Simon Navagaththegama:

Hunter of Sinhala literature

Simon Navagaththegama’s role in contemporary Sinhala literature should be evaluated against the backdrop of cheap Sinhala literary productions which have been readily crowned with awards at diverse awards ceremonies.

Navagaththegama was famous as a gifted novelist who was credited with introducing modern literary techniques such as magical realism and some of the prominent literary techniques used by writers such as France Kafka. Navagaththegama was also a highly talented short story writer. Although he was a gifted novelist, he displayed remarkable literary skills in crafting short stories. All in all, he wrote four collections of short stories. They are Ohuge Katawa, Sagara Jayala madi haduwa obasanda, Bavanava and Sankava.

Outstanding short story writer

Some writers were famous for one genre although they substantially contributed to other literary genres such as the novel and poetry. For instance, veteran literatus G.B Senanayake was famous for his insightful short stories rather than his equally brilliant novels.

Navagaththegama emerged against the backdrop of somewhat developed genre of Sinhala short story which was enriched and infused with much-needed tropes by Navagathegama’s predecessors such as Hemapala Munidasa, W.A Silva and Martin Wickremasinghe.

Literary rebel

Being a proverbial hunter of Sinhala literature, Navagaththegama broke away from the hitherto established mode and structure of Sinhala short story with the beginning, middle and the end in chronological order. However, this break away from the established structure of the Sinhala short story was not a pre-meditated move on the part of Navagaththegama. It was the case of a writer using his liberty to the maximum within the framework of the short story.

The subject matter of his short stories is always central to the meaning of life with the objectives of exploring the life in its manifold manifestations and interpreting complex web of life experiences. Navagaththegama’s short stories are diverse in terms of their flesh and blood. However, most of his literary productions depicted the coarse and hard life of the men and women of the Vanni in which Simon Navagaththegama was born and bred. Characters in Navagaththegama’s writings were largely untouched by the onslaught of urbanisation and globalisation.

A prominent approach employed in his short stories was the highly individualised narrative mode. Although the mouth-piece of the writer is quite obvious, significantly, it does hamper neither the content nor the tropes employed in the text. The writer’s prime objective seemed to narrate the story exploring the complexities of life. In many instances, Navagaththegama was successful in achieving his objectives.

Insightful diction

A prominent factor which made Navagaththegama’s literary productions extremely popular among readers was his outstanding diction full of subtleties that subject to plurality of readings. His remarkable diction seemed to derive its luscious prosperities from diverse literary and linguistic sources such as contemporary Sinhala idiom, folk idiom and the classical Sinhala literary idiom. However, what establishes beyond doubt within the nuanced narrative mode and style is the literary colossus of Simon Navagaththegama the writer. Navagaththegama exploited the intrinsic properties of his potent diction in almost all of his short stories.

For instance, his short story Ohuge Kathawa (His own story) in the collection of short stories of the same name, depicts the state of mind of newly married young man whose love for his wife is increasingly waning while seeking solace from a sex worker. The meat of the short story is the confused mind of the young man.

In Ohuge Kathawa, the protagonist Wimal’s character is revealed not through a lengthy description as in the case of a conventional short story but through a series of well-crafted dialogues. In the short story Sagara jalaya madi handuwa oba sanda in the collection of short stories of the same name and the short story Ohu Miyagiya Pasu in the collection was subsequently turned into a film by veteran filmmaker Sumitra Peries as Sagara jalaya madi handuwa oba sanda , is woven around a story of a teacher who falls in love with a young female student and explores the disturbed mind of the teacher who could not marry the girl.

Even in the short story Snahaya in the collection of short stories Bavanava, Navagaththegama explores the sublime nature of love; in this particular context fatherly love towards his son. The story is set against the harsh landscape of Vanni and around the lives of a peasant’s family; Rankira, Pinchi Mahaiyya and their son. The old man, Rankira becomes invalid following a snake bite and is in a delirious state. However, Rankira responds only when his wife speaks about his son. A significant aspect of characters depicted in Navagaththegama’s short stories is their unassailable authenticity as they are almost based on and born out of the arid landscape of Vanni.

His footprints in cinema

Apart from his own literary productions such as his novel Suddilage Kathawa and short story Ohu malagiya pasu which were turned into cinema as Suddilage Kathawa and Sagara Jayala Madihanduva Obasanda respectively, Simon Navagaththegama wrote scripts for the films Sirimadura and Seilama. His very first film script Neranjana which unfortunately had never became a film, was turned into a novel under the title Shira Sagaraya Kalabini. His film scripts entitled Kappetipola and Sansara Arangnaye Asabada were also not made into films. Outside the cinema, Simon Navagaththegama wrote scripts for teledramas such as single episode series entitled Bhavana by Bertrum Nihal; the series was made up of Pretavastuva, Bhavana and Akala Rathriya and Pretavastuva was from Navagaththegama’s collection of Short stories entitled Bhavana. Besides writing scripts for films, Navagaththegama played diverse roles in nine films; Sevanali Ada Minnissu, Thunveni Yamaya, Doringe Sayanaya, Bava Duka, Bava Karma, Kinihiriya Mal, Salupata Ahasata, Bambara Sanakeli and Premavantayo.

His life in brief

Simon Navagaththegama was born on September 15, 1940 and passed away on October 9, 2005. Navagaththegama commenced his illustrious as well as controversial literary career, which expanded the horizons of contemporary Sinhala literature, with Ohuge Kathawa (1960). His voluminous as well as extraordinary literary contribution included Saagara Jayala Madi Handuwa Obasanda (Short Story collection), Saahithyaya ,Samajawadaya saha kala vicharaya, Suddhilage Kathawa, Sansaranyaye Dadayakkaraya which was translated into English as The Hunter in the wilderness of Sansara by Malinda Seneviratne, Sansaranyaye Urumakkaraya, Sansaranyaya Asabada, Dadayakkarayage Kathawa, Saankawa

Sapeshani, Ksheera Sagaraya Kalabina, Himalaya tharanayakala kala Arjuna kumarayage Kathava, Wanaraya (Radio play), Acharya Bryan De Cretser , Ohy saha ohuge adahas, Kalawa, Samajawadaya saha Kala Vicharaya.

Some of his dramas are Gangawak, Sapathukabalak saha Maranayak, Puslodan, Suba saha Yasa, Sthrii (woman), Sudu saha Kalu and Pandukhabaya.