|
Books
A book that will help diffuse tension
Sri Lanka, LTTE and British Parliament
By Prof. Ravindra Fernando
Publisher: Vijitha Yapa Publications
Review by Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha
 A month or so back I was asked to launch Ravindra Fernando's latest
book, an account of the debate that took place on May 2nd 2007 in the
British House of Commons regarding the current situation in Sri Lanka. I
suspect I was asked because more distinguished invitees were not
available, but fortunately the British High Commissioner also turned up
and spoke so I suspect Prof Fernando was quite happy.
I was however happy to oblige, because I had been impressed by Prof
Fernando's earlier book, on the Sathasivam case.
I also thought he deserved all support because, as an intellectual
who is a leading parliamentary candidate for the UNP at a time when all
other intellectuals have fled, he merits every encouragement.
If and when, under a more responsible leader, the UNP reverts to the
respectable role of a loyal Opposition, supporting the Government in the
context of physical threats but providing intelligent critiques of
inappropriate policies and practices, intelligent thinkers will be
essential to replace the current herd of knee jerk maulers.
Prof. Fernando certainly lives up to his reputation in this book,
which gives a clear account of what took place in the House of Commons,
and the reasons behind it.
In a context in which His Excellency's not so loyal opposition, in
our Parliament and outside, claims that the whole world hates Sri Lanka,
Prof. Fernando has shown both the reasons for the House of Commons
debate, and the balanced manner in which it was conducted.
Understandably, given that many of those who took part represent
urban constituencies with large numbers of Tamils, they had to respond
to the concerns of their constituents as to human rights and
humanitarian issues in Sri Lanka affecting the Tamil community.
Certainly, given the manner in which Tamils who left Sri Lanka in the
eighties had been treated by the then Government, it is understandable
that they feel righteously resentful.
Reading the account of what was said, it is clear that some of them
believe that the pictures they saw of the State-sponsored violence of
those days relates to today, but that makes it all the more important
that Government decision-makers reading this book take steps to correct
such misapprehensions.
Meanwhile almost all British Parliamentarians strongly condemned
terrorism. Government speakers such as Kim Howells, the Minister of
State and for the Middle East, made it clear that the responsibility of
the LTTE for violent acts over the years was well documented - "It is a
proscribed organisation under the Terrorism Act 2000.
The EU listed the LTTE as a terrorist organisation in May 2006. We
have repeatedly urged the LTTE to move away from the path of violence.
In the absence of a full renunciation of terrorism in deed and word,
there can be no question of reconsidering its proscribed status.
LTTE involvement in killings, torture, detention of civilians and
denial of freedom of speech is a reality. The LTTE does not tolerate any
expression of opposition and its continuing recruitment of child
soldiers is a matter of great concern."
He also made clear the contribution of the current British Government
to curtailing the fund raising of the LTTE - "The ability of the LTTE to
raise funds overseas helps to sustain its ability to carry out violent
acts and reduces the incentive to move way from the path of violence.
LTTE fundraising activity in the United Kingdom encourages war, not
peace. It will not be tolerated, and I have recently met our security
authorities to discuss how we can counter the bullying, threats and acts
of fraud that are used regularly to extract money from the Tamil
population and others in the country."
Sometimes Sri Lankans feel that British justice is far too slow, and
that the authorities there should move more quickly to stop the LTTE's
criminal activities.
This is an understandable complaint, just as we should understand the
complaints of those Britishers who think our justice system is too slow
and that we should have taken action much earlier on some human rights
cases.
But the fact is that we, like the British, use their system of
justice in which the accused are assumed innocent unless proven guilty,
and therefore delays are inevitable.
Conversely, we should be grateful that the British, like the French
and Americans and Australians, have taken some admirable steps to
curtail LTTE fundraising, whereas many European countries are still far
too slow.
And while the Labour Government was tough on the LTTE, the
Conservatives, traditionally stronger on law and order issues, were even
more definite in their criticisms. At the same time, in reading Prof.
