Debate:

‘Sri Lankan writers struggle to write in English because they have an inferiority complex’ - Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara

by Aditha Dissanayake

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Grave were the accusations he had made in a Sinhala paper, last Sunday (March 30) regarding writers who write in English, I was caught off-guard when I found Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekara in a jovial mood, when I finally traced him at his residence in Nawala last Wednesday.

With laughter in his voice he admits to having spoken to a journalist sometime ago about Sinhala writers who write in English, but chuckles saying he did not see the article last Sunday. He stands by the statement he had made. “Yes, Sri Lankan writers write in English because they have an inferiority complex”.

Dr. Amarasekara’s theory is simple. “Writers, through their creative work, cannot address the universe. When you write a creative work you get into a dialogue with the public. You are communicating with an audience - you are addressing the people of your country” says Dr. Amarasekara. “And when you address the people of your country you must use the language of the people of your country”.

He dismisses the belief Sinhala writers should write in English to reach out to the universe, as bunkum. Quoting one of his favorite authors, he says only two people in this world can address the universe, the President of the United States and the Pope. All others can address only their own people and to do so they should use their mother tongue.

“All this emphasis on writing in English is due to a new form of colonialism spreading its wings over the country” adds Dr. Amarasekara. “Those who struggle (yes, he emphasises the word -struggle) to write in English do so because they have an inferiority complex”. Period.

Over to all Sri Lankan writers in English out there. This space is yours. Do you think he is right?

Fact file

Born in a village near Galle, the novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic and essayist Gunadasa Amarasekara is considered one of the founding fathers of modern Sinhalese literature.

He is also considered one of its more controversial writers as he examines hypocritical politicians and “self-centered intellectuals.”

Amarasekara revolutionized Sinhalese poetry with a new poetic form evolved from Sri Lanka’s folk poetry. A dentist by training, Amarasekara began writing while a student at the Dental School in Peradeniya.

In the early fifties, his short story Soma was selected to represent Ceylon in a world short story competition organized by the New York Herald Tribune. It was published in the collection of World Prize Stories in 1952. This was the beginning of his illustrious literary career that spans over 50 years.

By the mid 1950s he was a leader of the new Peradeniya School of Poets. Increasingly rejecting foreign literary influences, he developed a distinct Sinhalese short story form. His stories deal mostly with the social and cultural aspects of the middle class.

His first novel, Karumakkaarayo, triggered controversy as he examined a power hungry politician and showed “the beginning of his tribal warfare in its incipient stages, in the guise of village-politics in a remote village in the South.”

Beginning in the mid-1970s, he ventured into a field of social, cultural and political criticism and continues in his role of social activitist and commentator. His seven-volume narrative Gamanaka mula examines the evolution of middle class Sri Lanka and enunciated the concept of Jaatika chintanaya (national consciousness).

The Library of Congress has thirty-two works by him.

Source: Library of Congress website

Of rapids, cascades and waterfalls

Reviewed by Prof. Kapila Dahanayake

The writer Sunil de Costa had been enamoured by the beauty and the variety of waterfalls in Sri Lanka while he climbed hill slopes as part of his professional exercise of duties as a magistrate.

No doubt his adroit handling of the camera had resulted in more than 100 eye catching as well as informative photographs of spectacular geological phenomenon that is waterfalls. For a geologist, photographs are ofcourse no replacement for a field visit to such sites.

But I have been able to observe many geological features in this book thanks to the clarity of the photographs, their accurate descriptions and above all the adroit handling of the camera by the author.

Waterfall is a geological formation resulting from water often in the form of a stream flowing over an erosion resistant rock that developed a sudden break in elevation. Where a bed of strong rock more resistant to natural processes of weathering and erosion-horizontal or gently inclined upstream is underlain downstream by a weaker rock formation, the initial stages of waterfall development commences. A rock formation is considered as weak due to its particular composition and or structures (fractures/faults).

In the wide spectrum of waterfalls, three types could be recognized: rapids, cascades and waterfalls based on the (a) steepness of the gradient (b) continuity or discontinuity of the gradient.

A part of a stream where the current is moving with a greater swiftness with the water surface being broken by obstru ctions but without sufficient break in slope to form a waterfall refers to rapids (Fig 1). When the vertical fall of a waterfall is interrupted by a series of benches (like on a stairway) a series of relatively small waterfalls occur sometimes with individual plunge pools and these are the cascades sensu stricto (Fig. 2).

A stream flowing on strong rock strata underlain by weaker rocks will initially form rapids that will gradually erode the stream bed to give rise to a steep gradient along a fracture/fault plane (Fig.3).

The water flowing along such a river when it encounters a steep slope plunges at high speed foaming and forming in the process a spectacular sight of a column of turbulent flow which is a waterfall sensu stricto (Fig.3). At the foot of the waterfall is a plunge pool where very large pot holes cut into the rock (Fig.3).

These vertical holes are developed as water plunges down with force through turbulent flow accompanied by its “drilling” tools-boulders, pebbles, sand and silt. Such pools are visible particularly on several pages e.g. 38,54,58,62,64,70,74 of the book.

Waterfalls can be seen in the hilly terrains of Sri Lanka. These areas are underlain by mostly metamorphic rocks such as gneisses, quartzite, marble and charnockite. Charnockite form massive rocks resistant to weathering and erosion processes.

