Literatus conversant with many cultures

By Ranga CHANDRARATHNE

Being one of the pioneers of Sri Lankan literatus in English, Sita Kulatunga demonstrates a maturity in the craft as rarely seen among Sri Lankan writers in English. Bilingual writer par excellence, her rich corpus of literary productions spreads over the years both in Sinhalese and English, capturing the quintessential characteristics of the milieu and men and women not only of her native soil but also in Nigeria where she had been working for a considerable period of time as a teacher. Her Nigerian years offered her a unique opportunity to acquire a firsthand insight into the Nigerian polygamous institute of marriage which yielded Dari the third wife and a couple of other literary productions.

One of the peculiar aspects of Sita Kulathunga's career is that she has been a bilingual from her university days. Quite frankly she acknowledged that she learnt of intricacies of literature through Sinhala medium.

One of the first short stories she wrote in English was "The High Chair". To her amazement, it became an instant success. The short story was so appealing to the English readership that has already been rendered into diverse languages including German and Japanese. Apart from its success which brought her fame and earned a name as an established author, it also encouraged her to more and more immerse in her literary work and she is quite fond of writing about rural life.

One of the reasons that prompted her to write on themes drawn from rural Sri Lanka was her intimate knowledge of rural life. The most appealing incidents also provide her subject matter for writing. "High Chair" won that year's jury's award for the best short story. As she is an accomplished writer in Sinhala, question at the tip of many readers' lips was that why she wrote the story in English. However, it was a spontaneous flow of thoughts in English which ultimately made the short story 'The High Chair'.

polygamy

One of the turning points in her literary career was her days spent in Nigeria as a teacher. Apart from exposing her to a new culture where polygamy is the order of the day, the assignment gave her ample spare time for creative writing. It would have been a most profitable period for her in terms of literary work.

What attracted her to Nigerian life were the polygamous marriage and the infrastructure which facilitated it. She noticed bright female students, stopping schooling following their marriage with wealthy businessmen. She wrote her, perhaps, most cited novel "Dari the third wife" while being there.

Though many critics questioned whether she had intended to highlight gender issues as the focal point, her intention was to reflect the polygamous marriage and life, especially for women in Nigeria.

By that time, she had travelled a lot and seen the kind of life Sri Lankans lead in their adapted countries. It is not a secret that the prime objective of most of the Sri Lankans domiciled abroad is to provide their children with a qualitative education which they could not find in Sri Lanka. She has also seen most of Sri Lankans achieved their goals in their adapted countries.

Sita recalls that this exposure prompted her to turn her attention onto diasporic writers such as Michael Ondatje, Shyam Selvadurai and Romesh Gunasekara. Though there are quite a number of Sri Lankan writers in English now, those days there were very few.

Sita Kulatunga had translated number of novels from English to Sinhala including Kamala Markandaya's Some Inner Fury as Premaya Saha Kopagniya and Emely Bronte's Wuthering Heights as Premaye Unmadaya.

Her "High Chair and Cancer Days" is a collection of short stories. Accordingly to Sita, 'Cancer Days' is autobiographical and contains her own experience as a cancer patient. Writing a novel in Sinhala is her cherished dream.

Among her poems "Gode Person and others" and a couple of poems critical of international set up. Corpus of translations at her hand include non-fictional works such as "Women, Population and the Global Crisis" by Prof. Asoka Bandarage and her PhD thesis "Colonialism in Sri Lanka ".

Polygamy

Q: The novel Dari the third wife is perhaps the most famous novel by you. Since you had been working in Nigeria as a teacher for a long period of time, how do you perceive the polygamous institute of marriage in Nigeria and the plight of the woman in it?

A: Yes, Dari the third wife was inspired by the socio-political life in Nigeria. Although I haven’t written so many novels Dari became an instant success. It is now in its sixth edition. Actually its background is the more indignant north of Nigeria. Before I went to Nigeria , I had read many of the Nigerian writers like Achabe and Soyinka. Although I spent comparatively short time there, I was ready to compare and contrast diverse aspects of Nigerian and Sri Lankan life.