Fernando's account, we should also be mindful of the genuine concerns
that were expressed.
In some cases, as with the constant assertion that the Government was
responsible for the closing of the A9, with consequent humanitarian
problems, we should blame not the British parliamentarians who believed
what they said, but those who had sown misinformation.
And since there is no point in getting angry with the LTTE (though we
should worry about those commentators in the mainstream who do not look
at the facts), we should recognise that the answer is ensuring
dissemination of correct information.
The fact that it was the LTTE that did not give the required
guarantees to enable the ICRC to function more regularly at Omanthai
(until finally persuaded to do so a couple of months back), the fact
that they threatened the ICRC and stopped civilian and supply movements
under their aegis (despite which the Commissioner General of Essential
Services has maintained a steady supply of goods to Jaffna), the fact
that scarcities and exorbitant prices occurred in February precisely
because of an LTTE attack on a food ship, need to be publicised by the
Government.
And at the same time a debate such as this reinforces the point that
the Government, reasonably good though its record already is, must
always strive to do better.
Prof. Fernando's measured account will help to diffuse some tensions
that arose when the debate first occurred and it was assumed that this
was unwarranted interference by Britishers. After all, with Sri Lankan
constituents, it is understandable that British MPs should want to
debate the situation.
The book will help to make clear the relatively balanced discussion,
whilst highlighting areas in which there were misconceptions that must
be cleared.
As the British High Commissioner said at the launch in Colombo,
Britain continues to ban the LTTE and, while assistance with the peace
process will continue, it is based on the sovereignty and unity of Sri
Lanka. It is up to us to take advantage of this commitment without
allowing those who seek the division of Sri Lanka to benefit from
inaccuracies and an adversarial approach.
The reviewer is Secretary-General of the Secretariat for Coordinating
the Peace Process - SCOPP
Focus on Books
Korean Folktales in Sinhala
Prof. Sunanda Mahendra
Folktales from any nation ought to create an interest in any reader
of all ages down the centuries as they consist of the conscience of that
particular nation with all its wit and humour and the socio religious
susceptibilities intertwined. For the Sinhala reader we have observed
that there are quite a number of folktale collections compiled from
various sources over the years.
Most of these tales as we observe, have gone into the making of
children's stories and juvenile stories. This particular field is so
well known by the Sinhala reader that some of the age old collections
come from time to time as new editions, and new discoveries for the new
generation of readers.
One of the well known names in this direction is the scholar and the
translator Chandra Sri Ranasinghe who had been a pioneer in this cause
with an effort shouldered to serve the reader from his very first
collection of folktales tilted as Ahikuntika Janakatha (Gypsy folktales,
1974) which won him a Sahitya Award, to his latest collection titled as
Korianu Janakatha (Folktales from Korea Godage, 2007).
In between these publications, he had brought out many a collection
of folktales from England, Tibet, Palestine, Turkey and Germany.
Most of these publications have been well received by the Sinhala
readers of all ages, and he is encouraged to bring out many more for his
repertoire of folktales in translations and the most significant factor
of his collections is that they are supplemented by a long preface which
covers all socio cultural and socio historical aspects of the particular
nation enabling the reader to gather extra literary material that go
into the appreciation of the genre of folktales and the genesis of the
folktales in the particular context in oral literature.
The scholar translator Ranasinghe, this time enters a fresh field of
study introducing three aspects of the folk narratives as observed in
the Korean context where he had culled creative and classical material
from an original work by Zong- In Sob.
He classifies them as myths, legends and parables, and one comes
across sometimes some of the finest mini legends pertaining to the lives
of people, simple in their good humble nature, but at the same time
referring to the family matters such as matrimonies, family intimacies,
adulteries, anger, fear, expectations, values, morals, beliefs and ill
will.
