Writing about the moment
The era of globalization is typically defined as a time in which the
sovereignty of nation states has declined and modes of exchange operate
with increasing ease and speed across national boundaries, producing
configurations of power that exceed the boundaries of the nation-state.
It is said to have been “born” with the fall of the Berlin Wall in
1989 and the subsequent end of the Cold War.
The concept of globalization in treated with mixed reception within
the Sri Lanlan academia. Professor A.V Suraweera has pointed out in his
book “Essays on Sri Lankan literature and culture, the word
globalization while the accepted translation into Sinhala has been
goliyakaranaya another word in an ironical context had came into vogue
namely lokavesaya. Avesa in Sanskrit also means ‘take possession of’,
‘burdened with’, ‘engrossed’.
In the Sri Lankan context avesa is generally used to mean ‘take
possession of an evil spirit’ probably a ‘Yaksha’ (a demon). Thus it has
to be pointed out that the word ‘globalization’ generally has rather an
adverse connotation within the Sri Lankan context.
Simon Navagattegama |
If globalization refers to a compression of the world, where people
eager to know more and more about other people, regions and countries,
then as a result does it also mean that cultural identities and markers
had to become less clear over time?
In other words does globalization also mean the eraser of cultural
differences or the submerging of such differences within the identity of
one or few hegemonic cultural systems?
According to my point of view, I will divide Sinhala literature into
three separate sections as realistic, psychoanalytical and surrealistic.
Gam Peraliya of Martin Wickramasinghe is a realistic novel while
Hevanella of Siri Gunasinghe can be categorized as a psychoanalytical
work.
Most of Simon Navagattegama’s works is set in a surrealistic setting.
The writers who belong to all these steams were rather interested in
either describing locally relevant issues or building the inner psyche
of their protagonists.
But they have not attempted to link their works to the existing trend
towards a global culture.
One of the themes discussed parallel to the concept of globalization
is the difference between city and country.
Most of the Sinhala writers have tried to draw a steady line between
city and country. By reading such novels one can conclude that village
life is simple and transparent while life in the city, particularly of
those of the lower middle class, is opaque and complicated. Simon
Navagaththegama attempted to erase that steady line and represented the
universal nature of humanity.
The writers still seem to capture isolated incidents without paying
attention on the whole social structure. They unconsciously avoid
generalizations of the global impact into the local social body.
With globalization, many established concepts have undergone visible
changes in Sri Lanka. Those changers essentially influence the subsystem
of culture. Capturing this influence in the medium of literature is not
successful.
The issues of migrant labor, brain drain and global epidemics such as
HIV-AIDS, which have become socio- cultural and economic issues in Sri
Lanka, have not been dealt in Sinhala literature at all.
Although some writers were influenced by global literary trends, they
have failed to represent the socio cultural trends made out of
globalization. Therefore it can be said that the Sri Lankan writers are
still behind in the mission of utilizing the global framework as the
master narrative for national entities.
Sri Lankan life seems to be evolving around “the family, education,
high savings, hard work, home ownership, and clean living”. Our
literature seems rarely passing this conceptual framework. There is no
need to travel across seven seas to experience globalization. It is with
you and me in this very moment. |