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Book Review:
Widening the knowledge on Spanish literature
Vishva Sahithiye Spangna Pilimbibuwa by Indrani Rathnasekara is a
book containing 25 articles about the life and times of internationally
acclaimed authors of Spain. The keen Readers of world literature in
Sinhala owe to the effort made by Rathnasekara for bringing in book form
some of her best articles as they would help enhance one's knowledge
about the outstanding figures of Spanish literature.
The readers also should salute the Student Body of the Mass
Communication Department of the Sri Jayawardenepura University working
under the aegis of Senior Professor Sunil Ariyaratne not only for
organizing the Viyodaya Award ceremony to recognize the local talents,
but also underscoring the importance of knowing better the Spanish
literati to the locals who understand only Sinhalese.
 The Readers will have the easy access to the reading material dealing
with Spanish literati Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616); Miguel
Hernandez (1910-1942); Gustavo Adolfo Becquer (1836-1870); Ruben Dario
of Nicaragua (1867-1916); Antonio Machado (1875-1939); Vicente
Aleixandre(1898- 1984); Fedrico Garcia Lorca (1898-1936);Juan Ramon
Imenez (1881-1958); Salvador Dali; Artist, Painter and Script writer
(1904-1989) Film Director - Researcher Luis Bunuel Portales
(1900-1983);Ricardo Eliecer Neftali Reyes Basoalto alias Pablo Neruda
(1904-1973) ; lyricist and singer Julio Iglesias(1943 -) and Jose Bello
Lasierra alias Pepin (1904 May 13); the non-writer among the galaxy of
writers, yet a very close friend of some of the outstanding Spanish
scholars. The book also invites us to dive deep into the sea of
knowledge to enrich and accommodate more information about the
respective histories and literary work.
The book deals with song and dance, drama of lives of the sort of
outcasts, dealt by the Spanish writers of their times which has deep
reference to historical past and modern day events of our country.
Despite the fact that we lack sufficient reading material to understand
times and work of a host of Spanish scholars of yesteryear, the Sri
Lankan theatre-going public are much impressed with the stage dramas
performed basing on the Spanish Scripts such as Yerma (Moodu Puththu) ,
Bodas de Sangre (Sanda Langa Maranaya) and La Casa de Bernada Alba (Alba
Nivahana). Perusing the pages of the present book the artists of stage
would find vast raw material untouched to feed the imagination to create
new scripts for stage plays and ballets.
The presentation of Cervantes, (Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra) and one
of his universally acclaimed novels 'Don Quixote,' is a salient feature
of the present work. The novel rotates round a table and a chair in the
prison-cell, Cervantes was forced to live for some years. The
soldier-prisoner, deals with his personal experience, and life inside
the prison Cue va de Medrano at Mancha. He is honoured and hailed as the
supremo in Spanish Literature and the pioneer novelist of the modern
era.
We should be very grateful to Indrani Rathnasekara, other men and
women who with pioneering spirit labored to widen the scope of our
knowledge. They open wide, the doors and windows of history and
literature en-masse and also allow winds of new learning to come into
threshold of our domains, for us to mingle and grapple with new
knowledge about the known and the unknown world around us. Rathnasekara
deserves our deep appreciation for opening new vistas and helping the
local reader to discover an area so far scantly known to them.
Her dedication and commitment in learning foreign languages had
enriched the Sinhala Literature and also had opened the hearts and minds
of the Spanish people to recognize the Sri Lankan talent reading through
the pages of the Indrani's Spanish translation of Punchi Kete Wature
Gihin authored by Prof Kusuma Karunaratne, and know better the isle Sri
Lanka, the pearl of the Indian Ocean. She has also written a book for
Spanish tourists to Sri Lanka, a 'Sinhala book for Travelers' (2003) and
'Spanish in Sinhala' for the local readers (1992).
Indrani. winner of several awards and certificates is grateful the
editors of Sinhala Weeklies and Dailies such as Dinamina, Silumina,
Divaina, Lankadeepa for providing ample space for her writings covering
the lives and works of outstanding authors of Spanish literature.
She has been educated both at the Kegalle Balika Vidyalaya and
Pushapada Balika Vidyalaya, Kandy. The environs, milieu and atmosphere
at parental home had been an ideal place, as her father himself was a
keen student of many languages of his time and that had greatly
influenced her. Her employment as Ground Hostess, Traffic Agent and
Senior Traffic Officer, at the National Carriers in 1976 -1994 (Air
Ceylon Ltd & Air Lanka Ltd.) was a playing field for her romance in
learning other languages. The beauty of that exercise was her readiness
to share with rest of the world what she had acquired immersing herself
in the sea of new knowledge, via articles sent to the local and foreign
media and also authoring several books.
Her commitment gives emphasis to the fact that whatever the
profession one is involved in is no barrier to learn, enhance once
knowledge and share same with others, the lesser mortal with no
opportunity to travel about the countries of the globe.
- Wiruma
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