They come in the form of riddles, parables, dialogues and some with a
wit and some with a humour, some with a sensitive religious undertone
that resemble Zen stories and some akin to Jataka stories.
As Buddhism had been one of the guiding factors for the creative
process of folktales in this particular context in ancient Korea the
very creativity is linked with the ethos of Buddhist doctrine.
Ranasinghe who presents this norm with an understanding of the inner
nature of the creative spirit uses a language that is quite familiar to
the Sinhala reader as in some of the tales one finds in the collection
as translated by Henry Parker in his folktales of village Ceylon from
which the late translator A P Gunaratne had reproduced many a tale into
Sinhala once again.
Ranasinghe as the compiler of this work does not show any signs of
the conventional manner of translation process either as transplanting
borrowed material from a foreign source or in the more in the
pedagogical form or written form as observed in many other instances.
Instead, he discovers a language which is in a way colloquial in the
presentation and may be called day to day spoken language somewhat
refined which is by and large the most suited mode of expression suited
to narrate a folktale.
This mode of expression may be appreciated by the child reader as
well as the adult reader in any Sri Lankan context and could be utilized
in any classroom and suit mass media channels without much of an
amendment or alteration.
Those who are interested on knowing aspects of the mode of expression
as found in the folktales of Korea may use his preface as a guide, as it
covers various aspects as to the origins of the narrative traditions
linked with the history of the region and with special reference to
Korea in general and the impact of aspects of Buddhism as a force of
creative influence over the kindling of the creative spirit in the folk
narrator down the centuries.
Though taught in general as a link to the study of literature in the
tradition based ways and means, the study of folklore with the folktales
as special discipline is still not planted well in any form of academic
area in our country. But the interest in the comparative basis as taught
in the area of creative communication patterns is found as one main
factor that is left over to be reexamined by a scholar.
This work by Ranasinghe may help such a scholar and the teacher to
gauge the validity of the study of folktale as an integral sub area in
the broad subject area of Orientalism propounded today by a number of
modernists.
This will further help as a catalyst to build a better understanding
of some of the new creative modes such as fantasies, dream sequences,
internal monologues, stream of conscience, and other patterns and
techniques based on the mass conscience of the folk literary creations
influenced by the new generation of writers in the whole of commonwealth
cluster of countries.
The study of folktales may also provide a broader understanding of a
nation's pulse and the conscience in order to truthfully venture into
the realms of the human experiences.
This has been shown down the centuries by such writers as Tagore,
Gibran, Narayan, Yeats in Ireland, Brecht and recently by the African
writers like Achebe, Ngugsi and Ekwansi.
They have displayed an identity by being influenced by the folk
creative methodology of their countries and express the modernity via
that intended expression. I do not intend to make this a rigid form of a
creative exercise for the writer, but it is simply the implicit liking
and the attachment that matters as a study of literature, where the form
and content are fused intrinsic components in creativity.
This then, is a pasture ground for any modern day creative writer to
observe how the folk narratives of a varying type have come to be
narrated over the years. Now introduced to the Sinhala reader, I feel
that this work will be an impetus where the hallmark is the need to know
the content as well as the function of the expression, where I found
that most narratives are modern in their context though narrated ages
ago.
[email protected]
All the signs of a promising writer
Edmund Jayasuriya
Sahatika kala birinda
Legally Married Wife
A collection of short stories
Author: Jayantha Rukmani Siriwardene
Sarasavi Publishers, Nugegoda
Price Rs. 175
Modern critics believe that the short story focuses more on the less
spectacular aspects of life, on the significance underlying what is
apparently trivial. There is a close connection between the short story
and the poem as there is both a unique union of idea and structure.
It aims to give us a specified impression of the world we live in
producing a single narrative effect with the greatest economy of means
and utmost emphasis. The above ideas came to my mind when reading
sahatika kala birinda, a collection of short stories by Jayantha Rukmani
Siriwardene.
