Literary giant and award winning author Dr. Liyanage Amarakeerthi warns that it is not technology which has changed media; it is the grip of capitalism
Swarna Pusthaka Award Winner of 2014, Dr. Liyanage Amarakeerthi suggests that the Book Publisher’s Association should focus on Short Stories and poetry in a similar manner to show they appreciate the Sinhala novel, so it would facilitate the development of Sinhala literature.
Wasantha
Liyanage Amarakeerthi best known as Dr. Liyanage Amarakeerthi, won the Swarna
Pusthaka Award 2014 for his second novel ‘Kurulu Hadavatha’ (A bird’s
heart) last week. He also won the Vidyodaya Literary Award for the Best Novel
early this month for the same book. Kurulu Hadawatha is Amarakeerthi’s 16th book
and his first novel Atawaka
Puththu won the State Literary Award for the Best Novel in 2007.
Childhood
Amarakeerthi was born and raised in Kurunegala district and he received his school education from three different schools including Wallawa Central College and Dematagolla Central College. Speaking to The Nation Dr. Amarakeerthi said that he has been enthusiastic about creative writing since his school days. “I started writing various things when I was about 15 years old. I enjoyed constructing beauty with language. It didn’t matter whether it was poetry, short stories or anything else,” Amarakeerthi recalled. “I liked to tell stories too. All this wordplay brought me joy,” he added.
He
said that he had plenty of free time to read and write during his childhood and
it was one of the main reasons why he became interested in literature. “Tuition
was not very popular during this era. We enjoyed school days. Also, we had time to
hangout with friends and try new things,” he recalled adding that looking back
he can identify how important this time of leisure was for him to become what
he is today.
He
said that this relaxed and laidback school atmosphere played a major role in honing
his creative skills. “I’m not
sure whether this atmosphere would
be helpful to everyone. However, it worked for me,” he said.
In
retrospect, he mentioned three special teachers who inspired him to develop his
creative writing skills. “I met a bunch of extraordinary teachers during my
school time. They were trying to generate some sort of creativity in us rather
than just prepare us for exams,” he said. “Wawe Gedara Madam - Primary School Principal
of Deegalla Rewatha Central College, Kuliyapitiya, Wimal A Senevirathana –
Sinhala Master of Rajaye Kanitu Viduhala (State
Junior School)
and S Dodamgollegama - Advance Level Sinhala teacher of Dematagolla Central
College had special
influence on my work among other teachers.” He said that meeting these teachers
was accidental which later proved to be a blessing to him.
He
also spoke about his achievements during school time. By the time he was in his
Advanced Level class, the national newspapers had already published his short
stories. He won first place at several short story competitions organized in
school, district, provincial as well as national levels. “I don’t know how I
did all these by myself in such a short period of time. Sometimes I was
surprised at myself,” he reminisced.
Amarakeerthi
received admission to the Law Faculty of Colombo University after passing his
Advanced Level examination in 1987. He was a student of law only for three
months as he wanted to switch the faculty to study literature. After graduating,
he joined the university as an assistant lecturer. Then he received a
scholarship to the US
and was able to complete both Master’s and doctoral degrees there. He received
his PhD from University of Wisconsin, Madison.
He
said that he faced a difficult period between his Advanced Level exams to
university entrance. “Universities were closed for three years due to youth
uprisings. It was a period of violence and we lost many friends and relatives.
This experience was very reflective for me,” he said.
Speaking
about his latest award winning novel Kurulu Hadawatha, Amarakeerthi said that the
book was also a product of these reflective experiences in 88-89 insurgency
period. According to him, the two leading characters in the book both Dinasiri
and Sarath are characters from this era. “Dinasiri wanted to keep himself away
from this uprising, but later felt guilty about not getting involved. On the
other hand, Sarath who came back from prison had a wide knowledge about
political ideologies. In fact, Dinasiri was alarmed by what Sarath had to say
when he returned,” he said.
Kurulu Hadawatha
Amarakeerthi’s
Kurulu Hadawatha
is woven around a traditional village called Walangangoda where people’s livelihood
revolves around pottery. Low caste potters are oppressed by high caste
villagers. Dinasiri – the lead character of the story is a regular listener of radio.
A postcard he sent to the broadcasting corporation leads to his name becoming popular
among listeners. In it he puts his village name as Kurulugangoda instead
of Walangangoda. He used this popularity, acquired through accident, to establish
the name Kurulugangoda, to relieve the pressure of being low caste. The
recognition he received later brought him to a different privatized radio
channel. There Dinasiri became a victim of the commercialized radio media.
Hence, Dinasiri Kurulugangoda became Kurulu, a modernized radio program
producer who valued different things. It was too late when he realized that he
was a victim of commercialization.
