The 33rd death anniversary of Martin Wickramasinghe falls tomorrow:

Rediscovering Lanka’s wordsmith

Ruwini Jayawardana

His works paints vivid landscapes of a bygone era. Though these may be unfamiliar to the present generation, they can grasp the beauty and value of rural life through the words which flowed out of his pen.

Nearly 33 years have passed since the death of Sri Lanka’s highly acclaimed novelist and writer Martin Wickramasinghe. Dubbed the ‘Sage of Koggala’ by Professor Joseph Needham, the renowned Cambridge scholar, Wickramasinghe played a pivotal role in enriching our literature with his books on diverse topics. His writings ranged from novels and short stories, to academic writings on topics such as social sciences, the arts, linguistics, history, Buddhism and philosophy.

The key to his success was his ability to feel the pulse of the country’s rural life culture, and transfer that into his writings.

Since more than three decades had passed after the writer of many facets passed away, it had become timely to focus on his momentous work Upanda Sita (From the Beginning) to recognize the sources of his inspiration. As Wickramasinghe had stated in the opening passage of Upanda Sita:

“This is not an autobiography. It is not a novel. Nor is it a record of my past. It is the outcome of my efforts to recall and write what I did, what I said, what I heard and what I saw, as well as my thoughts and my hopes, from childhood to middle life. Upanda Sita is not intended to be a title, but words that express the syncretism of my efforts.”

Sections of the Folk Museum at Koggala Source: ‘From the Cradle’ published by The Martin Wickramasinghe Trust

The rock which gave the name Koggala to the village

Many think that Tissa of his famous trilogy Gamperaliya, Kali Yugaya and Yuganthaya, is a spokesman for the author. Though Tissa has expressed some of Wickramasinghe’s ideas, there is no real basis to indicate that this is true. Wickramasinghe had breathed life into diverse characters in his novels and short stories, many of whom have voiced views similar to their creator.

Tissa, who transcends from boyhood to adult middle-age in relation to his changing social and physical milieux, is one of Martin Wickramasinghe’s most complex creations.

Similarly Aravinda too is not a projection of Wickramasinghe but if Aravinda too had the insights that Tissa possessed, he would have been an alter ego of Tissa, able to cope with the contradictions that he faced. Aravinda was not a sentimental romantic, but, Tissa was in his youth, although he did become cynical of life as he grew older.

However both of them were obsessed by similar morale conflict. The difference lies in the fact that one was able to cope with it through his intellectual development, whilst the other was torn by contradictory emotions and social obligations. If at all, Tissa is a kind of alternative evolution of the character of Aravinda of Viragaya who dies at a relatively young age.

Like most creative writers and novelists, Wickramasinghe too built up his characters based on his own emotions and experiences. He intrudes into the personalities of others as he wants to create different personalities. However there are fragments of the author in the characters as he had contemplated how a character would react to a situation.

Wickramasinghe had admitted that the physical appearance of Kaisaruwatte Muhandiram of Gamperaliya was colored by memories of his father. He had confessed that he does not have a vivid memory of his mother’s face, although his father had died around seven or eight years before his mother. Upanda Sita gives us an insight into the reason for this.

During his mother’s final illness, Wickramasinghe spent time in Colombo and did not visit the village, prompted in this by his mother, who wanted to protect him by hiding her difficulties from him. When the son learnt of the extent of her neglect, it was too late. Some of the feelings of guilt that lingered in consequence are conveyed in his short story Mawa. Although Mathara Haminay’s physical description is rather vague in Gamparaliya, the portrayal of her humane personality is extremely powerful.

There is no doubt that the characters and the social and physical milieux that Wickramasinghe created in his novels and short stories, were inspired by the men, women and children in the rural milieu in which he grew up, and the urban milieu in which he lived his adult life as a journalist, and brought up his family.

Henri Troyat’s ‘Tolstoy’ (Penguin Books, 1970) is an exceptional biography that links characters and events in Tolstoy’s novels and short stories to his interactions with people and social setting of his own life and times.

A similar biography of Martin Wickramasinghe would help the contemporary reader develop a deeper appreciation of his writings - both fiction and non-fiction. It will also provide a better understanding of the nature of the social and political problems we faced and continue to face in modern times. Such a biography of the writer has been undertaken by W. A. Abeysinghe, and will be published by the Martin Wickramasinghe Trust in the near future. They also hope to translate the work into English.

An English translation of Gamperaliya by Dr. Lakshmi de Silva and Dr. Ranga Wickramasinghe was launched recently. Aditha Dissanayake is working on an English translation of the second volume of the trilogy Kaliyugaya. Malinda Seneviratne had serialized a translation of Upanda Sita for The Sunday Island some time back, and it is being edited for publication as a complete book.. A selection of ten short stories has been published in Sinhala, and English, and a Tamil version is ready for printing.

Wickramasinghe’s skill of using the Sinhala and English language derived from his habit of reading. He was also a keen observer and had accompanied Prof. Senarath Paranavitharana in his travels to ancient cities like Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa where he had made many interesting discoveries and included it in some of his essays in English such as ‘Aspects of Sinhala Culture’ where he raises an aspect of Paranavithana’s conjecture based on a rock inscription.

Keeping his memory alive and pulsing, the Martin Wickramasinghe Trust had constructed a Museum of Folk Culture near his ancestral home in Koggala.

The surroundings and items on display recreates the backdrop in which the writer had lived and gives the present generation an idea of ecological harmony in a way of life that is fast disappearing., so vividly portrayed in Martin Wickramasinghe’s writings. The museum houses around 2, 000 artifacts which depict the history of the country’s culture.

A visit to the museum is one of the best ways of getting to know the background of the life and times depicted in the author’s writings.

The article is based on a discussion with Martin Wickramasinghe’s son, Dr. Ranga Wickramasinghe.

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