Literature from Cultural Ministry

To some, this yoking together of literature and culture may seem an occasion for raised eyebrows.

It does not need to be that way at all. The Art Council, functioning under the Ministry of Culture, extends its patronage to literature through a special sub-council.

This is how it has always been.

The Sub-Council, focusing on literature, performs the annual ritual of publishing a special anthology to mark the literary season. This year, the annual publication, appears as a bigger volume, than what they used to publish in previous literary seasons.

The unusual size commanded keen attention. The ceremonial launch, with which "Literature - Special Issue - 2010" was ushered into the public domains, sharpened the interest of the readers to a heightened degree.

When you take this plump tome into your hand and begin to turn its pages, you cannot help but feel that something new is stirring in the Literary Sub-Council (Sahitya Anumandalaya) of the Art Council of Sri Lanka.

In their prefatory note the editors (Samantha Herath, Percy Jayamanna, Praneeth Abhayasundara and Timbiriyagama Bandara) provide the background in which this volume came to be published.

According to this explanation, the new Rajya Sahitya Anumandalaya (The Literary Sub-Council) was appointed on the 27th of July 2010. This gave them barely seven weeks, to bring out this special volume, in time for the Annual Literary Festival.

One can trace a slightly apologetic tone in their introductory words. They need not be that way at all. That, they were able to overcome all those glitches (major and minor) is something of a triumph. The editors had to cajole, entreat and implore, the would be contributors, to send in their efforts on time.

The end-product is a handsome volume of 740 pages, that accommodate 52 pieces of writing-both in Sinhala and English. When you take a look at the list of contributors you cannot help but feel, that the Editors have rounded up, more or less, the usual cluster of writers who are approached when a work of this type is in the offing.

In the opening essay of the Anthology, Prof. Vinnie Vitharana sets the tone by discoursing on "Man's unparalleled artefact-language". Vinnie, quite aptly quotes erudite monarch Sena I of Sri Lanka, who about 1950 years ago, celebrated the sacred significance of the competent use of language.

In his "Siyabaslakara", the sophisticated king says: "For those, who utilize language with decorum and discipline, it is the celestial cow, that confers upon you, the wishes you entertain. Those others, who sully language, through haphazard deployment, are just bulls."

The ancient Sinhala king was spot on.

J. B., in his article titled " An Invitation to the Sinhala Language Teachers to join the Global Village", indulges in his pet hobby - celebrating words. He invites those who teach the Sinhala Language to enter the Global Village and the mega-age of computer literacy, in order to be competent to lead their students to those regions. The teachers should heed J.B. Disanayaka's instructions, and I am sure that, his next step would invariably be, to invite these pedagogues to the 'Global Family', as we have moved far beyond the erstwhile 'Global Village.'

In his English essay 'Language tradition and change,' Ratna Wijetunga, musters evidence to prove his view, that the word-order of spoken Sinhala has undergone changes more than Indo-Aryan languages or old Sinhala.

Ven. Kumbukandena Vijita Thera contributes an eminently readable and assiduously researched paper to record the influence exerted by the Tamil language to enrich the Sinhala vocabulary.

His presentation is thorough and admirably methodical. I hope that, someone will pursue research to probe the other side of this linguistic give-and-take and will probe the influence of Sinhala on the Tamil vocabulary, contributing to linguistic harmony.

Percy Jayamanna, enters the anthology, to draw the attention of the readers, to an area, that is rarely discussed in literary and cultural circles. Percy - incidentally a member of the Editorial Board of the volume under review - is a pragmatic contributor to Sri Lanka's lexicography. His learned and efficient paper, is about lexicography which has stemmed from literature.

In a prolonged discussion he traces the history of lexicographical works both in oriental cultures and in the west. He sets down categories of lexicons and dwells upon the lexicographical efforts of Sri Lankan scholars.

Since Percy is a one-man lexicographer of high repute in Sri Lanka, he is perhaps the right authority to hold forth on what he is engaged in right round the clock. He lavishes an almost paternal care on the encyclopedias and other word-books he produces, very much by himself.

His essay will invariably open a window, on a little-known area of literature - dictionary making.

Of the English essays in this publication, three are provided by Prof. Wimal Dissanayaka (Globalism and the experience of culture: Implications for literary theory) by Prof. K.N.O. Dharmadasa (Formative Stage of Sinhala Journalism) and by E.M.G. Edirisinghe (film criticism origin, Development and its Impact on Cinema).

The total volume is a highly praiseworthy product - though there are a few instances of papers that are quite obviously the outcome of an attempt to rush to rash conclusions, through utter inadequate research even into the basic facts. That such instances are only by the way.

What emerges is, this is a work that deserves to become a family heirloom.

Minister, Deputy Minster, Secretary all officials of the Ministry and especially the Rajya Sahitya Anumandalaya and the Editorial Board, please take a bow.

We want to say 'Bravo'.