Of the few women writers who come from the Sri Lanka Administrative
Service, Jayantha is notable. She has written a full length novel, some
books for children and also poetry.
The present volume sahatika kala birinda, which broadly means
'legally married wife' is a collection of ten short stories covering a
wide spectrum of life - stories dealing with administrative officers who
try to be honest and pay the price in a lopsided world (hera yama),
domestic servants impregnated by employers finally transcending normal
human behaviour (muhuna desa bala siteema), people marching on aimlessly
losing their roots (pancha peta), and generally, love and separation.
Understandably, the stories deal mostly with women and their
problems, but the sensitivity with which these problems are discussed is
noteworthy. A girl who by chance meets her late father's mistress treats
her with compassion and understanding, which is unusual, but the story
is so well crafted that it seems the most natural thing in the world.
A domestic servant put in the club by her employer's young son meets
him after several years with his pregnant wife and sincerely wishes that
the woman should meet with no difficulties at childbirth. Here is a
woman disciplined by traditional culture which teaches her to accept
with equanimity situations in life rather than resist them.
Within the limited space and time the medium provides it is essential
to create the moods of characters with a few deft strokes. There is no
time to build up situations as in a novel. Jayantha does this well
particularly in stories I have already quoted.
In sahatika kala birinda the author brings to focus a tragico-farcical
situation where a woman administrator meets a wife seeking her
intervention to get compensation for her late husband.
The wife is refused compensation because she is unable to produce a
certificate of marriage. But the wife insists that they had been living
together for a long period quite happily without even so much as an
argument between them which pricks the conscience of the woman
administrator. Could she boast of such a happy union despite the fact
that they were legally married ?
I think at least three stories seem contrived, bakini mal suvanda
gala giya, hamu noveema and sasala. They consequently lack internal
unity and plausibility; so they do not impress the reader.
Is it possible that parents were unaware of the death of their
estranged daughter's husband in a small country such as ours ? Is it
possible that a happily married woman emotionally reminisces of a
fleeting love affair she had three decades ago ? Such inconsistencies
certainly mar the smooth flow of the narrative and also credibility.
To my mind, the best story in the collection is pancha peta (a game
played during festival seasons using cowries) which is a well crafted
story with humour and sarcasm but with a deeper meaning highlighting a
dying past together with its entire cultural ethos.
Dilemmas and fantasies of human life
Reviewed by Panchamee Hewavissenti
Candlelight
Author: Tharindu Weerasinghe
Price: Rs. 200
An author publication
296, Kandy Road, Millawa, Kurunegala
 An emerging young poet has lit a candle to light up the world of
poetry. As a candlelight diminishes the darkness Candlelight tries to
boost the morale in people to enlighten their spiritual calibre.
This poetry collection is a blend of every aspect of people's life.
This young poet has been able to infallibly confront the bitter
realities in society, through his strikingly different language of
humanity.
The psychological battle takes place in a student who is studying for
an examination. Inaction is eloquently illustrated in " I have two
things to do". The student is also a lover.
This shows the mental clash most student face when they sit to study.
He can't concentrate on studies because his mind often invites him to
live in the fantasy of his lover's dream. He knows he has to study and
if he doesn't, he will not have a bright future." I feel to sit down and
study for a bright future, I feel to lie down and memorize for an
instant joy".
But when he falls asleep, Einstine comes with the Law of Relativity,
Newton comes with the Law of Gravity, Plank with Quantum Physics,
Simpson, Fleming. They all come and perplex his thoughts in his dream.
The poet intriguingly mentions in his poem " I was in dilemma" how a
student recounts the materials he studies just before sleep. And of
course towards the end of his dream, after having been tortured by
scientists, a charming lady appears in his dream and lulls him giving
the sweetest feelings till his mother wakes him up to have his bed tea.
The poet speaks about the sorrowful reality that most Sri Lankan
university students face in "The professor who left the country".
