Sinhala poets explore new territory

Poetry isn’t what it used to be. This was my initial thought as I leafed through an attractively-designed volume of Sinhala-English bilingual poems at the now concluded Colombo International Book Fair.

The setting itself was unusual. There was a forlorn-looking ‘hut’ on the lawn to my left as I walked towards the car park and the crowded rows of publishers’ and booksellers’ sales points beyond. An awkward-looking banner said poetry was sold here. Just a glance away was the ‘poetry wall’ where poems penned in situ were displayed and poets of all ages were busy, writing poems on sheets of paper.

Scores of Sinhala poetry books were on sale here. I was told that the organisers had offered this space free of charge as selling poetry was hardly lucrative, and whoever undertook this hazardous task couldn’t possible hope to pay rentals.

As a writer in English, I don’t claim to be an expert on Sinhala poetry, though I have done my best to keep track of what’s happening. Many of the names on display were new to me, along with familiar names such as Parakrama Kodithuwakku, Buddhadasa Galappatthi and Manjula Wediwardhana.

The unusual volume mentioned at the start had two titles: The front page is titled: “We are not Patriots” (deliberate miss-spelling). At the back (and upside down) the title declares boldly: “Yes, I’m Gay.”

When I was studying literature, both Sinhala and English, for my Ordinary Levels in the mid-70s, Mahagama Sekara was our hero. He wrote bold, innovative free verse, interspersing English, Sanskrit words and slang with the Sinhala idiom. After the musical rhyming verse of Sudo Sudu, this was a revelation.



" Young people who are frustrated with reactionary politics and lack of socio-economic progress, unable to find a permanent and effective space in the mainstream media, are increasingly turning to poetry as a vehicle of outraged expression "


I wonder what Mahagama Sekara would have thought about this book if he were around today, as both titles break taboos. Sekara was a patriot out and out (In ‘Notes on Sinhala Culture,’ Sarath Amunugama commenting about the song ‘Me Sinhala Apage Ratai’ written by Sekara, says that it beats ‘Deutschland Uber Alles’ when it comes to patriotism). The gap between ‘We are not Patriots” and Sekara’s work is, if anything, greater than the gap which existed between him and Sagara Palansuriya.



" Leave alone discussing gay love, our poetry rarely ventured into any discussion of even conventional, respectable heterosexual relationships. Sex is only fleetingly referred to even in our English poetry "




As for discussing homesexuality, the subject was simply taboo. Interestingly, the subject was explored in one Sinhala film. As my knowledge of Sinhala poetry isn’t exhaustive, I don’t know if anyone has touched on the subject before this. Actually, this is the first time I have come across any such thing in Lankan poetry, Sinhala or English. It was simply too taboo.



" The gap between ‘We are not Patriots” and Sekara’s work is, if anything, greater than the gap which existed between him and Sagara Palansuriya "



Leave alone discussing gay love, our poetry rarely ventured into any discussion of even conventional, respectable heterosexual relationships. Sex is only fleetingly referred to even in our English poetry, which at least in some respects could be said to be ahead of its Sinhala counterpart till the 1980s. Michelle Leembruggen’s “Percussion” quoted below in part is decidedly the exception.



“I wait
for the time when we are alone
in the crowd of people dancing
I want
Your body
Its hard firmness against mine
Your breath on my neck
Your flesh
With just the shirt’s thinness
Beneath my fingers
Your hands
Splayed across the small of my back
Our hips in fusion
My palm flat on your chest
Feeling the beating of your heart.



Instead of sex-love, the English-medium poets wrote eloquently about the July 1983 riots and ethnic strife from an anguished point of view which clashed with the official view. Ethnic violence, as seen from this unorthodox angle, was a taboo subject in our literature till then. It’s hardly surprising that they avoided sex as subject matter (with rare exceptions) because it was more taboo than ethnic hatred and murder -- hardly surprising, given their Victorian schooling and upbringing.
Today, as this volume shows, young Sinhala poets are exploring new territory and their voices are angrier than ever.

In fact, within the fragile nano-sphere of Lankan poetry, one can see an ‘alternative poetry’ which is really a poetry of protest. Young people who are frustrated with the reactionary politics and lack of socio-economic progress, unable to find a permanent and effective space in the mainstream media, are increasingly turning to poetry as a vehicle of outraged expression.

 Even within that context, “We are not Patriots” (the work of three poets – Senadhi Guruge, Himal de Zoysa and Chamathkara Ruwanpura) is daring. It can only be described as in-your-face. This is post-modernist poetry, Sri Lankan style, in the iconoclastic manner popularized by the erstwhile ‘X Group.’  That movement highlighted sexual frustration more than socio-political ills, protesting against the official Puritanism which cloaked rising sex-related crime and perversions, with people using power and wealth to obtain sex while maintaining outward appearances of respectability and saintliness.

 This writing may not be to everyone’s liking, but one must give them credit for having the courage to say things which might be termed (as seen by officialdom and ruling wisdom) as unpatriotic, blasphemous, even obscene.

In this respect, this poetry might be compared to the better examples of British ‘Punk rock’ whose offshoots can be found within the rock genre in places as far flung as Russia and Indonesia. This book being bilingual is another interesting aspect. The English poetry doesn’t look like a translation (‘English language assistance’ by A. A. Mallawarachchi is mentioned) and this in fact makes it idiomatically interesting. The grammatical mistakes may be deliberate (for example, the Sinhala version of the title We are not Patriots is grammatically incorrect) but that could simply be the poets’ way of telling everybody that the medium was the message.

Whether one likes this poetry or not, you’ve to admit that these poets are nothing short of brave to have written and published this book.