Beyond celestial limits
Aravinda Hettiarachchi
Novelist Kathleen Jayawardena
launched her 15th novel Dhara recently. Here are excerpts from an
interview with the renowned author.
What is Dhara about?
The plot is a question. It asks if it is essential for the people to
have limitations and borders. The novel maintains two dimensions in
narrative to express my view: the beings in the physical world and a
celestial world.
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Kathleen Jayawardena |
A journalist has been killed mysteriously on the road. His mother,
Vandana, feels the emotions of her dead son. His soul entered a world
beyond this earth. He had turned into a celestial being who tries to
interpret his previous life with celestial values.
Fundamentally, the celestial being lives in an environment beyond
worldly borders and limitation. He see the judges who were dignified
with their judgments in his previous world represents as prosecutors in
this new world.
How relevant is this novel to the present society?
This is relevant for all times. I deals with a lot of contemporary
issues. People today are more concerned with physical benefits than in
the past.
If you ask a tiger why it kills a deer so cruelly it would surely
reply that it kills the deer as quickly as possible by cutting its
throat out. It would say that it is doing it for hunger. But it would
argue that humans take a long time to torture and kill a deer or an ox.
People engage in cruelty for more than mere hunger. They gain pleasure
out of the act. The tiger never kills a deer when it is not hungry.
The celestial world is similar to this. The journalist turned
celestial being mocks at his own previous life and values. He finds out
that humans are not human even though they interpret themselves as the
beings who could think of the other in better metaphors. Their
superiority cannot be assessed via modern technology. They have fought
with each other throughout history.
Where do you stand in Sri Lankan literature?
I write what I feel. I suppose Sri Lankan novelists are not in a
standard to satisfy the needs of Classical readers. That is why they
seek translations. Readers still vie for the novels of the 1950’s and
60’s.
 Yet
look at Simon Navagaththegama and Ajit Thilakasena. They have gained
better standards in Sri Lankan literature though they have not taken by
granted by the orthodox literal hierarchy. I myself feel that
Thilakasena’s work is hard to grasp. Navagaththegama‘s creations
fascinates me.
Recently Nissanka Wijemanna and Piyal Karaiyawasm have launched short
stories. You should not interpret them as mere writers who followed the
footsteps of Navagaththegama and Thilakasena. I think they have their
own identities.
Do you believe that the readers will be able to grasp the ideologies
behind your novel?
Professor Wimal Dissanayake asked me the same question. I cannot give
a clear cut answer.
This is not an experimental novel. It is a mode of expressing my
feelings. I don’t know how the audience will react. When I went through
my own work I felt that some areas of the novel would be of different in
taste to the common reader. This concerns the people who enjoy
translations in particular.
I didn’t intend to reach a particular readership through Dhara. I
believe that an exceptional creation will always remain in the society
weather you have a grand launched or not. The best example comes from
Buddhism. The Buddha‘s teachings, 2500 years ago, still remains with the
people.
What remains is not always popular. Intellectuals cannot build a
democratic society at the drop of a hat. They belong to the minority.
They are recognized and honored by the society after sometime, mostly
after their death.
I wouldn’t interpret my novel as a book of wisdom. It was written
according to my capacity. It would take me two or three months to judge
the reaction of the readers. I look forward to the feedback. |
