ViewpointO columnist, I
excavated thou!
Samodh THAVEESHA
I was so baffled and delighted at the same time seeing last week's
Viewpoint. I was really delighted to hear we still have enthusiastic
readers like Ranjith Premasiri. The columnists he talks of are totally
different from the other. But my delight was short-lived.
In my view, addressing a well-experienced bilingual creative writer
and a translator a 'semi-literate nanny' is something to do with the
ethics of journalism. No one can just call an experienced contributor
merely by taking one work into account. And certainly, there are much
more accepted ways of critical examination. That criticism should also
be based on the creative work itself rather than on the writer himself
or his personality. Writers are very complex characters. One cannot call
them 'worthless' even if the work is a failure. They are quite capable
of producing a spectacular masterpiece the next time around.
Writing in a high-flowing, air-floating, bombarded language makes a
columnist aloof from the common reader. Because there is fair chance
that they would struggle to grasp the content and the message since they
are not language experts. As a schoolboy, I prefer columns like Random
Muse written in day-to-day, readable language. In such an industrial
community as this, people run short of time to read high-flown writings
and critiques constantly referring to a dictionary word by word.
Since the time issue matters a lot, they try to get hold of more
knowledge in less time. So a columnist does not necessarily need to lay
down those storming arguments, sometimes people do not understand them
and they have no time to go through them thoroughly. Even the interested
have plenty of other reliable sources to refer to than scanning for them
in daily and weekly columns.
A columnist must also have a good understanding of the common
reader's whims and fancies to sell the sweet he asks for. They must make
their columns much more interesting.
They can’t afford to walk shoes on in ragged village paths
accompanying rustic countrymen.
I personally do think both ‘Random’ writer and the other columnist
Ranjith had mentioned still exist because they know how to sell their
load of sweets. So, let them be themselves in their products long as
there are people to buy the goods. In that respect, I highly appreciate
Premasiri’s initiative as a keen reader. But any discerning reader can
perceive how misconceived, badly organized and irrelevant his arguments
are. They actually have no basis, neither consistency nor substance. So,
I sympathize with Premasiri for his unsuccessful attempt to sting
‘Random’ writer with his venom. And I expect him not to taste sweets
anymore with his sore throat until it gets back to normal condition.
Note: This correspondence is now closed. |