As for the institute of polygamy I became instantly aware that it prevailed mainly for the advantage of the male. It affected not only social and family life but also the well-being of the polity. It had adverse effects on women’s education and contributed to devalue woman on the whole. This attitude is predominant not only in the Muslim North but also in the partly Christian South. You must remember that Nigeria is a large country. In the South, there are highly educated women holding prestigious posts.

Polygamy causes jealousy and bickering in the family unit and division among siblings. In Dari the third wife I tried to show how a strong young woman tries to overcome these obstacles.

Q: What really prompted you to pen the novel?

A. What really prompted…? You will be amused when I say that it was the house I lived in which prompted the writing of Dari. According to Nigerian jargon, a rich man is called an Al-Hajji and this was a house built originally for an Al-Hajji. The large house was planned with a front portion intended for the master with All modern conviniences and three bare rows of rooms ( with high small windows of the type I mentioned in Dari).

That rear section of the house was a far cry from the master’s section which I opted to occupy. Probably the college was renting the house from the absent land lord. It was obvious that the three rooms in a row were meant and / or were occupied by the three wives. This set up spurred my imagination. Actually I even assigned names to the other three wives. I created Dari’s character the information I acquired from my friends. Some Sri Lankan and others Indian and Nigerian worked in the secondary school and teachers ‘college.

Pivotal role

Q: One of the important characteristics of the principal character of the novel, Dari, is the pivotal role that education played in her life acting almost as a potent agent of change. Do you believe that education can empower women in such situations as that of Dari’s?

A: Yes, I truly believe that education can and will play a pivotal role as a change agent in women’s life in Africa. Already the African woman is showing her strength. In the South of Nigeria which is such a large country, there are many highly educated women. But, of course, they are the exception. You might recall that Dari in her contemplations compares herself to them.

Q: High Chair and Cancer days, is a collection of short stories which explore myriad aspects of society both in Sri Lanka and Nigeria where you worked as a teacher of English. The short story 'High Chair' explores the caste issue. Although the caste is no more a major issue in the contemporary society, it is still prevalent in the society. How do you look at it from a modern perspective?

A: 'High Chair and Cancer Days' , you say explores myriads aspects of life. That is because these stories have been written over a long period and also various places I travelled to. I like to talk about the story closer to home, 'The High Chair'. 'The High Chair' would have been written when you (Ranga) was a schoolboy in shorts. It has been a lonely story-if another can have a favourite story –in my case, it is 'High Chair'.

It was awarded the first prize in the Short Story competition held by the English Association of Sri Lanka in 1977. In a competition held to mark the 25th anniversary of the British Council in Sri Lanka. 'The proposal' won a prize. 'The High Chair' was translated into German by O Froehling and has appeared in Mein Zerbrochenes Volk. It has also been translated into Japanese by Tadashi Noguchi. 'The High Chair' explores the cast issue and its implications for a forward looking society. It is disturbing that caste issues still raise their ugly head even among the educated.

Uncertainity of lifg

Q: 'Cancer Days' is a short story which among other things, deals with the perennial issue of death and uncertainty of life. It is more or less autobiographical. Looking back on cancer days, how do you analyse the state of mind of a patient who knows that he or she is about to leave this world?

A: 'Cancer Days' is a difficult story to discuss. It was the fear of suffering more than the fear of death. I tried to handle it as objectively as possible without sentimentality.

Q: 'The Proposal' is one of the interesting short stories in the collection. It shows, among other things, the futility of age-old traditions and zero role that bride is supposed to play in this vital transaction. How practical is match-making in contemporary milieu?

A: Yes, match making is not practical in this day and age. My story 'The Proposal' is based on the traditional mores of the rural society. The typical ‘Magul Kapuwa’ comes from that social milieu. Nevertheless, don’t you think that matches are made in more subtle and equally commercial ways even today? It happens even in the higher echelons of society.

