Thursday, May 11, 2017

Reviews in Progress: Ginisiluwaka Sandaeliyak – Ranjith Dharmakirtirogress



     Ranjith Dharmakirti’s Ginisiluwaka Sanda Eliya is narrated by a third person omniscient narrator who moves between Sinhalese and Tamil milieus. The protagonists are Nandani, the eldest daughter of an impoverished rural upper-caste Sinhalese Buddhist family, and Anandan, the elder son of a middleclass upper-caste Hindu family. Anandan sees the caste as a factor that unifies Nandani and him despite the difference in their ethnicity. Yet, initially Nandani refuses to work with Anandan for “[f]rom her childhood she had the idea that Tamils were rough people” (26). When he offers to visit her at her home she tells him not to, for she is afraid that “the villagers might consider her as traitor if she invited a Tamil to her home” (32). The socialist director of the hospital where Nandani worked is critical of her “ethnophobia” . The narrator says that the kind of socialization the Sinhalese undergo, lack of respect for Tamils - “treating all Tamils, even the upper class educated Tamils who live in Jaffna as beneath the Sinhalese”, “lack of recognition for Tamil as an ancient language with a Great Canon, lack of facilities to study the language and literature, and the non-availability of Sinhala translations of Tamil literary work” are the reasons for the ethnic divide (53).
In Ginisiluwaka Sandaeliyak, written by Ranjith Dharmakeerthi, a dramatist and a writer, the West is the place of great philosophers, rule of law, cleanliness, order, rationality, etc. while the East is a place of irrational racial conflicts. The Sinhalese are depicted as engaged in practicing repressive socio-political policies that trigger “a civil war”. Hence, the Sinhalese heroin and some of the important Sinhalese characters are repeatedly engaged in extensive cultural self-criticism (155-56). They apologize repeatedly to Dr. Ananadan on behalf of their race. Similarly, according to the Tamil characters in the novel “the majority of the Sinhalese are ethno-nationalist, uneducated, rural farmers and industrial workers” (97). 

     Both Nandani’s and Dr. Anandan’s points of view are given equal space and weight. The ethnicity of the protagonists and their two families could be interchanged without causing any great change to the plot. However, as Hemarathne Liyanaarchchi in “Ranjith’s Rich Structure and Characterization” (Daily News 13/3/2012) points out, the author does not focus on the escalating terrorist activities as an important factor in his novel. The novel ends in a positive note with the couple flying to a new country in search of a new life.

     Anandan, Shivalingam -his father, and Indrakumar - his university educated brother, engage in extensive criticism of both the Sinhalese and Tamils. However, the brunt of their arguments is that the Sinhalese “ethno-nationalism” pushes Tamils towards an armed struggle for a separate state or into fleeing the country as refugees . According to Anandan: “If all those parties in the South had got together and supported Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Agreement, this problem could have been solved at that time” (93). The reason for not supporting such a resolution, according to Indrakumar, is that “[t]he majority of the Sinhalese are racist uneducated rural peasants and factory workers” (97). He concludes that, “[i]f Tamils cannot live freely, then our people are pushed towards a position where we have to obtain a fair solution through an armed struggle as the Boys say” (95) . In reply to Indrakumar’s view on the emerging Tamil national pride due to the activities of the “Boys”, Anandan states, “We must stop talking about both Tamil pride and Sinhalese pride and build a common patriotism” (199). Interestingly, none of the Sinhalese characters engage substantially in a socio-political analysis of the current situation. Nandani’s family is portrayed as besieged by socioeconomic problems to the point that the members are beyond the kind of intellectual engagements frequent among Shivalingams.

     There are references to Sinhalese people acting generously towards Tamils who have become victims of the Sinhalese “ethno-nationalism” and vice versa. The novel also refers to LTTE practices such as kidnapping, death-threats, confiscation of property, and demanding of ‘dues’. In fact, mulling over his family’s situation, Shivalingam laments, “The way things are going on we cannot live either in the South or in the North” (202). 

     In the novel, the West is depicted as a rational, rule governed place devoid of corruption, conflicts, and inequity. Indrakumar says, “European intellectuals and artists stood up against Hitler and the war with one voice … The only country with artists saying that war is good is Sri Lanka” (152). Upon immigrating, Anandappa, a permanent resident of Australia, tells Anandan, “You would experience a great change after living in Sri Lanka. People respect the law, here. Law is common to everybody. People are well-behaved. Civilized” (206). In the end, “Anandan gives up the idea of going back to Sri Lanka due to the situation back there and the peaceful and comfortable life he has made for himself in Australia” (220). Still, Anandan is aware that his problem would not end with migration to another country. So he warns his bride: “When we go to Sydney, the Sinhala organizations will approach you. The Tamil organizations will approach me. Those two organizations may even brand us as traitors for marrying outside the ethnicity. We have to build a life amidst these problems” (239). 

