Remembering Chekhov on his 150th birthday
In this column, we focus on the life and times of Anton Chekhov and
his overarching influence on literature in general and on Sri Lankan
writers in particular.
As we celebrate the 150th birth anniversary of a great Russian
literary giant; Anton Chekhov, a lot of water has flowed under the
bridge and many changes have taken place in the field of literature and
literary criticism. However, the universal value of Chekhov's work has
remained constantly throughout the world.
Chekhov is considered as one of the greatest short-story writers in
the history of world literature and he was also an accomplished
playwright.
Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was born in the small seaport of Taganrog,
Ukraine on January 29 in 1860. Today he is remembered as a playwright
and one of the masters of the modern short story. He was a son of a
grocer and the grandson of a serf who had bought his freedom. Chekhov
spent his early years under the shadow of his father's religious
fanaticism while working long hours in his store. Chekhov's life
straddled two landmarks of Russian history. He was born one year before
the formal liberation of the Russian peasantry from feudal serfdom. He
died (on July 15, 1904) months before the first Russian Revolution of
1905.
Chekhov worked for the theatre much: a drama etude "Kalhas" ("Swan
Song",1887), plays "Ivanov", "Leshy" ("The Wood-goblin", 1889, was
altered later in the play "Uncle Vanya"), vaudevilles "About a Harm of
Tobacco" (1886), "The Bear", (1880), "Proposal" (1888-89), "Anniversary"
(1891-92), "The Seagull" (1896), "Uncle Vanya", "The three Sisters"
(1901), "The Cherry Orchard" (1903).
The plays such as 'The Sea Gulls', 'Uncle Vanya', 'Three Sisters' and
'The Cherry Orchard' are still famous and they are either adapted or
translated into numerous languages including Sinhala. His farces which
Chekhov himself called "vaudevilles' such as 'The bear', 'The Proposal',
'A Tragic Role', ' The Wedding', ' The Anniversary' and the farcical
monologue ' Smoke is bad for you' have been widely acclaimed and still
immensely popular throughout the world.
Chekhov liked theatre all his life. The first theatrical impressions
were carved in his mind in his youth at Taganrog. On the success of
vaudevilles, Chekhov wrote, "When I've written myself out I am going to
write vaudevilles and live on them. I think I could write about a
hundred of them every year. Vaudeville's subjects gush out of me like
oil from the wells of Baku. ".
At first, Chekhov wrote stories for money. As his talents grew, he
wrote for pleasure. He experimented with the genre of short stories and
is credited with the early use of the technique stream of consciousness
even before James Joyce used it in his famous novel Ulysses.
Early works
Chekhov began to write short stories very early in his life when he
was studying Medicine at the University of Moscow. It is well-known that
he began writing stories and comic sketches to support him and his
poverty stricken family. After graduating as a medical doctor in 1884,
he began to write to newspapers as a freelance journalist. At an early
stage of his career as playwright, he mastered one-act plays. Among his
one-act plays, 'The Bear' (1888) and 'The Wedding' (1889) were famous.
In 1887, Chekhov wrote his full-length play 'Ivanov'. His play 'The
Wood Demon' which was subsequently revised and titled 'Uncle Vanya' was
produced in 1899. However, 'The Three Sisters' (1901) and 'The Cherry
Orchard' (1904) became extremely successful and are considered as
masterpieces in modern theatre.
Chekhov considered his mature plays to be a kind of comic satire,
pointing out the unhappy nature of existence in turn-of-the-century
Russia. Chekhov described it as: "All I wanted was to say honestly to
people: 'Have a look at yourselves and see how bad and dreary your lives
are!' The important thing is that people should realize that, for when
they do, they will most certainly create another and better life for
themselves. I will not live to see it, but I know that it will be quite
different, quite unlike our present life. And so long as this different
life does not exist, I shall go on saying to people again and again:
'Please, understand that your life is bad and dreary!'"
In his final days, Chekhov was compelled to live in exile from the
intellectuals of Moscow and also due to his fast growing illness
tuberculosis.
After a long association Chekhov got married to Olga Knipper who
worked at the Moscow Arts Theatre. Although their marriage lasted only
five years due to his untimely death both Chekhov and Olga Knipper spent
their five-year friendship and marriage apart as he had to live in Yalta
due to his illness, and Knipper in Moscow. However, they kept their love
and association through regular correspondence which is now translated
by Jean Benedetti and titled Dear Writer, Dear Actress: The Love Letters
of Anton Chekhov and Olga Knipper.
His influence on Sinhala writers
Following his death, Anton Chekhov's work became popular among
diverse audiences throughout the world. His works such as 'The Cherry
Orchard' became extremely popular through translations and adaptations.
Martin Wickremasinghe was one of the Sinhala literati of the day who was
greatly influenced by Chekhov's work. Wickremasinghe's short stories and
novels which are still widely read and studied in Sri Lanka have been
influenced by Russian literary works in translations. Gunadasa
Amarasekara's early short stories also reflect an influence from
Chekhov's work.
For instance, Wickramasinghe's celebrated literary work 'Gamperaliya'
which was recently translated into English and also made into a film by
Lester James Peries is in some respect similar in theme of Anton
Chekhov's "The Cherry Orchard". In 'The Cherry Orchard', Chekhov
portrayed the fall of feudalism and the emergence of capitalism through
the ups and downs of a feudal family. Martin Wickremasinghe explored a
similar theme in 'Gamperaliya' and in no way is an adaptation or
imitation of Chekhov's work.
The fall of Kaisaruwatte Muhandiram (landed gentry) and rise of Piyal
as a successful businessman is not a mere family saga but the uneasy
transition of Sri Lankan society from feudalism to the emergence of
market economy. The both literary works are in some respect similar in
theme though they are set against diametrically different backdrops.
What is important here is not the fact whether Martin Wickremasinghe had
adapted 'The Cherry Orchard' into Sinhala as 'Gamperaliya' or not but
the fact that Anton Chekhov, as many other writers of the era,
influenced by his work. Like Chekhov, Wickremasinghe also liberally used
technique of stream of consciousness in his literary works. Considering
the contemporary Sri Lankan writers both in Sinhala and English, Anton
Chekhov relevance in shaping the form and content of their literary
work, particularly in the genres such as novel and short story, is felt
more than ever before.
There is a lot they, surely, can learn from Chekhov's work before
graduating into the use of literary techniques such as non-linear
narrative and application of de-construction in their literary works.
Chekhov had a Sri Lankan connection! On his way from a trip to
Sakhalin, Chekhov visited Colombo on his way home. During his brief
stopover in Colombo, he visited Kandy. Martin Wickremasinghe's booklet,
Chekhov Ha Lankava (Chekhov and Sri Lanka, 1970) provides some useful
information on his brief journey to Sri Lanka. It is well-known that his
famous short story Gusev which is set in a ship's infirmary, where five
soldiers and sailors are returning to Russia after serving in the Far
East was conceived on his way from Colombo to Leningrad in 1890.
Unfortunately some of the contemporary Sri Lankan writers' works
sound more lop-sided and derailed in terms of their narrative than in
non-linear narrative as they often claimed to be. It may be useful for
them to read Chekhov again provided they can find time to do so.
|