Q: In the short stories 'A View of the moon', you discuss the issue of some tribal customs such as what they called ‘Come of age of a girl’. Despite advancement of science and development even of villages, still a segment of the population practises this tradition. What purpose that such traditions would serve in modern times? Do those traditions confine to poorer segments of the population?

A: A view of the moon-actually I don’t quite look at a girl’s coming of age ceremony as a ‘tribal custom’. Despite the advancement of science and empowerment of women, this is just an innocent social gettogether-not a kind of tribal cruelty imposed on girls. A villager would say that it teaches the girl to respect her womanhood. It also brings out the town cousins contemplating attitudes towards country cousins. The town cousin is already bored with life.

Q: The short story 'New Year’s Eve' explores the issues of urban life. At one level it is a class of life styles. However, at the end, the girl realises, to a certain extent, the futility of leading a luxurious life. How do you look at the widening gap between the haves and have-nots and the callous attitude on the part of the affluen class?

A: 'New Year’s Eve' was written at a time when there was a great deal of migration from the village to the city. Even the value of money and attitude to money had changed. The gap between the haves and have nots rose to unknown heights. The generosity of the rich towards poor plummeted.

Here you find the daughter of a new rich businessman’s pathetic attempt to climb the social ladder.

Polygamous marriage

Q: The short stories 'Umaru', In spite of and Another Safe, portrays the diverse aspects of life in Nigeria. For instance, in 'In spite of and Another Safe', you revisits Nigeria’s polygamous marriage and the social implications of it. How do you look back on your Nigerian days and women’s role in polygamous marriage?

A: The short story 'Umaru', brings out the plight of the poor who finds the new education environment bewildering in spite of another safe deal with problems arising from social aspirations of the middle class and implications of polygamy. Polygamy does indeed to enfeeble the position of women.

Q: 'Wandering Cattle' and 'Tremors', portrays the life in diaspora and the first generation of Sri Lankan migrants struggle to settle down in a host country. In 'Wandering Cattle', you have discussed the issue of marriage. What are your views on such marriages you discussed in 'Wandering Cattle'?

A: I wrote 'Wondering Cattle', Tremors while on a holiday in New Zealand. I suppose I want to show in both these stories that life does not change just because of residence. In a way, it is affirmation of universality of suffering-dukkha and the importance of compassion.

Q: In 'Tremors', you deal with diasporic issues and uncertainty of the future in adapted land. The white potato curry and Sri Lankan meals symbolise the cultural baggage that the first generation of migrants take from Sri Lanka and their innate desire to implant Sri Lankan culture in host country. How do you look at the pros and cons of diasporic life?

A: Yes in 'Tremors' I delve into diasporic issues. It is only natural that migrant parent worry about life patterns of their children. And at the same time, they have to please their people back home. And true enough they have to carry their cultural baggage. In Tremors, I speak of a very small tremor. That was in Auckland. This time earthquake comes to Christchurch.

Farce

Q: Literary awards have become a farce. It is increasingly clear that most of the awards winning literary production are of little or no literary value and the awards have been reduced to marketing labels. You have been victimised by this culture of gangsterism in literature. What are your views on the literary awards in general and Gratiaen Award in particular?

A: I don’t agree with you totally as regards literary awards. I agree that literary awards in this country have been on occasions been awarded with scant responsibility. I don’t know whether I was victimised. I can only say that I felt sorry when many discerning critics felt that Dari the third wife and High Chair and Cancer Days deserved the awards in respective years.

Along with one very outstanding reviews I too feel Dari not having a Sri Lankan background was not a reason for its deprivation. Anyway Dari is now in its sixth edition. I don’t know whether High Chair and Cancer Days also failed for the same reason as Dari because that too envisions a broad spectrum. Sri Lanka being a small county finding capable competent judges may not be easy. I have read again The White Tiger this week and thought what a good job the judges have done there.