Frontline female fiction writers in modern Lanka
There were a few female writers during the earlier times in Sri Lanka and the education opportunities rising in the post-independent era paved the way to gradual increase in the women participation in literature. After 1960 female writers began to emerge subsequently to the unexpected popularity of the female protagonists. In the contemporary context we could see the number of novels which were written by women that were critically discussed in the literary discourse in society.
Many recent articles published in media claimed that the modern Sri Lankan novelists did not have enough foreign exposure and language ability. Therefore their creative work had not been considered being artistic. It may be true that after the demise of writers like Martin Wickramasinghe and Prof. Sarachchandra, Sri Lanka was not lucky to have novelists of their calibre.
Women in Sri Lanka still have limited opportunities to gain foreign exposure. Despite the challenges faced, the recent Sri Lankan novels showed that the creativity of the female writers exceeded that of their male counterparts. These novels which had bagged literary awards, prove the argument.
Most of Sri Lankan critiques blame these novels saying after Prof. Sarachchandra, Martin Wickramasinghe and Prof. Siri Gunasinghe, the writers who succeeded them did not have enough English knowledge and knowledge about the world, and claim these novels as useless and not creative or artistic work.
The question remains as to why we need always to compare the ancient creations with the contemporary works of art, when a work always reflects the times and societies of the time.
The writers of yesteryear, did not have access to the internet or any other form of social or multi-media. Their writing was nurtured through the education method encompassed with reading and writing.
Among the frontline novelists in Sri Lanka, “Atawaka Puththu” by Liyanage Amarakeerthi” is a unique creation. The author shows a hidden person in a person revealing out. The dual characters of a person and how they work together in a problem was capable enough to keep in the readable language. In the post-modern society this book paved the way for other writers as well as readers.
“Baththalan Gunduwa” by Manjula Wediwardana, is also an award-winning novel. He was able to win the readers because of his writing style. He used rhetoric, idioms and use of language and the book was famous.
In my point of view, although his writing style was better he did damage his plot ultimately. His argument was correct. He says that with regard to the fishermen’s society the human connection is simple and vulnerable. Novelists must have an awareness of his culture, beliefs, customs and so on.
Sumithra Rahubadda’s “Kandakse Ma” is an excellent creation during the present time. Her experience is very similar to the present society.
The feelings you get with the novel could be common to any heart. The main theme of the novel was the inner feelings of a young girl who faced social injustice and
Most of Sri Lankan critiques blame these novels saying after Prof. Sarachchandra,martin Wickramasinghe and Prof.siri Gunasinghe, the writers who succeeded them did not have enough English knowledge and knowledge about the world,and claim these novels as useless and not creative or artistic work
how she fought to overcome it.
“Nupa” the main heroine in the book explained the situation what she faced. This is the present. Nupa migrates for her future, but always her inner feelings compared to her dream idol.
Every young girl has such feelings and the situations could share with the common people. The author was able to share her experience with oth- ers.
Sunethra’s “Kavikadura” was also an excellent research work. It also depicts the Kandyan period and the author had tried to use the real language the people used during that time.
Although her use of language had given a brightness to the creation and readability the theme had been scattered. The author had spent time to gather the information and it had a historical value.
The book “Dhara” by Kathleen Jayawardana is the best among all of them. The story is about the present situation in Sri Lanka and the main theme is about a young couple – a Sinhalese boy and a Tamil girl.
The book starts with the funeral of this boy and his mother Vandana’s thoughts. Vandana is the heroine in the story and her son “Damsak” is also a unique character. The novel revealed the contemporary social reality using another way.
According to these facts, I have some questions to the critics and experts of literature.
Cannot you see these novels were artistic creations?
Cannot you judge the way reality was created in the works of fiction?
Cannot you understand the fascination of the character study?