How do we, or should we, talk of incest?: Incest buried deep underground in denial?

by Rikaza Hassan

The story of Sinhabahu, a widely acknowledged legend and critically acclaimed play of the late Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra relates the origin of the Sinhala race. The story goes that Sinhabahu, son of princess Suppadevi and the king of beasts, the lion, after committing patricide and founding Sinhapura, takes his sister Sinhasivali as wife.

Their first born, the rebellious Vijaya is banished from the country whence his boat washes ashore Lanka and he marries the reigning queen Kuveni, giving rise to the Sinhala race. And, while all and sundry are more than happy to boast of being descendent from a lion, hardly anyone agrees to discuss the incestuous relationship that bore forth one half of our ancestors.

'Incest' is a taboo subject to discuss, a taboo word to utter, a taboo thought to think of. While people nowadays fashionably speak of sexual relations, child abuse and rape in a knowing manner, they nevertheless maintain a distance in fear of the word 'incest'.

And, while most of us will always consider incest to be both immoral and criminal, it was not always so, says Jagath, a student of history.

"From Sinhabahu to Oedipus of Greek mythology (Oedipus inadvertently killed his father and married his mother who bore him daughters), to even Ramayana - certain scholars believe Sita to be the daughter of Ravana who had sexual relations with her and hence Sita was cast out by Rama." He adds, "Incest did not receive the degradatory treatment of today, in the old days. It is all due to the colonial influence that has shaped our culture so much."

Whilst talk of incest might give us goosebumps, or even cause lack of appetite, should it nevertheless be brought out to the forefront and discussed in the open? "I think incest should be spoken of in terms of other than whispers, because I believe that it is better to be educated about it than ignorant of it. This is especially true in the case of children who are abused in incestuous relationships," remarks Saleem.

At a time, in a culture where conception and contraception is not taught, where children still grow up believing that a mere kiss will get you pregnant, where AIDS and other sexually transmitted disease spread like, well viruses, incest has been buried deep underground in denial.

The lack of awareness of incest is especially disturbing, considering that post-incest trauma, if not properly treated - and treatment may take years of one's life - it could put a stop to ever living a fulfilling life.

Child incest victims are referred to as "secret survivors" by therapists, as there is usually no one to support them, let alone listen to their self-loathing, confused and angst ridden tales. Victims may live their entire lives in denial, in nightmarish flashbacks and suppressed anger and frustration threatening to surface.

The more uninformed child might not even understand that the sibling or parental abuse inflicted upon him/her is in the wrong and will tend to continue the cycle of abuse on his/her child or sibling since the child is not made aware from the beginning, of incest.

Incest was literally thrust in our faces recently with the contentious banning of the art film Aksharaya - Letter of Fire by the controversial Ashoka Handagama. Aksharaya, which deals with the incestuous relationship between a local mother and child, was banned.

Even if Handagama's exploration of incest is never widely seen, incest is to be found in both fact - the incestuous sibling relationship of my colleague's neighbour, and fiction such as the freely available incestuous pornography in any adult video or book store to non erotic, mainstream works such as V.C. Andrews' 'Flowers in the Attic' novel in which brother and sister maintain a loving relationship to Arundhati Roy's 'The God of Small Things' where fraternal twins engage in an invigorating sexual experience.

As for Aksharaya, however, mother to be, Mrs. Lal believes incest should not be depicted in cinema or other media. "There are people in this country who believe that anything that is shown in the cinemas or television is acceptable to engage in. If the film is screened, people will come out of cinemas believing that incest too is alright. And imagine the impact it will have on the minds of young children.

Children will end up looking at their own mothers in a sexual way. It will lead to corruption and sexual violence." And though Aksharaya may carry the tag of 'adults only', it will not stop the widespread distribution of copies that will ultimately land in the hands of minors with a pc nearby and plenty of time in their hands.

So, while we embrace history, we turn away from the facts. We speak in whispers of blasphemy, yet leave our children illiterate and vulnerable to the increasing dangers of society and within the family. While it is always prudent to draw the line, where will the line be drawn when incest is never spoken of in the open?