Literary eyes wide shut
 Recently,
I made a Google search on Sri Lankan postmodern novels. Unfortunately I
did not find anything related to Sinhala novel during that search. There
were hundreds of entries about either Michael Ondaatje's or Romesh
Gunasekara's novels, but there was no mention on a single Sinhala
author. I am not sure whether that is because the Sinhala postmodern
novel is a mere illusion or our novels have not attracted the much
needed criticism. The word 'postmodernism' has become a commonly used
literary term in Sri Lankan society. Our generous writers have taken a
painstaking effort to introduce this widely discussed topic to Sinhala
readership by piling up examples from non- Sinhala literature. Being
called Pashchaath Nuthanavadaya, this has been included in most language
related university courses. Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as
a whole, is hard to define and there is little agreement on the exact
characteristics, scope, and importance of postmodern literature. Both
modern and postmodern literatures represent a break from 19th century
realism. In character development, both modern and postmodern literature
explore subjectivism, turning from external reality to examine inner
states of consciousness, in many cases drawing on modernist examples in
the stream of consciousness styles of Virginia Woolf and James Joyce, or
explorative poems like The Waste Land by T. S. Eliot. As with all
stylistic eras, no definite dates exist for the rise and fall of
postmodernism's popularity. 1941, the year in which Irish novelist James
Joyce and English novelist Virginia Woolf both died, is sometimes used
as a rough boundary for postmodernism's start.
Postmodernism in literature is not an organized movement with leaders
or central figures; therefore, it is more difficult to say if it has
ended or when it will end (compared to, say, declaring the end of
modernism with the death of Joyce or Woolf). With this new emphasis on
realism in mind, some declared The Satanic Verses of Salman Rushdie in
1988 to be the last great novels of the postmodern era.
Several themes and techniques are often used together in compiling a
postmodern novel. These are not used by all postmodernists, nor are this
an exclusive list of features. Theoretically, irony, black humour,
intertextuality, playfulness, historiographic fiction and magic realism
can be presented as some of the key features in a postmodern fiction.
Postmodern themes and techniques can be often found in novels compiled
by Simone Nawagattegama, Eric Ilayaparachchi and Sunetra
Rajakarunanayake. Nawagattegama highly uses magic realism in his novels.
And most importantly, he infuses historiography into his novels. 'Sapekshani
'series and 'Suba Saha Yasa' are clear examples for this artistic
infusion. Sunetra Rajakarunanayake is my all time favourite black
humorist.
Sunetra presents the character of Nanditha in her novel 'Nandithaya'
with a marvellous sense of black humour. The purpose of black comedy is
to make light of serious and often taboo subject matter, and some
comedians use it as a tool for exploring important issues, thus
provoking discomfort and serious thought, as well as amusement in their
audience. Sunetra also adds an essential element of postmodernism to her
novels by setting them in great cosmopolitan environments like New York
and Beijing. Eric Ilayapaarachchi's novelsbagandara and Vithanda Samaya
and his short story collection 'Avanaduwaka Satahan' bring key aspects
of postmodernism like irony into surface. He has been able to present
the Sri Lankan socio-political phenomena in postmodern literary
structure. This analysis on Sinhala writers clearly proves that they
have wittingly used recognizable aspects of postmodernism. Sunetra's
Nandithaya has been translated into English by Vijitha Fernando as
'Chameleon' but none of the other above mentioned fiction has gone
beyond Sinhala. And none of the so called literary critics has
positively focused upon those literary works. People just read those
novels unequipped with essential literary tools to catch the entire idea
presented by the novelist.
I strongly believe that positive and authentic literary criticism
paves the way to an intelligent nation. Lack of literary intelligence
has prevented Sinhala reader from understanding Sinhala postmodern novel
in this postmodern era. |
