Significant role writers' groups play in public sphere

From the days of coffee shop culture, writers' groups have occupied an important place in the public sphere and played a prominent role not only in shaping the intellectual discourse of the day but also influencing the myriads of fields which are not directly linked to art and literature.

One of the prominent groups of intellectuals that greatly influenced intellectual discourse of the 20th century was the Bloomsbury Group.

Bloomsbury Group was a group of writers, intellectuals and artists who held informal discussions in Bloomsbury throughout the 20th century. The members of the group lived, worked or studied in and around in Bloomsbury in London during the first half of the 20th century. The group had greatly influenced literature, aesthetic, criticism and general attitudes toward feminism, pacifism and sexuality. Perhaps, the most famous members of the group were Virginia Woolf, John Maynard Keynes, E.M. Forster and Lytton Strachey.

Bloomsbury group seemed to be controversial in nature from its very inception, although the members held informal or formal sessions on almost all conceivable subjects ranging from literature, art to economy. It is believed that originally the group consisted of novelists and essayists Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, and Mary (Molly) McCarthy, the biographer and essayist Lytton Strachey, the economist John Maynard Keynes, the painters Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell, and Roger Fry, and the critics of literature, art, and politics, Strachey, Fry, Desmond McCarthy, Clive Bell, and writer and former civil servant Leonard Woolf.

The relationships and the private lives of the members were guided by commonality of ideas albeit overlapping and attitudes towards the societal norms of the day. The conviction of the members about the nature of consciousness, its relation to external nature, about fundamental separateness of individuals in isolation and love and about the ideal of truth, love and beauty, were, by and large, shaped by the group's disenchantment with capitalism and wars of imperialism. Another prominent characteristic of the group was their continuous attempt to establish alternative social order. The members of the Bloomsbury group advocated liberation from the established social norms of the day. It had been a common scenario that several members of the group had more than one serious relationship simultaneously and also vehemently opposed to child care. This was termed out as polyfidelity in the latter part of the 20th century.

The important factor in discussing the Bloomsbury group is not that the group's controversial ideas or its anti-establishment stance regarding established social norms but its overarching influence particularly in the spheres of art and literature and the sheer depth of intellectual discussions the group held during its numerous meetings.

Writers' groups and robust literary tradition

The role of writers' groups and writers is significant in establishing a robust literary tradition. This is valid to Sri Lankan literary groups in Sinhala and English and of course in Tamil.

In this regard, one could not forget the role of poets of Colombo Era (a period known as Colombo Era in Sinhala literary studies) played in the revival of Sinhala poetry although they occasionally wrote poems on topical themes. This period is considered as the romantic period in Sinhala literature which, in a way, can be compared to the romantic period in English poetry dominated by William Wordsworth and Coleridge. The poets' emphasis was more on metre than on the content of their works. Over the years this four-stanza formatted poetry became obsolete as they could not quite express the vagaries of the modern realities in a globalised milieu.

Blank verse was introduced to Sinhala literature by G.B. Senanayake and which was further enriched by Prof. Siri Gunasinghe.

However, the Sinhala literary group which exerted substantial influence on the contemporary usages of Sinhala was 'Hela Haula', a group founded by Sinhala scholar Munidasa Kumaratunga. 'Hela Haula' consisted of Sinhalese intellectuals who firmly believed in the purest form of Sinhala language with a rather rigid regiment of grammar.

Though its influence is waning today, in the early days of the group, it contributed immensely to the enrichment of Sinhala language particularly inventing new Sinhala words for English words. By now, the group has lost its social relevance, by and large, due to its intransigent stance particularly on the applied grammar of Sinhala. On the one hand, the language they advocated was coarse and failed to express the complex modern experiences. One of the wrong notions that the group seemed to entertain was that the assimilation of words from foreign languages into Sinhala was a weak feature of the language rather than a strengthening aspect of it.

For instance, a group of writers with a Marxist ideological bent had dominated award committees, resulting in distributing the awards amongst themselves or among their friends. Since that particular group had a considerable political clout, its members' word became a final verdict on the selection of literary works for awards.

This scenario is not different, albeit in form, in the English language literary groups. A group of writers, who has become the forerunner in promoting obscene literary trend in the name of literature, has also embarked, apparently on an ambitious project of regionalising an international language. Though it is a home truth that language is, perhaps, one of the important parts of the culture, it seems that these pundits have failed to grasp that fact and are hell bent on de-coupling the language with culture. The realistic point of view is that they should not attempt to de-couple the language structure and standard phraseology, but try to make it part of life so that the native realities can be effectively expressed in an effective manner.

Although the presence of the Sinhala language is still limited in the web-sphere and its influence on general readership is limited due to logistical reasons, the alternative groups dedicated to promoting Sinhala literature have emerged in the World Wide Web or the Internet. www.Boondi.lk is such a website of a group of writers and poets with a substantial readership around the world. The group has carved out an alternative space in the web for Sinhala language enthusiasts who promote armature poets and writers who would not get a space in the mainstream media. At times, the influence of writers' groups has proved detrimental to the growth of Sinhala language and literature.

Melbourne based http://www.ketapathpawra.com group is another website promoting Sinhala art and literature. This group pioneered the promotion of Sinhala art and literature using the web.

We plan to focus in future, on the emergence and the role of web-based Sinhala English writers groups as they could play multiple roles in literature and art.

It is only when that literary groups and writers adapt such an enlightened attitude that a firm foundation for a robust indigenous literary tradition can be laid. The reign of meritocracy over other form of parochial interest is a sine quo non towards that end.