Features
Roots at Home and Thoughts in the world:
The influence of Tagore on Mahagama Sekera
by Liyanage Amarakeerthi
(Text of the speech delivered at a Panel Discussion held at Svami Vivekanda Cultural Center in Colombo, on January 12, 2024 to commemorate Mahagama Sekera. Sekera was an influential a poet, a novelist, a painter, a lyricist, a filmmaker, and a literary scholar, and he died in 1976 at the age of 47)
This panel is primarily about the ways in which Mahagama Sekera’s art was shaped by Indian thought. Since ‘Indian thought’ encompasses a great deal of philosophical schools and religions, including Buddhism, there is no Sinhala art which has not been shaped, one way or another, by something ‘Indian.’ So, I must be specific and quite narrow in my focus. Hence, the focus on Tagore.
Gurudeva Ravindranath Tagore has inspired us, Sinhala people or Sri Lankans in multiple ways. As the panel today will amply demonstrate, Tagore’s influence can be seen in nearly all domains of our art scene. In the field of music, perhaps, his influence is the most pronounced. The Sinhala term for influence is abhasaya – a Sanskrit word, and it means ‘light’ or ‘reflection’. Gurudeva’s light has been quite pervasive in Sinhala art scene, though in recent times the significance of that light has been forgotten to some extent.
In this speech, I want to remind ourselves of that significance by focusing on the poetry and literary thought of Mahagama Sekera – one of our greatest modern poets. In doing so, however, I will be highlighting what I consider to be the most important lesson we could have learnt from Gurudeva Tagore. I have been arguing for more than a decade now in my Sinhala writing that Tagore’s strong critique of ethnic and cultural nationalism, a line of thought that could have enriched our cultural and political thought, failed to make a significant impact on the Sinhala language intellectual world. But it is never too late to rediscover that aspect of Tagore, and Mahagama Sekera’s work provides us with an opening into that rediscovery.
Many are Sri Lankan scholars and artistes who studied at Shanti Niketan, and all of them brought back some of aspects of Tagore’s thought. The most influential among them is perhaps, Ediriveera Sarachchandra, who later became a great playwright, a novelist, and a scholar in literature. And he is, arguably, the most important renaissance figure in the 20th century.
His days at Shanti Niketan are beautifully described in his memoir, Pin aeti Sarasavi varamak Denne. The influence of Tagore has certainly helped Sarachchandra and others to discover ‘our own traditions’ in art. Sarachchandra’s turn to folk theater to find an indigenous form of modern theater may have been encouraged by what Gurudeva did in the field of theater in the early 20th century. Tagore’s influence on the field of Sinhala music has been pointed out by many knowledgeable scholars.
While paying tribute to Gurudeva for everything we have learnt from him, one must also recognize the fact that we have also missed one of the key lessons of Tagore. The lesson is the importance of cultivating a critical distance from nationalism, especially from ethnic nationalism, and the need of learning critically from Western modernity, especially science.
Tagore saw Western scientific, technological, and artistic achievements as human achievements that can be shared with all humanity. While critiquing Western colonialism and fighting to defeat it, Gurudeva had this to say, “Neither the colourless vagueness of cosmopolitanism, nor the fierce self-idolatry of nation-worship, is the goals of human history. And India has been trying to accomplish her task through social regulation of differences on the one hand, and the spiritual recognition of unity on the other. She has made grave errors in setting up the boundary walls too rigidly between races…”(Tagore. Nationalism. 2009: 34).
Gurudeva’s belief in our shared humanity did not make him a thinker floating in the sky, and he was an inter-culturalist thinker. The rooted cosmopolitanism of Tagore is a lesson we have either overlooked or insufficiently learnt. Sarachchandra, who was the most known intellectual to be influenced by Tagore and his legacy never mentioned Gurudeva’s brilliant critique of nationalism. The renaissance generation of Sinhala literary culture in the middle of the 20th century, especially the intellectuals associated with the University of Peradeniya, were ready to learn from the world rather than being parochially restricting themselves to what was taken as indigenous tradition. But their openness was not articulated as it was often done by Tagore. For example, Gurudeva once said,
“That our forefathers, 3,000 years ago, has finished extracting all that was of value from the universe, is not a worthy thought. We are not so unfortunate, nor the universe so poor. Had it been true that all that is to be done has been done in the past, once for all, then our continued existence could only be a burden to the earth…( The Makers of Modern India. 2012: 188).”
Sekeara did not live long enough to articulate his intellectual positions in non-literary writings- a mode in which Tagore was remarkably prolific. But Sekera’s worldview is quite close to Tagore’s.
