinhala and English, experimenting on the genre with her five
collections. Though the present collection is symbolically titled it is
also the title of one of the stories in a line of 14 stories.
The guiding theme, as I see commonly in all the stories, is the
nostalgic nature of a sensitive narrator sandwiched between the
day-to-day life structure in an inner self and the life either beyond
that plane of living or conditions strangely anticipated where
experiences he or she gets involved become the very narrative form.
In these very short narratives (some are about only a page) there are
journeys to various places in search of a change and chance encounters
with search operations, happenings on campuses, interrogations with
strangers, interviews with students and teachers, parental heritages at
home and abroad, domestic boredom, introspective moods, issues
pertaining to unutterable innocence where administrative regulatory over
rulings occur as weapons against humanism.
Sympathy
One good example that exemplifies this factor comes from the
poisoning of a pregnant bitch, once loved by many on the campus, on the
part of the authorities (A Jungle Book Story of Survival), where the
actual sympathy on the part of the lecturer, the narrator of the event,
is overruled by the Vice Chancellor who takes seemingly an upper hand
and declares that the killings should go as he is responsible if
something disastrous happens to the students.
Latent conditions
Similarly, Drugs on Campus throws light on some present latent
conditions of the campus life of some students regarding their behavior
patterns where even the closest relations have to come to their rescue
from distant places.
One comes across strange characters like the undergraduate Samare,
who brings some herbs mixed together to share with his friend not
knowing what he is up to until he falls prey to a system which is
diametrically opposed to his own.
In Large Hearts, Kamani throws a sensitive ray of light to the
lovelorn conditions of an elephant Raja and his consort Menika, as
narrated by one person to another. The narrator and the recipient are
themselves women in this case.
The writer too is seen in a narrative form where she attempts to
focus the reader’s attention on some of the socio-political and
socio-ethical areas where the humans get involved as inhuman creatures.
One example comes from Conflict Resolution.
The situations in many stories are created via dialogue and monologue
paring the comments and descriptions to the maximum possible manner.
This narrative form, I feel, is in keeping with the pulse of the
times, as the local English reader may not be willing to spare much of
the tedious time entangling in verbosity, as it mostly happens in the
conventional narrative forms. The creative process, as well as the
creative inspiration as observed in most of these short narratives, come
from common place events around us.
But the manner, in which they are reconstructed depicts that a
certain degree of a life vision with a blend of a philosophic outlook,
is gone into the creations elevating the commonplace events to a higher
plane of creative thinking.
[email protected]
Legendary heroes who served Dutugemunu’s army
Dasa Maha Yodhayo
Author Siri Nissanka Perera
Publisher: Sarasavi Publishers, Nugegoda
Price: Rs. 125
Review: Prof. J. Tilakasiri
 HEROES: This presentation of the legendary and heroic deeds of the
brigade of local fighters and defenders of the faith during the period
of king Dutugemunu’s reign is indeed a very timely publication to remind
readers of the glorious past of our land.
It was a period when foreign invaders of our land were threatening
the peace and stability which our rulers had achieved by efforts of our
valiant soldiers who combined their adherence to the Buddhist teachings
and precept that had guided the rulers in bringing prosperity, growth
and economic and social development.
The mighty army of the Ten Fighters rescued the country from the
foreign incursions and strengthened the power of Dutugemunu and also
contributed to the enhancement of patriotic and national feelings of the
people.
It is also a significant observation the author makes that except for
Nandimitra all the fighters arose and made their efforts in the South of
the country, Ruhuna which has been known for the heroic and patriotic
movements in the defence of the land and the religion.
Keen discernment
With his keen discernment of events the author chooses particular
events and also institutions which brought the fighters to the fore and
thereby the king was endowed with the required needs of the country’s
defences. The setting-up of an espionage unit is observed as a response
on the part of Velusumana to furnish and fulfil princess
Viharamahadevi’s wishes.
Elara, though a foreigner, occupied and ruled over Rajarata for some
time, but as a righteous leader, respected and valued Buddhist ideals
and received even the commendation of Dutugemunu that all people passing
his tomb pay due respect to his memory.
Character sketches
The heroic struggle which Dutugemunu waged was not only meant to
recover the lost power from foreign forces but undertaken with the
decisive aim of preserving and venerating Buddhism in our land.
The author has presented these facets of character sketches of the
Ten Fighters from his understanding of the episodes concerning their
deeds, coloured by narrative and historical perspectives.
