More stories from Japanese literature
Prof. Sunanda Mahendra
Shiga Maha Terun Vahansege Premaya Saha Tavath Katha
The love of Venerable High Priest Shiga and other stories compiled
with an introduction by Professor Ariya Rajakaruna
Published by Godage Books, 2008
286 pages. Rs. 450
This is a collection of seventeen Japanese short stories some
translated from the original sources and some others from English
translations. The compiler Professor Ariya Rajakaruna, known to the
Sinhala readers for the galaxy of Japanese literary creations translated
into Sinhala over a period of four or five decades.
This compilation came out in the first instance in 1990 with the
title as Ishtartha Siddhiya. But as time passed by, the learned compiler
Rajakaruna has retitled it with a flashy change, perhaps to suit the
temperament of the present day reader, giving vent to a twist the usage
of words.
Whatever it is the reader has paved the way for this second edition
and I presume the compilation is worthy as quite a number of discourses
on the creative exchange of literary works had already taken place over
the years.
This work bears quite a number of well known Japanese writers, who
could be discerned as giants in the mastery of the craft of creative
narratives. They include such writers as Akutaguwa Ryunasuke, Dazai
Osamu, Hayashi Fumiko, Mishima Yukio.
Most stories irrespective from which the sources appear are well
translated into Sinahla and gives way for more creative thinking than
the period in which they had appeared in the first instance. Today the
original patterns of the craft of the short story had changed and
perhaps shows a mix nature of narrative forms, due to various reasons.
Yet the fact remains that the craft of short story writing is not
regarded seriously, despite the bestow of state awards annually. There
is room to believe that the short story is not regarded as a special
genre as there had been the existence of a deeply rooted narrative
tradition lurking in the Buddhist texts like Jataka stories and classics
like Saddharmarathnavaliya and Saddharmalankaraya to name two works.
As scholars of the past had often pointed out these classical works
may have had a lasting impact and a trend setting creative process in
the creative flux of the later writers. In this direction, the so called
Western influence may have not had a lasting impact.
The compiler Rajakaruna in his remarkable scholarly preface to these
short stories lays emphasis on such a belief that had been rooted in
Japan which had enforced some of the Japanese writers to be indigenous
creators despite the Western influence.
The title story, a sensitive spiritual experience in the life of a
Buddhist monk (Shiga) is a classic example. It is more of an analysis of
the inner conflict of a wayfarer in search of a spiritual bliss.
But can he really expect it to be fulfilled in a sensory world of
passions? I found this single work is one of the rarest pieces that
should be read and reread in the light of new knowledge gained in the
academic sphere. As for the academically bent Sinhala reader this
preface is a treasure trove which indicates the various trends that had
been passed in Japanese creative writings.
The compiler Rajakaruna, not only indicates it with examples, he goes
to the extent of commenting and interpreting some salient issues that
spring out of this sphere. He also shows how the late Professor
Ediriweera Sarachchandra had been influenced by some of the Japanese
creative trends with special reference to his celebrated short play
Pemato Jayati Soko.
The central pulse of the play is shown in comparison with the long
short story ‘Shiga’, where the emphasis is the conflict between the
sense and the spirit, where each collide with the other until one gives
up one to achieve the other. This work too could be reckoned as a text
book for the understanding the types of narrative forms of varying types
of creative writers.
I am not too sure as to why the script of one-act play let titled
‘Kadadasi Baloonaya’ (Kamu Fusen) by Kishida Kumio is inserted as a
narrative of prose fiction. Perhaps it may be an illustration of the
short narrative type which could take the pattern of an one-act play,
where the inner conflict of a wife and a husband is depicted. Perhaps
this creation would have gone into a collection of one act plays.
All in all, I felt that the need to rediscover Japanese creative
function is indicated, which may result in a series of companion volumes
to follow.
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