Mahagama Sekera, to repeat my main argument, provides us with an opportunity to revisit the Tagore we have missed. At numerous places in Sekera’s poetry one finds moving calls for an ethnic unity and harmony in Sri Lanka. For example, in Mak Nisada Yath, he imagines that Sri Lanka’s scientific and technological development would result in greater ethnic unity and stronger integration of diverse cultures:
“From the exhaust pipes
Of hydro-powerhouses
Comes out the rings of white fumes
Like an embryo of a future dream.
Seen on the other side,
Is the mountain rage of sapphire,
And this river descends from
Under the shadow of the mountain peak
Adorned with the Buddha’s footprint.
Sebastian.Nadaraja Mohamad
When this electricity
Lightens up
This country tomorrow
We will unite
At the peak of Sri Pada mountains!!
Constant call for ethnic unity is found in many other poems of Sekera. Originally published in 1964, many years before the beginning of Sri Lanka’s civil war, these poems indicate an impending danger of ethically motivated political violence. Perhaps, the resurgence of Sinhala ethnic nationalism in the decade of 1950 has made Sekera worried about the eventuality that ethnic and cultural hype would bring about.
In addition to expressing his fears about the rise of ethnic nationalism, Sekera’s rooted cosmopolitanism is seen in his openness to the literary developments in the West and elsewhere.
Sekera’s poetry during the 1960s shows that he has been interested in what was happening in Western poetry. His collection, Heta Irak Payai (1963) attests to the fact that modernist poems of Ezra Pound, E.E. Cummings, or the French symbolists have shaped his art during that decade. Sekera was one the first Sinhala poet to experiment with the way poems are printed on page. Many poems in that collection are printed to make poems to something look at rather than something to be read.
When matured as a poet, he gradually moved away from such modernist experimentalism to Sinhala folk traditions and to narrative poems but without losing touch with the literary developments after modernism. In his narrative poems, he was still within the modernist tradition by using style of free verse which came into Sinhala in the early 1940s. The ‘free verse’ is a style defended and promoted by the ‘Peradeniya School’- a group of poets and critics who were educated at Western universities. Sekera seems to have kept close contact with such Avant Garde groups in Sri Lanka and elsewhere.
Though he was still using free verse style in the main, Sekera’s thematic vision was shaped by Asian philosophical traditions. For example, the narrative poem, Prabuddha, what considers to be his masterpiece, has numerous references to Upanishad, Bhagavat Geeta, Dhammapada, and other such texts. And the poem portrays a musician, who attempts to lead a refined and enlightened life without getting caught in capitalist consumerism and Westernized individualist life. Thus, Sekera has made a conscious attempt to learn from both the West and the East.
Sekera’s work, to sum up this section, demonstrates a cosmopolitan literary and artistic vision, which was not the mainstream of his time, especially during the 1970s. That literary cosmopolitanism has been directly and indirectly shaped by Gurudeva Tagore. If Sekera’s sensibilities, to be specific, are not shaped by Tagore, one sees a remarkable kinship between the thoughts of the two literary figures. Much like Tagore, Sekera was a poet, a writer of short fiction, a novelist, a lyricist, a filmmaker, a painter, and so on. In that sense too, Sekera looks to be modeling himself on Tagore. With his openness to new media, new art forms, I am sure Tagore would have made films if he were to live a decade or more.
Tagore was a rich thinker in whose fertile mind the best of the West or of modernity mingled into a fine synthesis with Asian thought. As Amartya Sen correctly puts it, Tagore was not just a rationalist objectivist. He believed in epistemological heterodoxy i.e. the existence of many forms of truth. “…While Tagore believed that modern science was essential to understanding physical phenomena, his views on epistemology were interestingly heterodox.
He did not take the simple ‘realist’ position often associated with modern science” (Argumentative Indian. 2005: 104.). In Sekera, I see a beginning of a wonderful synthesis of rationalist thought and visionary qualities found in Asian thought that cannot be rationally explained. All his narrative poems, Nomiyemi (1973) in particular, move away from naturalist realism into a realm of poetry where rationality and irrationality meet in a fine synthesis. This aspect of Sekera would have refined so much better in the next decade of his life. Sadly, that crucial decade never arrived.
In addition, in creating that poetic realm, Sekera often taps into Sinhala folk wisdom. In the famous section his mother the narrator of Prabuddha says,
‘Having walked over forests and jungles,
bringing all kinds of reeds home,
dying them in red, green, and so on
weaving mats in various designs,
You showed me, my mother,
This entire universe also has a certain design.
I did not know my mother,
That your face was a mirror
that reflected those days,
My own mind these days,
In those sunken eyes
I never saw happiness nor sadness.