He has been a student of both history and archaeology and a
researcher of antiquities and inscriptions, acquiring competent
knowledge by earning post-graduate degrees.
His compilation of the essays of the ten fighters offers a
comprehensive survey of historical, literary and narrative data culled
from his personal knowledge and visits to sites and places to record the
events and relate them to the present relics.
In three additional chapters he furnishes valuable information on the
Swarnamali Caitya, Lovamaha Prasadaya and Mirisavetiya which supplies
essential evidence of the facts and events discussed and forms a useful
background to his presentation.
Mature knowledge
He has also mature knowledge of his subject material as he has served
as an Asst. Director of Cultural Affairs and as External Editor of the
Sinhala Encyclopedia.
He has been an active writer and contributor of essays and articles
to many journals and published books on a variety of topics (listed in
his book).
The book is very elegantly designed and produced and published
attractively by Sarasavi Publishers.
Bandula Harischandra deserves special commendation for his cover
design and the striking black and white figures and sketches of the ten
yodhayas, thus brought to life to enhance the essays.
In conclusion it needs to be said that the book should be on the
shelves of all students interested in the study of the historical and
heroic figures enriching our island’s history.
This book has already been recommended as a school library book by
the secretary of the Education Publication Advisory Board.
The writer is Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit University of
Peradeniya
A kaleidoscope with rich designs - textual, emotional and
experiential
KALEIDOSCOPE: An Anthology of Sri Lankan English Literature
Edited by D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke
Publisher: Vijitha Yapa Publications, Colombo,
www.vijithayapa.com
Price Rs. 495.
Review: Dr. E.A. Gamini Fonseka
 LITERATURE: In the sense of the optical device consisting of a
cylinder with mirrors and coloured shapes inside that create shifting
symmetrical patterns when the end is rotated.
Emeritus Professor D.C.R.A. Goonetilleke’s Kaleidoscope remains a
marvellous contribution to the reading of Sri Lankan literature in
English.
When words are considered the material of which those coloured shapes
are made, the literature represented in the book contains the patterns
they help to create with the individual rotations made by a galaxy of
outstanding writers from Sri Lanka.
The individual pieces of writing produced by Anandatissa de Alwis,
Nihal de Silva, Chitra Fernando, Vijitha Fernando, Godfrey Gunatilleke,
Kamani Jayasekera, Suvimalee Karunaratna, Jagath Kumarasinghe, Carl
Muller, Sunethra Rajakarunanayake, A. Santhan, Ransiri Menike Silva,
Priyanthi Wickremasuriya, Punyakante Wijenaike, Lalitha k. Witanachchi,
Rose Aserappa, Patrick Fernando, Yasmine Gooneratne, U. Karunatilake,
H.L.D. Mahindapala, Earle Mendis, Destry Muller, Anne Ranasinghe, Rev.
W.S. Senior, Regi Siriwardena, Eileen Siriwardhana, Chandra
Wickremasinghe, Sunethra Wickremasingha, Lakshmi De Silva, Kamala
Wijeratne, Lakdasa Wikkramasingha, H.C.N. de Lanerolle, Ernest Macintyre
and Ariele Cohen respectively provide a multifaceted experience of a
complex, colourful, and shifting pattern or scene or a complex set of
events or circumstances that can fascinate the reader in a variety of
ways.
Each piece of writing is unique in texture and meaning and the
kaleidoscope metaphor Professor Goonetilleke has used here for
describing his anthology gives insight into the materiality of language
as well as the multiplicity of the experience it engenders. The
craftsmanship of each of these writers is also recognized in this
fitting title.
Professor Goonetilleke claims that he has “selected the material for
this anthology not only from books but also from journals and
newspapers.” Moreover, Professor Goonetilleke has aligned these pieces
in his anthology in a brilliant order. He has not only considered “date
of publication” but also “content and technique” in the organization of
the items.
Four themes
The fiction and non-fiction section which occupies a larger part of
the book has got its contents under four themes - Urges, Divisions,
Catastrophe, and Excerpts. The thematic relationship within each group
of writings are signified by this classification. The stories under
these four themes depict the character of Sri Lanka as a people from a
variety of angles.
The kaleidoscope image actualizes remarkably well with the facets of
life they each represent. While Ananda Tissa de Alwis’s Prema becomes
jubilant about his potential as a promising lover to an American woman
in her forties, Godfrey Gunatilleke’s Tissa in his mid-thirties becomes
concerned about his nuptial obligations to a teenage wife.