The professor who got a free education by mother Lanka goes to
another country and renders his valuable service to his second
motherland. The poet describes here about so called professors with a
note of dissatisfaction.
"She has no husband but has many men". The poet says so in " Victim
Beauty". He brings forward the category of women who degrade the entire
womanhood. She has men who seek her bosom, but has no husband to seek
her heart. She markets her womanhood in order to be excelled in
motherhood.
The feeling of a child whose mother is sick is conspicuously
illustrated in " My mother is ill today". He doesn't see the flowers
blooming, birds singing, sun rising. He feels the day dull.
The child thinks the sun is not rising, birds are not singing,
flowers are not blooming, because his mother is sick on that day. For
the child his mother is his whole world, though the environment remains
as usual he thinks the environment is also worried because his mother is
sick on that day. The poet analyses a child's feelings when his mother
is sick.
Spiritual sarcasm of a person, psychologically is revealed in "We Do
accept But Do Not remind". The poet gives a brief idea of Buddhist
philosophy here. This poem explicitly depicts the confession of a
believer in Buddhism who calls himself as a good Buddhist.
The lover is extremely possessive about his fiancee. When it comes to
loving her girlfriend he often forgets what the Buddha taught. The lover
considers his girlfriend as an entity which only belongs to him, "She is
mine". But he knows that the Buddha has said, "There's nothing as mine".
He wants to be a good follower of Buddhism and at the same time wants
to be a good lover. This lover also shows selfish attributes of a lover
who contradicts with the teachings of Buddhism.
He is undecided whether to be a good lover or a good follower. If he
withdraws all sweet defilements attributed to romance he could probably
be religious, but will lose his lover. This dilemma between religion and
love is spoken in this poem.
The poet has opened up a vast area of human life and its dilemmas and
fantasies in simple and attractive language in this poetry collection,
candlelight.
Bookshelf
The downward spiral of a literary imagination
Carl Muller
Atonement, a novel by Ian McEwan (Jonathan Cape, UK, 2001) was
short-listed for the Booker in 2002, and it was the best novel Ian has
ever written. I'd say it is a magnificent novel, shaped with confidence
and eloquently paced.
I give you the cover of this book (pictured below) and it holds a
story one usually will not find in modern fiction - a searing account of
error, shame and reparation. The complex, many-layered story comes to us
in four parts, with the destructive powers of fantasy being the main
theme.
The main character is a precocious young girl named Briony who is to
later become a famous novelist. Ian introduces readers to her when she
is a rather priggish 13-year-old. At a country house party in 1935,
Briony tries to bring the family members into taking part in the
performance of her first play, 'The Trials of Arabella.'
The family saw no harm in it and Briony, naturally, played the part
of Arabella...but the play ended disastrously when 'Arabella, with her
overheated imagination, accused an innocent man of raping her! We next
meet Briony at 18, still quite deranged at what she had done, and very
remorseful.
She is working as a nurse in London, tending to the casualties of the
Dunkirk evacuation during World War II. The novel depicts the horrors of
war and the section that depicts the carnage at Dunkirk is powerfully
and graphically presented - probably the best Ian has ever written.
Briony finds, among the wounded, the man she had falsely accused of
rape and she sees the opportunity to make atonement for her adolescent
fantasy. The story is then presented in her own words and becomes the
final draft of a confessional testament that Briony, now aged 77, had
worked and reworked on for 60 years!
This remains the novel's persistent theme; the dangers of literary
imagination. Briony has to undo, purge her mind's readiness to pry into
privacies and her desire to dramatise the things that led her to act her
fantasy in her childhood. The novel does not say so, but I am left to
wonder whether, Lolita like, there was also this childish desire to be
raped.
Atonement is a wonderful novel, a boldly-stated mix of love, of a
study in social class, and offers a meditative look at the power as well
as the limitations of art. What is brilliantly captured is Briony's
downward spiral to catastrophe that was vomited out of her literary
imagination. |
