Survey on cultural landscape

Reviewed by Chamath Divitotawela

The Cultural Scene Thus Far-2, a collection of critical essays by Indeewara Thilakarathne, fulfils a vital area in the contemporary literary criticism in Sri Lanka. The author does not only codify the important developments in the spheres of arts and culture in Sri Lanka but also offers his critical views on them.

His views are not mere expressions of his ideas but conclusions supported by facts that validate his views. One of the significant aspects of his essays is that their scope is not confined to Sri Lankan literature and arts. Perhaps, the most important essays come towards the end of the book. The essays extensively deal with Edward Said's ground breaking work Orientalism.

Reading the essays, it is obvious that the author has done an in-depth study on each subject, thereby generating a wealth of information and insights into the subject. For instance, the series of essays on Edward Said's path breaking thesis Orientalism, deal extensively with the profound influence that Orientalism has on vital spheres of Foreign Policy and Area studies and myths of Orientalism as exposed by Said.

The focus of the The Cultural Scene thus far-02 is on modern literary trends such as postcolonialism, poststructuralism and diasporic novel and how these literary trends influence contemporary Sri Lankan literature in Sinhalese and English. The author, in no uncertain terms, points out the instances where modern literary trends have been grossly misinterpreted and gone to the extent of abusing them with the intention of promoting substandard literary productions.

Personalities

An important segment of the essays in the book is dedicated to feature and analyse prominent personalities in the realm of culture. Some of the personalities featured in the book are unsung heroes who have made a lasting contribution to literature, scholarship, cultural studies and cinema.

For instance, in the essay titled 'Prof. Sivathamby and Tamil literary culture', the author states his lasting contribution to Tamil scholarship as; "Prof. Sivathamby's trailblazing academic career was a peerless one and his advice on matters of paramount importance in the field of Tamil language and literature was highly sought after by diverse members of the academia from diverse parts of the globe. It is not an exaggeration that no reputed international monograph on Tamil literature has been out without a quote from Prof. Sivathamby or without ever acknowledging his singular contribution to Tamil scholarship."

The essay on Prof. Anuradha Seneviratne and his singular contribution to cultural studies and anthropology yields a wealth of information and insights into the contribution made by Prof. Anuradha Seneviratne.

Cultural studies

In analysing Prof. Seneviratne's contribution in the field of Cultural Studies, the author states, "It is at this stage that Prof. Anuradha Seneviratne's singular contribution becomes an important source for both researches in the field of cultural studies and readers interested in studying deeply Sri Lankan culture and arts.

Prof. Anuradha Seneviratne's research focus was primarily on the mediaeval period. Being an outstanding scholar in the field, Prof. Anuradha Seneviratne wrote over 70 books on Sinhalese culture both in Sinhalese and English. His corpus of works , most of which are standard references on Sri Lankan culture at universities around the world, is made up of such pioneering and insightful works as Golden rock temple Dambulla(1983), Kandy(1985), The Springs of Sinhala civilisation(1993), Ancient Anuradhapura(1994), Pollonnaruwa (1998), Sunset at the valley Kothmale 2001).

He served as a senior professor in the Department of Sinhala, University of Peradeniya. At the university of Colombo, he was the Director of the Institute of Aesthetic Studies. Among his most popular books were those published by the Archaeological Survey Department and the Central Cultural Fund on various Archaeological monuments and sites in Sri Lanka. "

Postcolonial literature

The series of essays on postcolonial literature is an area which has not been sufficiently explored in Sri Lankan literary scene. Postcolonial literary theory is one of the important and pertinent perspectives that contemporary Sri Lankan literati can take up and deal with in their literary productions.

The essays shed light on the profound impact that colonialism had in shaping the destinies of the postcolonial state and their allied socio-economic and cultural issues.

In the essay titled "'History' as a theme in postcolonial literature", the author points out that political independence has not completely liberated postcolonial state from the cultural imperialism; "The literature in the immediate aftermath of anti-colonial struggles depicts, among other things, problems of colonialism.

The authors of imaginative literature thematised problems of colonialism and captured the socio-cultural impact of colonialism in native, non-Western societies.

An important area that these writers were interested in was the ways in which native societies reacted to the Western cultural presence. Therefore, the postcolonial novels, particularly, of the 1950s were case studies of cultural nationalism, native identity and anti-colonial resistance.

Their predominant concern was about history and many authors were of the view that native cultures should have a better understanding of history and the history of colonialism. For instance, the focus of the anti-colonial struggle in Africa moved rapidly from political dimension to a cultural one. Therefore, the first phase of anti-colonial writings is of the cultural nationalist variety and embodied movements such as Negritude, African personality and African Aesthetic. Those struggles were not only to free their nations from European political domination but also from European cultural imperialism. "

Novel theme

Diasporic writing is a novel theme which has been extensively dealt with in the book. The essays dealing with diasporic literature yield insights in the genre of diasporic writing and the predominant issues such as identity and loss of inheritance and split allegiance between one's adopted country and the 'homeland' left behind particularly by the first generation of immigrants.

One of the significant aspects of the book is the wide scope that the author surveys in his continuous research into the changing facets of contemporary literature, literary theory and their myriad applications in contemporary novel. The series of essays dealing with literary cultures are of significance given their profound impact not only on formation of literary languages but also in shaping the destinies and literary cultures in the postcoloniality.

The author offers refreshing views on diasporic novel, postcolonial literature and socio-cultural importance and relevance of the work of Rabindranath Tagore particularly in a changing milieu.

I hope that The Cultural Scene thus far-02 would offer Sri Lankan readers an informative read.