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This study investigates the Impact of War on Sri Lankan English Poetry. The poets
usually compose poems on different themes, such as beauty, love, nature, morality,
humanity, war and violence. Sri Lankan English poets also do the same in accordance
with their personal, social, cultural, political and religious experience. In this study,
much attention is paid to the effects of long drawn out war , which had once prevailed
in the country.
Anne Ranasinghe, Richard de Zoysa, Jean Arasanayagam, Kamala Wijeratne,
LakdasaWickramasinghe, YasmineGoonaratne and Patrick Fernando are some of such
prominent and outstanding Sri Lankan poets, who have perceived and experienced such
social problems, which were prevalent during their life time. During the recent past, the
Sri Lankans have experienced more violent and subversive activities, which were
closely observed by the above poets. JVP insurrection in 1971, Black July in 1983, JVP
insurrection in 1988/89 and brutal war between LTTE and Sri Lankan forces were some
of the most tragic and evil incidents that occurred in Sri Lanka. They were so violent
and inhuman that almost all the people of the country suffered in numerous ways. The
worst effect of this tragic situation is that even today, some people hate JVP and LTTE,
whereas some people hate state terrorism. These three elements created chaos, terror
and horror every nook and corner of the country. Those, who are directly or indirectly
responsible for this kind of bloodbaths and inhuman activities in the island can hardly,
get rid of the curse of the people, who bitterly underwent this pathetic and terrified
situation. They have witnessed this detrimental situation in the country, which terrified
the whole island for a long time causing violence and terror everywhere. Some poets
have perceived this violent atmosphere in an indifferent way, whereas some seem to
have been biased and prejudiced. It is also apparent that there are valid reasons for them
to be biased or unbiased. However, the majority of the Sri Lankan poets seem to have
observed the above social issues in a realistic and justifiable way.
In general, violent and brutal activities in a country go down in the history. They can
neither be forgotten nor deleted from the strong memory of the people, who suffered
critically as a result of the evil conduct of the above people. Though these ugly
incidents go down in the history of a country, it is much valuable for the poets to
compose poems on these violent and inhuman themes, which will never vanish from the
memory of the people. That is why it is emphasized that literature of a country is very
significant and it always goes with the history of the country. The literate and
intellectual people read Sri Lankan poems and come to be aware of the social problems;
they had faced during the past.
The research problem found here is whether Sri Lankan poets have successfully
identified these issues. For instance, when their poetry is closely read and investigated,
the intellectual readers will think whether there were such brutal and violent issues
prevailed in the country and they are directly or indirectly related to their poems. It is,
therefore, necessary to explore the history of the country and collect information
regarding the Sri Lanka poetry.
The objective of the present study is to observe whether the Sri Lankan poets have
properly and accurately identified the social issues confronted by the country
maintaining their independence and impartiality. Some poets seem to be biased and
prejudiced in their observation. This is also another significant matter related to their
poetry.
Methodology:
Collecting information from the relevant sources of Sri Lankan poetry in English from
both print and electronic media was the main methodology. Both Sri Lankan poems in
English and comments on them by various critics were deeply studied regarding the
impact of war on Sri Lankan English Poetry. Relevant articles, which appeared in
newspapers, books and web sites, were used as secondary data while interviews were
conducted with those, who have really experienced and observed these problems
created by war. Thus, both primary and secondary data were utilized in the present
study.
The research was extremely confined only to the Sri Lankan poems based on war,
which were composed in English. When the close attention is paid to the Sri Lankan
poetry, it is apparent that many poems have been composed by various poets on
multifarious themes. However, this study is extremely limited only to the poems, which
are based on significant crucial problem of war alone, which were prevalent all over the
country disturbing the human beings and the entire atmosphere.
Literature Review
As indicated above, the whole study is entirely dependent on literature related to the
war, which occurred in Sri Lanka during the recent past. Professor, D.C.R.A.
Goonetilleke (1998) and Professor RajiwaWijesinha (1988) have commented on the Sri
Lankan poems in their anthologies with some examples. As Ashley Halpe[1] points out,
Sri Lankan writers in English make their own particular contribution to Sri Lankan
reality and to the exploration of human potentiality that is central to art of any
importance. Their writings represented different situations that occurred during the eras
they write. Sri Lankan writers in English explore human potentiality through exposé of
characters. These characters have distinctive characteristics that make them different
from the characters of other literatures. Through their writing, they make their audience
aware of Sri Lankan history including the eras of colonialism and post colonialism and
social issues like internal riots and ethnic conflicts of the country. Among those writers
the poets like LakdasaWikkramasinha, YasmineGooneratne and Patrick Fernando can
be taken as Sri Lankan writers, who addressed different perspective views of human
beings as well as social issues.
In LakdasaWikkramasinha’s poetry, he deals with native problems of Sri Lanka. He is
a distinctive character among good local poets. As Suresh Canagarajah indicates
LakdasaWikkramasinha as a better example of a Sri Lankan poet, who succeeds in
reconciling the discourses in his own terms. His stand point is clearly in the rural, folk,
native cultural and literary traditions. In fact in being a poet of no mean stature in one of
the indigenous languages (i.e., Sinhala) he is unique among Sri Lanka Lankan English
poets in his literary bilinguality. Besides, he is a relatively committed poet with a fairly
clear and consistent socio-political stand point. [Canagarajah, 1995]
In his poem ‘The Poet’ Wickkramasingha uses very unusual metaphorical images to
create the role of the poet. First we see the poet as a terrorist ‘tossing a bomb into the
crowd’. The word ‘crowd’ can represents a busy public place in a town. And next a
soldier who mounts a gun on a tripod most probably for a grenade attack. Then the
image shifts into a camera that levels and adjusts ‘for a clear sight’ for a speaker at a
public meeting. Moreover in the second stanza the narrator elaborates another function
of a poet. The role of the poet is compared to an assassinator who hides and waits with
the rifle till the right time comes. These different settings can suggest the different roles
activities done by the poet.
Next again with the idea of terrorism the poet Lakdasa Wickkramasingha indicates the
role of the poet as a guerilla preparing for an ambush in the jungle. And it is at the end
of the poem the role of the poet becomes more revolutionary comparing the poet for a
bomb in the city. This image suggests the uncontrollable feelings of the poet which
become explosive. He is more on alert and would end up the task as a suicide bomber.