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by K.S.Sivakumaran
Academics Gerard Robuchon, Asoka de Zoysa and Samantha de Alwis and the director at the
Alliance Francaise in Colombo gave us valuable information and a video presentation on Jean
Paul Sartre, the French writer and philosopher last week. Although the number of people present
on the occasion was few, there was a stimulating discussion on Sartre and related subjects
prompted by earnest inquiries from the few present.
As a schoolboy in the late 1950s, I had read a collection of short stories translated into English
titled "Intimacy". The author was Sartre. I had also seen the film version of his creative writing
"The Respectable prostitute" and "Condemned in Altona". As a teenager I was thrilled to read
sensual depiction of intimate life of intellectuals. Later in the 1960s, I was introduced to a term
"Existentialism" by my friend the late Sillayoor Selvarajan - a poet, writer, critic actor, radio
playwright, journalist, singer, dancer, broadcast+er and the like. He was known as "Pal Kalai
Venthar", meaning a King of the Arts"
I began to understand this philosophy by reading existentialist writers as recommended by Colin
Wilson, who wrote a capsule classic on contemporary writing and philosophy. I wouldn't say that I
have understood this thought full well, but I became familiar with writers whose writing reflected
some of the thoughts or essence of existentialism.
However, at the meeting last week at the AF, I gathered a lot of information from the speakers.
Thank you, particularly Gerard for a profitable evening. Incidentally, Gerard Robuchon teaches
French at the Kelaniya University and is a frequent visitor to Yaalpaanam where he is assisting
the branch of Alliance Francaise there.
Thamil Progressive Writers
Deceased three Lankan writers in Thamil - Ilankeeran a.k.a. Subair/Mohammed Kaleel, H. M. P.
Mohideen a.k.a. Abhiyukthan and Sillayoor Selvarajan a.k.a. Thaan Thontri Kavirayar were
remembered last Sunday (June 12, 2005) at the Ramakrishna Mini Hall. Educationist Mohamed
Sameem chaired. The meeting was organised by ' Mutpoakku Kalai Ilakkiya Peatavai '
(Progressive Arts and Literature Forum), a newly formed organisation of Marxist/progressive
writers. There is also another organisation, also Marxist oriented in existence. It's called 'Deshiya
Ilkkiya Petavai' (National Literary Forum).
The idea was to inform readers and other uninitiated members of the audience of information and
other details of the writers concerned and the milieu in which they write plus the personal
reminiscences of the writers. I gathered a lot of information of the writers concerned. It was very
interesting to listen to the speakers as they spoke in a casual manner.
The speakers were A. Iqbal- a retired teacher, poet, critic and writer hailing from the east`A0
but`A0 now settled in Beruwela, Neervai Ponnian - a fine short story writer, critic and former
journalist working for the now defunct "Deshapimani" and "Tholilali" and Siva Sivasubramaniam
-editor of the "Thinakaran" newspaper, short story writer, translator and critic. They are all
Marxist-oriented writers in Thamil.
Marx and Literature
In one of the issues of 'Lanka Guardian'- an illuminating intellectual journal in English edited by
the doyen of English journalism in this country, Mervyn de Silva, now defunct, the late Regi
Siriwardena wrote an article in which he says that " n spite of his active literary interests, Marx left
no explicit theory of literature, nor any extended work of literary criticism...What he bequeathed to
later Marxist critics of literature was a general model of the relations between mode of production
and ideological 'superstructure', which was adopted by them as a framework for the construction
of a Marxist critical practice."
David Craig in his compilation of a Penguin edition on Marxists and Literature also writes in the
similar fashion. In the west there are a number of Marxist literary critics whose interpretation of
literature is totally different from the conventional literary critics. One may not agree with all the
points they raise - as for instance the view points of`A0 Christopher Caldwell- yet some critics like
Raymond Williams, Philip Rahv, Arnold Kettle, Terry Eagleton, to mention a few, have helped me
to understand some of the creative works in English better.
I have to learn about contemporary Marxist critics and I seem to be out of tune since the
beginning of the current century.
Since I spoke of Regi and Mervyn`A0`A0 above, it would be interesting and informative to know
that when Mervyn de Silva was the editor in chief of the then Ceylon Daily News, he wrote a few
articles on Ezra Pound. Regi Siriwardena in turn disputed the stance of the former as far as
literary criticism was concerned. Both were engaged in fruitful dialogue through the columns of the
newspaper and made a pedestrian reader like me to learn many things out of them. I ventured to
translate or rather summarise the fundamental arguments of both of them into Thamil and
published it in a now defunct literary journal called "Poorani"
Ilayarajah and his Symphony
From Remembrance of the Past (remember Proust's title?), let's return to the contemporary
scene. Have you heard of Ilayarajah? Well, he is a film music director in Chennai. He introduced
folk tunes into film music composition and attuned Carnatic music rages in such a way one
couldn't say listening to some fine Thamil film music that they were really based on classical music
in Thamil. Before the advent of the current rage from Thamilnadu, A.R.Rahman, another film
music composer who is now widely known all over the world, it was Ilayarajah who held sway for
more than two decades in tuning film music to suit contemporary ears. Ilayarajah had conducted
the London Philharmonic orchestra in fusion music some years back.
The news now is that he has composed symphony music for a late 7th century Thamil saint's-
Manickavasagar's - "Thiruvachagam". The cassette and the CD will be formally launched in
Chennai on the 30th of this month. He has selected six hymns from this work and composed
fusion music incorporating the western and Thamil (Theavara Pannisai) music. 250 musicians
have participated in this symphony. 120 have joined in the singing... he symphony recording was
done in Budapest. The mixing was done in a Sony studio in the U.S... Ilayarajah himself has sung
five of the six songs. His daughter Bhavathaarni has sung one song an English singer has
accompanied Ilayarajah in one of the songs.
L.Subramaniam and Yehudi Menuhin
Talking of music both from the east and the west, it is interesting to note that Lankan born
L.Subramaniam who had to leave the country after the infamous July 1983, is a celebrated
violinist and a music teacher in the U.S. L.S,. and the Austrian, world famous Yehudi Menuhin
jointly presented a concert in the U.S. This was in the late 1980s. I listened to an audio cassette
recording where LS and YM played a tribute to Bach and a fascinating number titled "Moonlight"
and two part presentations titled "Journey". Indeed Music is a Universal Language.