     The third person narrator and some of the characters of Ginisiluwaka Sanda Eliya practice “cultural criticism” extensively. Yet, much of the criticism is done by the Tamil characters or the narrator on behalf of the Tamil characters in mono-ethnic milieus. Thus, in addition to a marked one-sidedness of the criticism, there is no space for an exchange of ideas between ethnicities. In addition, throughout the narrative Sinhalese characters all too readily accept a sense of racialized guilt. Interestingly, Ginisiluwaka Sanda Eliya, written immediately after the Final War, does not make any references to it. Also, as Hemaratne Liyanarachchi in his web article “Ranjith’s rich structure and characterization” states, in the novel, “the imminent threat of terrorism whose flames have already begun to lick the social web of the country has been viewed from the far end of the telescope”. Moreover, though the novel makes passing references to the issue of caste discrimination that had led to youth unrest in the North and the South, this is not explored as an essential cause of the rise of armed insurgencies. Yet, when the writers’ own ethnicity as a Sinhalese is taken into account, this study of how the Self is seen by the Other is clearly an example of an attempt at a “cultural self-criticism”.     

     In contrast, in Ginisiluwaka Sanda Eliya, Dharmakirti makes use of the voice of the Other to criticise the discriminatory activities of the Sinhalese as well as the violence practiced by the LTTE. The Road, too, despite the limitedness of its viewpoint, conducts a cultural criticism of the Other as well as the Self. Also, with its stories of victims and victimizers on both sides of the ethnic divide, Island is indubitably a cultural self-criticism.

Reviews in Progress: Army Army by Kumāra Chāpābandara



Army
     In contrast Army wdñ by Kumāra Chāpābandara presents the war as a senseless waste of human lives: “Our people their people … this is bullshit. Both Tamils and us are enmeshed in a war to satisfy the needs of some others, do you understand? Both groups are the ultimate losers of the war” (21). In the title ‘Army’ is in English represents the higher ranks of the Army that according to the writer benefit from the institutionalized framework of the Army which allows them a despotic amount of power and in some cases room for corruption. The second ‘Army’ in Sinhala – represents the vast majority of the ‘ordinary’ soldiers. The novel gives its readers an interesting insight to the role of English language as a rank/class marker in the Army. The protagonist Kumāra Chāpābandara (a pen name used in his newspaper columns) gives a first person narrative of the events of over 12 years of his life as a soldier attached to the Medical Corps of the Sri Lanka Army. The narrator considers war as a big men’s game – both Tamil and Sinhalese, and businessmen, here and abroad - who exploit the poverty-stricken youth of the country: 

Looking back, those who obtain state power the majority of whom are Sinhalese Buddhists misuse racial identity to ensure their survival. Those who appear as the opposition, too, use their Tamilness as a means of survival. The story is the same on both sides. The vast majority of ordinary Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims are under a great amount of pressure. Exploitation, unfair division of resources and the resultant disparities are common to all parts of the country. Liberation is necessary for everybody. Therefore, imprisoning Tamil sections who are suffering from existential issues in a racist framework and arming them for a war against a false enemy is a historical crime. (91) 

     The novel partially refutes the notion that the army is racist by pointing out that they had been used against the JVP uprising in 1971 and 1989-1890 periods against the Sinhalese in the South. The army according to the epigraph is a tool used by whoever in power to fulfil their narrow political ambitions. According to the narrator the war as fought in the 1980s would not be able to end the ongoing situation due to corruption, lack of will, tactics involved and international pressure, i.e. India invading SL airspace, tactics used by the LTTE. Nation-building requires a massive overhauling of the entire socio-political system supervised by visionaries like him.  

Reviews in Progress: Dehi: Suwanda, Rasa Saha Katu



Dehi: Suwanda, Rasa Saha Katu

     DSRK by Himali N. Liyaanage looks at the war primarily from the point of view of Suhani, a Sinhalese woman, but brings in the point of view of the Tamil, too, through the family members of Ramesh Jayabandara, her husband who was brought up by his Tamil mother and pro-separatist grandfather. Liyanange’s narration receives a certain amount of objectivity due to the distance between her subject matter and herself due to her diasporic location. Hence, when the Tamil undergraduates of Peradeniya celebrated the Central Bank blast with high-fives both Ramesh and Suhani are disturbed (41). War as a whole is depicted as something destructive that affects the entire nation (42). It is a “feast for the international community” who benefit from it in various ways (157). Suhani at the beginning is apathetic towards the war. Later her own liberal humanist father becomes a victim of a suicide bomb. Subsequently, towards the end of the novel Suhani begins to see the then ongoing war as a war against terrorism (158). 

     Ramesh criticizes his grandfather Sella Thaththa’s extremist views and identifies himself with the youth of the country (54). He resents the fact that the Army disregarded him as a suspect due to his race during a search for JVP activists. Ultimately, torn between two races he decides to leave Sri Lanka. His materialistic nature makes him a victim of Professor Mayuran, an LTTE kingpin who uses him as go-between in a money laundering scheme. Mayuran ruins Ramesh and rapes his mother to fulfill a personal grudge. 

     On the issue of nation-building and reconciliation, inter-racial marriages are on the surface depicted as having negative consequences both in the case of Ramesh’s parents as well as in Suhani and Ramesh’s (115/6). Yet, in both cases it is other more individual issues such as lack of communication that lead to the break up of the two marriages. Hence, the novel highlights need for communication as a vital step in the process of reconciliation.          
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The “humour” poems in our syllabus while providing humour, attempt to convey some greater truths. Discuss this statement with relevance to three poems in your syllabus:

  The term “humour” is often associated with silliness, meaninglessness, lack of depth, etc. Therefore, when a poem receives the “appellatio...