SLACLALS conference :
Brainstorming on language and literature
K S SIVAKUMARAN
Prof Ashley Halpe |
Tissa Jayatilaka |
Prof Manique Gunasekera
|
Dr Maithree
Wickramasinghe |
Prof Walter Perera |
Dr Sumathy Sivamohan |
Vivimarie Van der Poorten |
Sunil Govinnage |
R L Spittel |
Lal Medawattegedara |
Pramod Nayar |
|
We attended a three-day conference of the Sri Lanka Association of
Commonwealth Language and Literature (SLACLALS) during the last weekend
held at the SLFI (Sri Lanka Foundation Institute). The sixth of its kind
had as its theme “The 21st Century Postcolonial: Issues and Challenges
in Literature and Language.”
The three-day confab had nearly 20 interested participants, but many
more from the three Universities where English is taught and where they
are situated in and around Colombo could have participated, more in
number. A few from the Open University and three from the University of
Jaffna were also present.
It was all academic and as such it was productive and at the same
time it was a little highbrow for a few like yours truly. The vigorous
participation of young academics and the sober and measured
presentations of the old guard bought in a blend of clarity and
unwariness. With Post-Modernism and Post-Structuralism and
deconstruction being in vogue in the university circles, it was the
young academics that shone with their unorthodox interpretation of
Literatures in English. It took sometime for me to really understand
what they were trying to say.
Prof Walter Perera of the English department of the University of
Peradeniya, who was the live wire behind the scene, took his chair and
made some opening remarks. The versatile Tissa Jayatilaka was behind the
microphone paying a glowing tribute by way of a felicitation to one of
the unassuming teachers of English in the Universities in Lanka and even
abroad as a visiting don for decades. Besides being a poet, painter,
translator and a musician – the indomitable but slightly uneasy in
physical movement, the Professor Emeritus, Ashley Halpe was listening
seated in a wheel chair assisted by his spouse Bridgette, herself an
artiste and scholar.
In his usual fine enunciation and measured use of words, Tissa was
paying his due respects to his Guru Ashley in a fitting manner. Then the
scholar and theatre enthusiast Halpe himself set the ball rolling in the
Plenary Session with an interrogation. Yes, it was on “Postcolonial” –
Is the Concept still Valid? He argued that the concept is subject to
change.
At the end of his speech, Prof Manique Gunasekera Head of the English
Department of the University of Kelaniya presented a gift to him for his
services on behalf of the academics. Before the end of the session Prof
Ashley Halpe and K S Sivakumaran read their poems. This was followed by
a reception where many did not wait to chat and eat.
On the following day, August 06, Prof Walter Perera, a Fulbright
scholar took the chair and conducted a video conference with another
scholar from India, Pramod Nayar in the Plenary Session. Nayar was
reading his paper: The Postcolonial Bildungsroman: Subalternity and the
Culture of Human Rights.
After Tea, Dr Nihal Fernando, Head of the English Department in the
University of Peradeniya chaired the next session. Chandana Dissanayake,
Senior Lecturer in the English Department of the University of
Sabragamuwa read a paper of interest: Vanished Trails: Issues and
Challenges in Reinterpreting R L Spittel’s text in the 21st century.
Another interesting contribution was by Carol Leon, Professor in
English at the University of Singapore. She spoke on ‘Issues and
Challenges Faced by the Diasporic Self and Community’. Mahendran
Thiruvarangan of the English department of the University of Jaffna read
a stimulating paper: Writing Jaffna: A Santhan’s Presentation of
Histories and Identities in The Whirlwind.
Dr Maithree Wickramasinghe, Kelaniya University, spoke on “Readings
from Afar: Methodologies for Femininity, Postcolonial Critiques in her
own style of lecturing. It was clear to me. But I wouldn’t say the same
thing to young academic Kanchanakesi Warnapala’s contribution although
her choice of subject was different to the rest. She read a paper on
“Landscape of Desire:
The Problematic Construction of Ceylon, Sri Lanka as a Picturesque
Site. But I enjoyed the style of presentation and the logic in Gayathri
Hewagama’s paper. Her topic was: Narayan Writes Back: The Anti-Imperil
Semiotics of Order-Disorder-Order in The Painter of Signs.
Prof Sumathy Sivamohan conducted the session. Marlon Ariyasinghe and
Mike Masilamani entertained the audience with their ultra modern poetry.
Under Kanchanakesi Warnapala’s chairpersonship Liyanage Amarakeerthi and
Sumathy Sivamohan read their respective papers followed by Readings by
Lal Medawattegedera.
The final day (Sunday, Aug 07, 2011) saw Prof Edwin Thamboo of the
National University of Singapore and Thiru Kandiah, Professor Emeritus
providing energetic renderings of their views on “Re-cognizing the
Linguistics of Post-Colonial Literary Creativity in English under the
chairmanship of Prof Ashley Halpe.
Vivimarie Van der Poorten conducted three speeches. Of all the papers
I enjoyed most the one presented by Prof Manique Gunasekera. Her
excellent presentation was useful to my understanding the problems
regarding syllabus for the GCE A-L examinations. Her subject was on
Syllabus Design. Young lecturer Rukshan Ibrhim read a paper on
Deconstructing Language Standards in Effective Language Teaching.
Another young academic, Maduranga Karlugampitiya’s subject was: The Need
to go Beyond Linguistics for an Effective and Meaningful Study of
Language: The Case of Veddah Language Studies.
Theena Kumaragurunathan mesmerized me with his reading of a long
short fiction.
He is a new find in the academic circles. Rishda Rafeeke also read
her poems. Sunil Govinnage a Lanka born Australian revealed many things,
both through his poems and his paper on Migrant Writings from Down
Under: Some observations on Multicultural Writings.
Equally interesting was the analysis of Lal Meddawattegedera. He read
a paper on The Question of Masculinity in Blue Stories for Adults.
Vihanga Perera’s approach was “Notes from a Quest for an ‘Absent’ Writer
named Mark Wilde. He was in detective mode to find the ‘real’ Mark
Wilde. It was entertaining.
Sunil Govinnage and Edwin Thamboo read some of their poems while the
chairperson Chandana Dissanayake thanked all the participants with his
genuinely expressed feelings. The Confab ended well. |