Did you take in all suffering and comforts,
With a great sense of equanimity?
And, by doing so, did you gain peace and calmness of mind?
I earned money, fame, and glory.
I had palatial houses, cars, vehicles, and so on.
But none of them gave me peace of mind.
Had you realized that truth,
Without any of those material things?
Maknisada yath , (It was because..,) 1964 , the first of his long poems (or narrative poems) makes it abundantly clear that he has been heavily influenced by Ravindranath Tagore, especially by Geethanjali. For one thing, Sekera sees the divine in the everyday life of working people. For him divine is not necessarily in a supernatural place beyond this world.
“…when I open my eyes and look around
This is what I see:
Tractors
Factories
Airplanes
Machines
Electrical lights
The greatest secret of the world,
Electricity,
are gods.
The factories
Are the temples.
If there is an all-powerful god
Who creates this mother earth
And trees and plants
And all beings on it,
Who created machines
Rockets
I plead to Him
For one thing
Please grant us a powerful hand
And powerful mind.”
It is not difficult to see a shadow of Tagore’s though in these lines. Gurudeva Tagore, unlike Mahatma Gandhi, defended the technological advances of modernity. After this opening section Sekera explains why he is asking for a ‘powerful mind:’
Where there is a mind without fear
And no head is bent down [in submissiveness],
Where awareness is independent
And the world is not divided by narrow walls of indigenousness
Where there are words spring from the depths of truth
…
Where, the pure stream of water, which is reason,
Has not evaporated in the deadly dessert of outdated conventions,
Where you have led human minds forward towards
refined thoughts and actions
to such a kingdom liberation
My father, please wake my country up!! (71-2).
All of us know that the ideas and words in this excerpt are taken from Tagore- the famous 35th poem of Gitanjali. To the contemporary reader this section might look like plagiarism. Typically, poets borrow things from other poets without being accused of stealing. After all, the idea of plagiarism is something quite modern and Western. All South Asian classics, especially the classics in modern South Asian languages such as Sinhala, have borrowed metaphors, stories, and even entire sections from the classical literary works in Pali and Sanskrit. Numerous sections of classical Sinhala poems are re-tellings of some sort. But to be fair by Sekera, when this section was turned into a song and the lyrics were published in a book, he acknowledged the fact that it was adaptation.
Though indebted to Tagore in the section above, Sekera pushes Tagore’s poetic thought a bit further.
“It was the man who,
Made the world emerge from the darkness.
It was the man who made the world fertile up to this day
It was the man who created God.
To create the mental kingdom of liberation
At least partially,
It was the man who shed
tears,sweat and blood up to this point (72).”
It is clear here that Sekera sees humanity to be more powerful than divinity. In fact, divinity is an offshoot of human efforts to make the world a better place. He goes onto celebrate the scientific advances humans have made. In fact, in the book cited, originally published in 1964, Sekera says, “in 25 years, humans will go to the moon,.. by that time, there will green grasses growing on the moon to welcome humans.’
Barely four years after the book’s publication, humans indeed landed on the moon, and, though for the green grass on the moon we will have to wait a while, Sekera’s optimism about human capabilities has a strong foundation. In that too, one can see the influence of Tagore. In many literary works of Tagore, one finds divine-like power among ordinary, working people, and the supernatural powers emerge out of extremely mundane situations. Some short stories of Tagore, such as “A single night,” are wonderful examples of such instances. This essay does not have space to deal with those stories.
Though Tagore was not entirely a rationalist thinker and an objectivist, he believed that science could help human beings to create a better life for themselves. His belief in modern science was one of the key points at which he differed from Mahatma Gandhi. Tagore and Gandhi disagreements on science have been documented by scholars and numerous times by Amartya Sen.
In 1934, Bihar was struck by an earthquake that killed thousands of people. Gandhi said that it was divine punishment for untouchability. Tagore, who was also working on untouchability along with Gandhi disagreed strongly and argued that such unscientific views about natural phenomena could propagate such interpretations among masses (Sen 2005: 103-4). For Tagore, untouchability was something to be defeated by socio-political reforms. In that sense, Sekera is much closer to Nehru than to Gandhi among the makers of modern India.
**
I argued earlier that Sekera’s attitude towards modernity and science is akin to that of Tagore’s. Sekera may have recognized that Pundit Nehru inherited Tagore’s appreciation of modern science and technology. In hearing Nehru’s death, Sekera wrote a song in which he correctly recognizes some salient aspects of the first prime minister of India.
The great river of thought
that comes from the past to the future
overflowed your noble heart and came forward.
