Watershed in Sinhala literature

Seventy-six years have passed since Martin Wickramasinghe wrote his masterpiece Gamperaliya (Uprooted) and sixty-four years have passed since he wrote Viragaya (Dispassion). When asked about the highest service that Martin Wickramasinghe rendered to Sinhala literature, most critics say it is to write the first realistic novel in Sinhalese – Gamperaliya, or to write the best Sinhala novel in realism–Viragaya. But if you look into some other Sinhala writers, especially Ediriweera Sarachchandra, Siri Gunasinghe, Gunadasa Amarasekara, you can see that they also endowed us with some good novels, one can say better than Wickramasinghe’s Gamperaliya and Viragaya.

Sophisticated readership

The best service that Martin Wickramasinghe rendered to Sinhala literature was to build a sophisticated readership. His novels along with Kali Yugaya (Age of Kali), Yugantaya (Destiny) and short story collections, such as Gaheniyak (A Woman) and Wahallu (Serfs) helped a lot in this regard.

There are significant critical works of him too that helped develop a good readership. Among them Sinhala Sahityaye Negima (Landmarks of Sinhalese Literature), Guttila Geetaya (Song of Guttila), Sahitya Kalawa (Art of Literature), Kawya Wicharaya (Criticism of Poetry), Rasawaadaya and Bauddha Kawyaya (Aestheticism and Buddhist Poetry) are foremost.

These books cannot be enjoyed by a bad–taste or vulgar reader, they ask for a highbrow reader or a sophisticated audience or in Sanskrit, a rasika. In that sense, Wickramasinghe’s endeavour is path-breaking because any of his predecessors, such as Piyadasa Sirisena, W.A. Silva couldn’t develop such readership.

The best reward for a literature is its readership. Piyadasa Sirisena’s most popular novel Wasanawantha Vivahaya nohot Jayathissa saha Roslin (Lucky Marriage or Jayathissa and Roslin), published in 1905, was sold over 25,000 copies within a few years. But it is not significant event as its readership is not of good–taste.

It is also the case with W.A. Silva. Most of Silva’s novels are still being reprinted, and sometimes made as teledramas. But because of that, they can’t be categorised as serious novels since good–taste is a rare quality in any society.

Prof. Wimal Dissanayake, in his book ‘Sinhala Novel and the Public Sphere’, speaks of Piyadasa Sirisena’s fiction. He says, “Piyadasa Sirisena is the author of nineteen novels that have had a profound impact on the Sinhala reading public.

In terms of careful construction of stories, psychological complexity of character, credibility of experience and convincing fictional forms, his work left much to be desired. He wrote at the dawn of Sinhala fiction and such weaknesses as I have alluded to are only to be expected. However, Piyadasa Sirisena was a serious writer who wished to establish a vital connection between literature and the public sphere. In that effort, he was largely successful, and invites close analysis.”

Merit in literature

Prof. Wimal Dissanayake has just ignored a vital factor in literature which is good–taste reader or rasika. How can a critic classify a writer as serious writer just because of his vast readership? We know popular novelists have high readership, their books are being reprinted all the time.

But are they serious writers? Can you categorise erotic novelist E.L. James, the author of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ which are being sold in millions of copies, as a serious writer? Piyadasa Sirisena is the pioneering Sinhalese writer, and he had done a great service to the motherland as a freedom fighter in colonial times.

Yet, can you say he is a serious writer because of that? Literature has to be judged only by its merits.

The difference between a serious writer and a less serious writer, in a way, lies in his or her reader. A highbrow writer does not expect a reader for his writing, while a low–grade or less serious writer does expect. A highbrow writer writes for himself, his own pleasure, and it’s a catharsis experience for him. Because of this reader–factor, there is another thing that happens: since the highbrow writer doesn’t have a reader, he writes about his own world which is, mostly, of subjective point of view. On the other hand, the low–grade writer, as he has a reader, writes on the social matters, which is, mostly, of objective point of view. Hence, a necessity for a good–taste writer is to free from himself, free from his burned inward, its unbearable feelings and thoughts, so that fiction writing for him is a way for living – it’s like an essential item for one’s living such as water, food and medicine.

A low-grade writer is to reveal the wickedness of the world. He thinks the responsibility of a writer is to save the world from the evil spirits – for him, evil spirits means the opposite socio–political movements.

It is, in a way, strange that a low–grade writer takes up a responsibility when he does not offer anything with responsibility. A serious writer doesn’t take up any responsibility though his fiction gives the reader things with great responsibility. In this respect, it is quite legitimate that writers, such as Piyadasa Sirisena focus on social matters and Sarachchandra, Martin Wickramasinghe, especially in his novel Viragaya deal with the issues from a subjective perspective.

Readership

Like the difference between a serious writer and a low–grade writer, there is also a difference between a serious reader and a bad–taste reader: A serious reader is a somewhat introverted person, whereas less serious reader is an extroverted person. A serious reader wishes to read books written from a subjective perspective as he or she lives in such environment. Bad–taste reader does not see a difference between a fiction and non–fiction.

He expects social issues from fiction and that they should be written like non–fiction since he believes characters and events in fiction are true. If a writer is critical about some cultural and religious matters in his fiction, they are agitated.

That’s why many readers campaigned against Martin Wickramasinghe when his novel Bhawa Tharanaya which portrayed Siddharta Gautama as a common man, came out. Unfortunately, the numbers of bad–taste readers are always very high and good–taste readers are very low. Haruki Murakami, a Japanese postmodern writer said the number of good–taste reader is 10 percent of the population.

However, the most important reader for literature is good–taste reader, though serious writer does not expect a reader. You cannot create or develop readership in society as they are always in it. If a serious writer creates serious literature, that readership will come around him. This is what Martin Wickramasinghe did through his literature. It is of high value because without the serious readership or rasikas, a society cannot move forward as they are the ones who see the reality.