They can form steep and deep vertical slopes and when stream plunges over their crests a waterfall will form. Gneisses can be of different compositions and structures and as such they may give rise to series of nearly horizontal benches/tables (Fig. 2).

The author starts his expose on waterfalls by considering Ranmudu Falls in Colombo district which flow as three small waterfalls at different elevations, His discourse on the Rhythm of Cascades thus commences by aptly introducing the readers - perhaps unwittingly using the correct geological parlance - to a stepped series of closely spaced small waterfalls descending over the crests of steeply slanting resistant rocks (Fig. 2). The naming of at least some waterfalls is in recognition of these facts.

Hath Mala Ella - Seven Storey Falls (p.46) is a case in point and evidence for indigenous knowledge about waterfalls. Such small waterfalls are the “cascades” sensu stricto. In the waterfall development there are three stages which do not appear as a regular development of events - smallest being rapids, then cascades and finally the waterfalls (Figs. 1,2,3).

In this hierarchy - the shallow angle of the face of resistant rock becomes gradually increased from near horizontal until it appears as a very steep or vertical precipice over the crest of which a waterfall descends in its majestic beauty (Fig. 1).

In the world context of waterfalls, Angel Falls of Venezuela is world’s highest at 979m, Africa’s Victoria Falls is world’s longest at over 1 mile with North America’s Niagara Falls being the largest in terms of volume of water flowing over the precipice. Sri Lanka’s tallest is Bambarakanda (241m) followed by Kurundu Oya (189m) and Diyaluma waterfalls (171m). The Bambarakanda fall has the rank of 48 in the world.

Yet, Sri Lankan waterfalls in their characteristic tropical highland settings with luxuriant vegetation are indeed as picturesque and are perhaps of unsurpassed beauty. These are sites visited by multitudes of even Sri Lankan tourists and indeed by many a foreign tourist.

In his treatise, Mr. Costa has taken one and all on a sightseeing mission by his beautiful photographs of Sri Lankan waterfalls and their captivating captions.

A significant number of these waterfalls in Sri Lanka can be categorized as cascades. The author has done justice to his work by aptly describing the publication as “Rhythms of Cascades” It is indeed a landmark contribution which opens a window for those who would appreciate the beauty of waterfalls.

Congratulations to author Sunil Costa for a very useful and valuable academic exercise!

The sweet and simple kind - shortlisted for the 2008 IMPAC Dublin literary award

Eight novels, including “The sweet and simple kind” by Yasmine Gooneratne, have made the shortlist for the 2008 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award.

The shortlist was selected from a total of 137 novels nominated this year. The Award is worth €100,000 and is the world’s most valuable literary prize for a single work of fiction published in English. The eight shortlisted novels are among 137 nominated by 162 public library systems in 122 cities worldwide.

The Lord Mayor and Patron of the Award, Cllr. Paddy Burke, officially confirmed the eight novels on this year’s shortlist on April 2, 2008

The list is as follows:

* The Speed of Light - Javier Cercas (Spanish) in translation

* The Sweet and Simple Kind - Yasmine Gooneraratne (Sri Lankan)

* De Niro’s Game - Rawi Hage (Lebanese)

* Dreams of Speaking - Gail Jones (Australian)

* Let It Be Morning - Sayed Kashua (Israeli) in translation

* The Attack - Yasmina Khadra (Algerian) in translation

* The Woman Who Waited

* Andrei Makine (Russian) in translation

* Winterwood - Patrick McCabe (Irish)

“The themes of the 2008 shortlisted titles are international and include war, love, terrorism, politics, religion, family and murder, says Deirdre Ellis King, Dublin City Librarian. Nominated by public libraries in Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, Lebanon, Sri Lanka and the USA, they prove that such a high standard of literature can be read and appreciated by anyone.

A judging panel of five, chaired by non-voting former Chief Judge of a US Court of Appeals, Hon. Eugene R. Sullivan, will select one winner from the eight novels shortlisted. (The winner will be announced by The Lord Mayor, Cllr. Paddy Bourke, Patron of the Award, in City Hall on 12th June 2008.

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award is managed by Dublin City Libraries, on behalf of Dublin City Council. It is sponsored by IMPAC, an international management productivity company with its European headquarters in Dublin.

The Award is presented annually with the objective of promoting excellence in world literature.

It is open to novels written in any language and by authors of any nationality, provided the work has been published in English or English translation in the specified time period as outlined in the rules and conditions for the year.

Nominations are submitted by library systems in major cities throughout the world.

‘Through Deep Waters’

Capt. Priyantha de Silva, a veteran master mariner’s novel ‘Through Deep Waters’ will be launched on 7th April at 5.00 p.m. at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute.

‘Through Deep Waters’ unfolds the eventful years spent by a Sri Lankan sailing over the seven seas of the world. He captures vividly the thrills, joys and the agony of meeting, interacting and parting with many a soul from different walks of life, from different continents, during his extraordinary journeys round the globe.

“Through Deep Waters’ this master mariner reminiscences his journey from the very beginning. It is not only about the life and experiences at sea but also on dry land. The pages of ‘Through Deep Waters’ carry a message to readers of all ages. Media consultant Edwin Ariyadasa will deliver the keynote address whilst Edmund Jayasuriya and E. M. G. Edirisinghe will evaluate the new book. Veteran media personality Daya Abeysekara will conduct the proceedings.