Without dividing the humanity
Into segment with its many branches
That river of thought flowed treating everyone equally.
With your eyes that sees
All three times
You saw today
The world that comes into being tomorrow.
Tagore’s novels such as The Home and the World, and Gora that turn his cosmopolitan sensibilities into arresting literary expressions are much superior literary works compared even to the best of Sinhala literature. And there is nothing comparable with Tagore’s books Nationalism, The Religion of the Man among the books written by Sinhala literary writers. Sekera’s work too shows such limits. Though some of them are local masterpieces, we would expect much greater work from him. Unlike Tagore, Sekera died young. It seems to me that by the time he died, he was looking for the best modes to turn his sensibilities into literary or artistic expressions.
One can easily detect a major reason for Tagorean cosmopolitanism to be overshadowed in Sinhala cultural and political scene: the most important founding father of Sinhala nationalism, Anagarika Dharmapala, intensely disliked Tagore. And Dharmapala’s modern day disciples such as Gunadasa Amarasekara propagated for decades a kind of extreme nationalism that has no regard or understanding of rooted cosmopolitanism of Tagore.
It is becoming increasingly evident that the democracy-authoritarianism division would be a major polarity in international politics going forward. It shouldn’t come as a surprise if quite a few major states of both East and West gain increasing inspiration from the ‘world’s mightiest democracy’ under President Donald Trump from now on and flout the core principles of democratic governance with impunity.
It is the political Right that would gain most might in this evolving new scheme of things. Whether it be the US itself, France, Israel or Turkey, to name just a few countries in the news, it is plain to see that the Right is unleashing its power with hardly a thought for the harm being done to key democratic institutions and norms.
In fact, Donald Trump and his Republican hard liners led from the front, so to speak, in this process of unleashing the power of the Right in contemporary times. It remains a very vital piece of history that the Right in the US savaged democracy’s most valued institutions on January 6, 2021, when it ran amok with the tacit backing of Trump in the US Capitol.
What was being challenged by the mob most was the ‘will of the people’ which was manifest in the latter’s choice of Joe Biden as US President at the time. To date Trump does not accept that popular verdict and insists that the election in question was a flawed one. He does so in the face of enlightened pronouncements to the contrary.
The US Right’s protégé state, Israel, is well on course to doing grave harm to its democratic institutions, with the country’s judiciary being undermined most. To cite two recent examples to support this viewpoint, the Israeli parliament passed a law to empower the country’s election officials to appoint judges, while Prime Minister Netanyahu has installed the new head of the country’s prime security agency, disregarding in the process a Supreme Court decision to retain the former head.
Such decisions were made by the Netanyahu regime in the face of mounting protests by the people. While nothing new may be said if one takes the view that Israel’s democratic credentials have always left much to be desired, the downgrading of a democratic country’s judiciary is something to be sorely regretted by democratic opinion worldwide. After all, in most states, it is the judiciary that ends up serving the best interests of the people.
Meanwhile in France, the indications are that far Right leader Marine Le Pen would not be backing down in the face of a judicial verdict that pronounces her guilty of corruption that may prevent her from running for President in 2027. She is the most popular politician in France currently and it should not come as a surprise if she rallies further popular support for herself in street protests. Among other things, this will be proof of the growing popular appeal of the political Right. Considering that France has been a foremost democracy, this is not good news for democratic opinion.
However, some heart could be taken from current developments in the Gaza and Turkey where the people are challenging their respective dominant governing forces in street protests largely peacefully. In the Gaza anti-Hamas protests have broken out demanding of the group to step down from power, while in Turkey, President Erdogan’s decades-long iron-fist rule is being challenged by pro-democracy popular forces over the incarceration of his foremost political rival.
Right now, the Turkish state is in the process of quashing this revolt through a show of brute force. Essentially, in both situations the popular demand is for democracy and accountable governance and such aims are generally anathema in the ears of the political Right whose forte is repressive, dictatorial rule.
The onus is on the thriving democracies of the world to ensure that the Right anywhere is prevented from coming to power in the name of the core principles and values of democracy. Right now, it is the European Union that could fit into this role best and democratic opinion is obliged to rally behind the organization. Needless to say, peaceful and democratic methods should be deployed in this historic undertaking.
Although the UN is yet to play an effective role in the current international situation, stepped up efforts by it to speed up democratic development everywhere could yield some dividends. Empowerment of people is the goal to be basically achieved.
Interestingly, the Trump administration could be seen as being in league with the Putin regime in Russia at present. This is on account of the glaringly Right wing direction that the US is taking under Trump. In fact, the global balance of political forces has taken an ironic shift with the hitherto number one democracy collaborating with the Putin regime in the latter’s foreign policy pursuits that possess the potential of plunging Europe into another regional war.
