The continuing relevance of Martin Wickramasinghe
And I write today after attending a book launch at the International
Book Fair. The books: ‘Maha Gathkaru Vatha’, a biography of Martin
Wickramasinghe, authored by W.A. Abeysinghe; ‘Uprooted’ (English
translation of Wickramasinghe’s ‘Gamperaliya’ by Lakshmi De Silva and
Ranga Wickramasinghe), ‘Selected Short Stories of Martin Wickramasinghe’
(translated by Ranga Wickramasinghe) and Tamil translation of the last
two books.
W.A. Abeysinghe, commented on the necessarily ‘unfinishing’ nature of
the task he had undertaken: ‘Martin Wickramasinghe avasan karanna behe’
(One cannot ‘complete’ him). True. The man was a colossus, as literary
genius, sociologist and philosopher and other things besides.
‘Unfinishing’ nature
It occurred to me that there are other things that are of an
‘unfinishing’ nature in terms of description, particularly the answer to
the question, ‘Who are we?’ or, in common Sinhala parlance, ‘ape kama’
(‘ourness’ if you will). Martin Wickramasinghe’s life can be described
(in part) as an investigation of this question.
He did not give us a definite answer but the description of that
journey is all over his extensive writing; and so too the necessarily
indescribable understanding that he obtained in the course of his
travels.
He has been described as the pioneer in our search for who we are,
for our roots, what made us what we are. True.
For decades we have tried to understand ourselves in opposition to
perceived enemies. First it was the then Velupillai Prabhakaran. Today,
with Prabhakaran dead and gone, the spectre resumed its haunting role.
Martin Wickramasinghe was an exception in that his search was
independent of that kind of intellectual, ideological and psychological
baggage.
This is why he neither feared the ‘other’ nor responded in anger.
This is the only way that one can meaningfully and effectively engage
the other.
When we know where we came from, we realize where we are and where we
are going and most importantly where we should be going. Take any ‘lost’
nation or community and I am convinced that the cause of ‘lostness’ can
be traced to a refusal to explore self (in its broader, societal,
sense).
The importance of translating Martin Wickramasinghe also derives from
this same exercise; not only should we know who we are, we have to state
the fact to the world. If not, we open ourselves (as has been the case)
to be defined by others in accordance to their particular objectives. We
must never forget the telling definition of power proposed by the author
of ‘We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed along with our
families’, Peter Gourevich: ‘Power lies in the ability to make someone
inhabit your version of their reality’.
Language politics
For too long, we’ve let the Sudda define who we are. And this is why
we have our kalu-suddas turned into veritable echos of Suddha-wish: ‘Sri
Lanka is a failed state’ (for example). But let’s forget the Sudda. Have
we had that conversation with our nearest relative yet? Have we stated
who we are to our closest neighbour? I am thinking of the Tamil
Community and I am writing as a Sinhalese.
Sure we have, in political terms, which, I am convinced is several
times removed from the living, eating, breathing, love-making reality of
our social all. Language can be a bridge, yes, but a language heavy with
politics and ideology is but a chasm disguised as a bridge. Literature
and art are the true bridges, the true instruments that make meaningful
conversation possible.
If all modern Sinhala literature derived to a greater or lesser
degree from the pages of ‘Gamperaliya’ and if literature is a truer
reflection of social reality including history, heritage, culture,
sensibility and world-view; then translating the novel into Tamil is a
crucial first step.
The problem is there are a million more steps to take along a million
different pathways.
And in this we have to understand that the reverse is also true. We
must read the Tamil equivalent of all the Gamperaliyas of that
community.
I applaud this effort of the Martin Wickramasinghe Trust, therefore.
It teaches all of us in post-LTTE Sri Lanka an important lesson by way
of ‘methodologizing’ our political and social practice.
It is a necessary extension of the lifetime efforts of that
inimitable father of modern Sinhala literature, Martin Wickramasinghe.
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