In addition, Amarakeerthi shows how
the quality of Radio media declined with commercialization. Kurulu Hadawada shows
the distinctions between the radio before and after commercialization in the
field. Amarakeerthi said that he was able to observe the changes in the radio
as he too listened closely to radio channels from his childhood. “I was really
close to the radio during 1980s and I remember we were very enthusiastic about
the radio dramas like Muwanpelassa,
Monarathenna, Es Deka and Handiye Gedara,” he said. “The radio was a box
of magic. It is still my number one electronic media,” he added.
He
said that the radio has an incredible ability to make people imaginative. “We
could imagine the rural village in Muwanpelassa based on the sounds and the words used. Although
I haven’t seen it, I know Muwanpelassa is an area near a dense
rain forest,” he explained. He further said that radio also played a major role
in seeding creativity in his mind.
Radio
Amarakeerthi
believes that the Neoliberal Capitalist mindset is responsible of
commercialization of the radio and he said that it destroyed the advanced
qualities and potentials that the radio had. “Changes took place after Sri Lanka’s
shift from closed economy to open economy; welcoming modern capitalism is
clearly visible if one looks into the Sri Lankan radio history. This is what I
tried to show through the book as well,” he iterated. The first half of the
novel shows how Dinasiri was able to engage in radio’s potential to change the
society, by writing thousands of postcards. He became a hero. Yet, when he
joined the commercial radio channel he had to betray the revolution he once won
for himself.
He
said that he is deeply skeptical about Sri Lankan media going back to its glory
days. “If you can find something equivalent to the National Public Radio (NPR)
in the USA,
we might be able to maintain quality,” he noted. NPR is funded by the public;
the tax payers and they do not have advertisements to find profit. Amarakeerthi said that similarly if this is initiated it
would provide a platform to have discussions about society, language,
literature, environment or any subject without external influences. “It
is not the technology which changed media; it is the grip of capitalism. If
we can liberate the radio from the grip of money making and make it non profit,
we might still be able to do it,” he opined. He also said that we will not see
fine quality in radio media until the society gets rid of the mindset that
radio is an easy industry to make money and stop making their own culture into
a commodity.
When
Dinasiri joined the commercial radio channel and became Kurulu he became a
‘cultural hero’ for the youth in the society. Amarakeerthi stressed that it is
a sad thing that contemporary Sri Lankan youth don’t have any ideal cultural
heroes whom they can look up to. “We do have a few important people here and
there in the country. But I’m not sure whether they can be identified as role
models,” he said. “Money making culture doesn’t allow any of these people to hold
on to a single cultural or political ideology. In fact, destruction of any form
of hero is the agenda of capitalists’ system or any system of power,” he said.
He
said that he also thought that it would be more suitable if we could see for a
collective form of emancipation rather than follow just one hero or role model.
“This is another theme I wanted to highlight through Kurulu Hadawatha,”
he reiterated. However, according to him,
in a political domain following a single role model can be dangerous because the
power this model receives will make him or her authoritarian and oppressive in
many ways. “That is why it is important that all of us participate in running a
decent democratic society rather than expect a single person to do everything,”
he further said.
Critics
Commenting
on contemporary Sinhala literary critics, Amarakeerthi said that the state of
literary criticisms is highly unsatisfactory. “It is not satisfactory at all.
We don’t have any professional literary critics in the country or paid
reviewers in both Sinhala and English newspapers. No one writes criticism or
reviews for newspapers in a regular manner. Creative writers have to review
each others work.” he noted. “Critics here are more focused on pressing
personal grudges and biases on people. That is a shame,” he lamented.
He
also pointed out that lack of literary magazines and journals is also a
drawback in literary development. “Journal culture is not popular in Sri Lankan
university context. Even the few journals we have are not widely circulated,”
he said. He also said that a sustained literary journal or a magazine and
weekly analytical literature programs would help to develop a better discussion
in the society. “It is better if this comes from the public or a private
organization rather than a state organization,” he said adding monthly book
discussions and forums in places like Public Libraries would also help.
Awards
He
also spoke about the literary festivals and award ceremonies. “I respect all
the literary festivals. Vidyodaya Literary Award doesn’t offer any price money and
they are independent on their views and judgments. Godage is a single publisher
spending his own money to promote literature. Swarna Pusthaka and
International Book fair organized by Book Publishers’ Association create enthusiasm
among readers across the country,” he said. “It really doesn’t matter who wins.
It creates a dialogue on literature in the society,” he said.
He
spoke further about the Swarna Pusthaka Award Ceremony. He said “Swarna
Pusthaka was able to promote the Sinhala novel. Ten years ago, selling 10,000
copies of a new book was something which was unheard of. I am aware of some prominent
authors who are now able to go for a tenth edition of a novel. This is a good
thing,” he said with hope. He said that if Swarna Pusthaka focuses on
poetry and short stories too, it would help Sinhala literature to further
develop. “There are really good young short story writers and poets. Book
Publishers should not overlook short story and poetry. If Swarna Pusthka can
give them an extra bit of help, like they uplift the novel, it would be really
appreciable,” Amarakeerthi stressed.
Books by Dr. Amarakeerthi
Fiction
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