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| Sunday, 24 November 2002 |
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Communication and the Family(Sannivedanaya Saha Pawla) By Jayantha Kumarasiri This book by Jayantha Kumarasiri creates bridges between sociology and communication studies. Its objective is to explore patterns of communication within the family, the primary unit in society. The author not only seeks to broaden our understanding of our own social environment. He also has the final aim and one could say "the social mission" of correcting and strengthening the patterns of communication within the family by means of expanding our understanding of the topic. This book consists of four main chapters. The first provides an introduction to the institution of the family. Introducing family as an institution begun with a marriage between a man and a woman, he goes on to describe various classifications of the family developed by sociologists and anthropologists. According to the author of the book, the nature of family in contemporary Sri Lankan Society was shaped by the impact of colonial rule on pre-existing social formations. For instance, while the word "kasade" (lit. "Marriage") was introduced by the Portuguese, the legal framework for marriage currently in place, particularly among the Low-country Sinhalese, largely evolved in the Dutch period. It follows the twin institutions of marriage and family in Sri Lankan society underwent some radical transformation during and after the colonial era. "Communication within the context of the family" is the theme of the second chapter. It explores various patterns of communication within the family ranging from self-communication within the individual to interpersonal communication and group communication as well as verbal and non-verbal and direct and indirect communication. The author refers to past practices such as "kulla pe kirima" (display of a winnowing fan outside a room) and "amuda pe kirima" (display of a hanging loin cloth on the door frame) as important examples of sexual communication of the direct but non-verbal kind. The key conclusion to be drawn from this chapter is that family is not only an important social unit but also a powerful social setting for various communication practices. One of the weaknesses of this chapter is that certain important sociological dimensions in intra-family communications are not fully explored. For instance, differences among husband and wife communication, parent-child communication, communication among siblings (boy versus girl and older versus younger) and communication with diverse members of the extended family are not examined systematically. Why rural women refer to their husbands as "father of the children" (lamayinge thaththa) though sociologically relevant remain unexplored. The third chapter deals with language and family-centric communication. The main focus is on verbal and nonverbal communication between husband and wife within the context of the family. The primary aim of the author is to identify reasons for failure of communication between husband and wife with a view to identify means of improving this communication. There are times when the text comes close to a populist guidebook for successful marriage rather than a good sociological analysis, but this should not take merit away from important contributions the book does make. The final chapter titled "Media and the family" examines the impact of media on behaviour, attitudes and perceived needs within the family. Given the increasing importance of popular teledramas in shaping many aspects of family life, this topic is highly relevant for an analysis of contemporary Sri Lankan society. This chapter, however, merely skims the surface in relation to the topic at hand. On the whole, the language of this book points to the broad interdisciplinary knowledge of the author. It covers selected ideas drawn from a range of disciplines, including communication, education, psychology, sociology and anthropology. There is good use of scholarly arguments and personal experiences of the author himself. The language used is simple and at the same time precise and free of the technical jargon typically found in Sinhala texts dealing with specialized subjects such as communication. One of the main drawbacks of this publication is that it deals with an idealized version of a family assumed to be universal in character. In reality many features of the family presented in this book characterize the lower middle class family in contemporary Sri Lankan society. The lack of sensitivity on the part of the author to important objective differences among family in different social settings in contemporary Sri Lanka stands in the way of a truly sociological analysis of different intra-family communication problems in different social settings. For instance, communication barriers between parents and children in relation to key issues such as sexuality, though critically important in the light of emerging needs in society, are not discussed at all. Despite these limitations, Jayantha Kumarasiri's new book provides a useful beginning for a sound and well-informed debate on the issues at hand. It will be a useful guide for all those interested in the welfare and well being of the family. Reviewed by Kalinga Tudor Silva, Professor of Sociology, University of Peradeniya. |
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