While Rassan’s and Selvam’s sons in A. Santhan’s story thrive after
migration to America, Australia and the UK on the grounds of ethnic
violence, Duminda in Punyakante Wijenaike’s story becomes a mental
patient, injured in the battlefield created by the same issue. Suwimalee
Karunaratna’s Lata ends up a victim in a “snare” in the cultches of “the
underworld king” Kam while Sunethra Rajakarunanayake’s Nirmala
Walikumbura cultivates resilience to manage her matters in her
cosmopolitan social milieu in the USA.
Airele Cohen’s true life drama emotionally portrays the pulse of the
Sri Lankans in a tragic situation where compassion and humanity are the
most needed. Thus the people of Sri Lanka appear in many moods and forms
in some sixteen stories Professor Goonetilleke has selected.
The 27 poems in the poetry section feature the evolution of Sri
Lankan verse in English. Again the kaleidoscope goes turning. The
tranquil and serene origins of Sri Lankan poetry with sympathetic
colonial influences such as Rev. Fr. W.S. Senior split into numerous
veins with the new generations trying to express their feelings in
response to various social, political, and cultural issues entailed by
significant social and political upheavals in the small community of the
postcolonial Sri Lanka.
Leaving the Kandy Lake poets who were often sentimental and
complacent in their thinking, Sri Lankan poetry becomes more and more
didactic and provocative through the involvement of poets like Yasmine
Gooneratne, Patrick Fernando, Lakdasa Wikkramasinha, Lakshmi de Silva,
H.L.D. Mahindapala and Anne Ranasinghe.
The entries from Regi Siriwardena, Kamala Wijeratne, Chandra
Wickremasinghe and the others directly react to violence which took
place in the recent past, demonstrating the function of literature in
social and political criticism.
Professor Goonetilleke has discretely selected the poems so as to
make the patterns developing from his kaleidoscope contribute to a
telling portrait of the realities that Sri Lankan people are to live
with.
Achievement
The two plays in the drama section do really represent the
achievement of Sri Lanka’s theatre in English. The pioneering dramatist,
H.C.N de Lanerolle’s Fifty-Fifty is a farcical comment on “the Tamil
demand for representation in the State Council equal to the Sinhalese in
the then new dispensation,” and the cleverest of Sri Lanka’s dramatists,
Ernest Thalayasingham Macintyre’s The Loneliness of the Short-Distance
Traveller is an absurdist attempt to project the destiny of a people
suffering from chronic conditions of frustration and irritation in a
dull monotonous lifestyle.
It is clear that Professor Goonetilleke’s selections serve the reader
as guidelines while exploring ways to reveal the grotesque realities
behind the post-colonial problems of Sri Lanka.
Insightful introduction
The anthology has been presented with a very insightful introduction
where Professor Goonetilleke provides important background details that
help the reader to understand the works in their context.
This is helpful in both diachronic and synchronic analyses of
literature. The salubrious social, economic, and political climate the
middle class of Sri Lanka enjoyed during the colonial times; the
revolutionary situations that arose after Sri Lanka received
independence from the British Crown in 1948; the aesthetic and social
sources from which the poets working in English drew inspiration in the
literary and conceptual organization of their material; the cultural
exposure the local writers have received in foreign lands; the Tamil
terrorism initiated by the LTTE that demands a separate state within the
island of Sri Lanka; and the ethnic unrest originated from the
dissatisfaction of the Tamil community with the rights extended to them
in the independent Sri Lanka are some of the topics that are dealt with
in the introduction. In fact these details emerge from the biographical
and literary guidelines provided for individual writers representing
different periods of Sri Lankan literature in English.
Teachers can use the pieces in their classrooms for teaching English
language reading comprehension as well as Sri Lankan literature in
English. Researchers can evaluate the influence of the writers’ local
culture in their application of English in creative work.
And the amateur reader can enjoy how a community raises its multiple
voices in language inherited from one of its colonial masters.
The samples of English produced by the well-selected group of writers
in the KALEIDOSCOPE also help to explode the fallacy of the so-called
Sri Lankan English some pundits are promoting in their own ivory towers
and to rescue the amateur learners of English carried away by them. All
in all the entire piece of work stands as a thoughtful contribution to
the study of Sri Lankan literature in English.
The book has got a handsome dust jacket with a lovely picture of two
young Buddhist novices enjoying a book, one by reading it and the other
by listening to what is read, a common spectacle in the premises of the
Buddhist temples of Sri Lanka. It really gives a kaleidoscopic pleasure
to the reader, no matter, where he is from.
The writer is Head -
ELTU,
University of Ruhuna, Matara.
‘English Patient’ writer creates Greek tragedy in style
DIVISIDERO
Author: Michael Ondaatje
Knopf, 273 pages, $25
Hedy Weiss
FICTION: Michael Ondaatje is a handsome man of middle age with a full
head ofsilvery-white hair, a neatly trimmed beard and piercing, ice-blue
eyes. Born in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in 1943 — to a family whose richly
braided background includes Dutch, Tamil, Sinhalese and Portuguese roots
— he moved to England with his divorced mother in 1954, and later
settled in Canada, where he has long been a citizen.
Although Ondaatje began his writing career as a poet (he has
published more than a dozen volumes), he gained fame as a novelist with
such books as Coming Through Slaughter (1976), a fictional meditation on
the lives of jazz pioneer Buddy Bolden and erotic photographer E.J.
Bellocq, major figures in early 20th century New Orleans; In the Skin of
a Lion (1988), a lush, brutal tale of early immigrants in Toronto, and
Anil’s Ghost (the tale of a young Sri Lankan woman who returns to her
homeland as a forensics specialist and uncovers the cruelty of her
country’s modern civil war). Of course he is best known as the author of
the 1992 Booker Prize-winner, The English Patient, which became an
Academy Award-winning film, as well.
Earlier this summer, Ondaatje’s latest novel, Divisidero, arrived in
bookstores, with a title that echoes the name of a well-known San
Francisco street, but also suggests the divisions of geography and time
that are crucial to the story he spins.
That story, told with Ondaatje’s characteristic blend of rawness and
dreamy beauty, begins in northern California in the 1970s, with the tale
of a farm family that becomes as irreparably fractured as any in the
annals of Greek tragedy. It later moves to a rural village in
south-central France.
Here are excerpts from a chat with the author during a recent
stopover in Chicago:
Q. You began writing this book while teaching at Stanford University.
Was there something about the California landscape that inspired you?
A. Well, I discovered the Petaluma-Sonoma County area, which is so
different from nearby San Francisco. There is something peaceful and
stark about the place, with its beautiful rolling hills and farms that
appear to be very private units. And I started imagining how a family
might have lived there and been cut off from the world, so anything
could happen.
Q. Where did you start with that imagined family?
A. Well, I thought about two sisters, Anna and Claire, who weren’t
really blood sisters, but were joined at the hip in some ways, even
though they were competitive. And there was a young man, Coop, who was
sort of like a brother, but really not. And there was a father who was a
strict man a man whose wife had died many years before, so he didn’t
have that modifying influence and sensualness.
There was some of that broken family in my own history. My dad did
too much drinking, and my mother and I left. As a child in Sri Lanka I
would spend many of my holidays with my uncle, who was a travelling
judge, and his wife.
Q. In another part of the book the story moves to Lake Tahoe and the
casinos of Nevada. Are you a gambling man?
A. No, though I’ve been to Las Vegas, which to me is a false front
with nothing human about it. Tahoe is different; it’s a real town. And I
have Coop go there because I think he is the kind of person who is drawn
to danger in a sort of passive way. He is always testing himself against
chance. Coop is a complicated person — someone who was handed a fate
early on and gets caught up in the repetition of that fate.
I think many of us spend our lives doing that — going back to certain
traumas, even if it’s just a matter of falling in love with the same
type of person over and over again.
Q. The second half of the book takes place in France, where Anna, who
has become a writer, is researching the life of a semi-obscure French
poet whose family life also was quite tangled. Had you been to a place
in France that stuck in your mind, or did you travel there specially to
find the right backdrop for your story?
A. I actually found the right location — a place northwest of
Toulouse where they happen to make fantastic fig jam. I stayed in a
house by a small lake, and went back there three or four times. I even
did a lot of writing in a bar in town where [the great 19th century
French novelist] Stendhal is said to have written.
Q. Was the enormous success of The English Patient a curse or a gift?
A. It was a great gift, particularly because I felt good about the
book.
Q. Is there any talk yet about making a film of Divisidero?
A. It hasn’t been sent out for that purpose yet, and I’d really like
to keep it as a book for a while.
Hedy Weiss is the Sun-Times theatre critic. |