President Trump promised to bring peace to the Ukraine within a day of returning to power but he currently is at risk of cutting a sorry figure on the world stage because Putin is far from collaborating with his plans regarding Ukraine. Putin is promising the US nothing and Ukraine is unlikely to step down from the position it has always held that its sovereignty, which has been harmed by the Putin regime, is not negotiable.
In fact, the China-Russia alliance could witness a firming-up in the days ahead. Speculation is intense that the US is contemplating a military strike on Iran, but it would face strong opposition from China and Russia in the event of such an adventurist course of action. This is on account of the possibility of China and Russia continuing to be firm in their position that Western designs in the Gulf region should be defeated. On the other hand, Iran could be expected to hit back strongly in a military confrontation with the US.
Considering that organizations such as the EU could be expected to be at cross-purposes with the US on the Ukraine and connected questions, the current world situation could not be seen as a replication of the conventional East-West polarity. The East, that is mainly China and Russia, is remaining united but not so the West. The latter has broadly fragmented into a democratic states versus authoritarian states bipolarity which could render the international situation increasingly unstable and volatile.
Chikungunya fever, a viral disease transmitted by mosquitoes, poses a significant health concern, particularly for children. It has been around in Sri Lanka sporadically, but there are reports of an increasing occurrence of it in more recent times. While often associated with debilitating joint pain in adults, its manifestations in children can present unique challenges. Understanding the nuances of this disease is crucial for effective management and prevention.
Chikungunya fever is caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV), an alphavirus transmitted to humans through the bites of infected Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus mosquitoes. These are the same mosquitoes that transmit dengue and Zika viruses, highlighting the overlapping risks in many areas of the world. It is entirely possible for chikungunya and dengue to co-circulate in the same area, leading to co-infections in individuals.
When a mosquito bites a person infected with CHIKV, it ingests the virus. After a period of growth and multiplication of the virus within the mosquito, the virus can be transmitted to another person through subsequent bites. Therefore, the mosquito acts as a vector or an intermediate transmitting agent that spreads the disease, but not as a reservoir of the disease. The spread of chikungunya is influenced by environmental factors that support mosquito breeding, such as stagnant water and warm climates. Urbanization and poor sanitation can exacerbate the problem by creating breeding grounds for these mosquitoes.
The clinical presentation of chikungunya in children can vary, ranging from mild to severe. While some infected children may even be asymptomatic and be normal for all intents and purposes, others can experience a range of symptoms, including a sudden onset of high fever, a common initial symptom. Pain in the joints of the body, while being a hallmark of chikungunya in adults, may be less pronounced in children. However, they can still experience significant discomfort and this must be kept in mind during processes of diagnosis and treatment. It is also important to remember that joint pains can present in various forms, as well as in different locations of the body. There is no characteristic pattern or sites of involvement of joints. Muscle aches and pains can accompany the fever and joint pain as well. A headache, too, could occur at any stage of the disease. Other symptoms may include nausea, vomiting, and fatigue as well.
A reddish elevated rash, referred to in medical jargon as a maculopapular rash, is frequently observed in children, sometimes more so than in adults. While chikungunya is known to cause such a rash, there is a specific characteristic related to nasal discoloration that is worth noting. It is called the “Chik sign” or “Brownie nose” and refers to an increased darkening of the skin, particularly on the nose. This discolouration just appears and is not associated with pain or itching. It can occur during or after the fever, and it can be a helpful clinical sign, especially in areas with limited diagnostic resources. While a generalised rash is a common symptom of chikungunya, a distinctive darkening of the skin on the nose is a particular characteristic that has been observed.
In some rare instances, particularly in infants and very young children, chikungunya can lead to neurological complications, such as involvement of the brain, known as encephalitis. This is associated with a change in the level of alertness, drowsiness, convulsions and weakness of limbs. Equally rarely, some studies indicate that children can experience bleeding tendencies and haemorrhagic manifestations more often than adults.
Diagnosis is typically made through evaluating the patient’s symptoms and medical history, as well as by special blood tests that can detect the presence of CHIKV antibodies (IgM and IgG) or the virus itself through PCR testing.
There is no specific antiviral treatment for chikungunya. Treatment focuses on relieving symptoms and allowing the body to recover on its own. Adequate rest is essential for recovery, and maintaining hydration is crucial, especially in children with fever. Paracetamol in the correct dosage can be used to reduce fever and pain. It is important to avoid aspirin, as it can increase the risk of a further complication known as Reye’s syndrome in children. In severe cases, hospitalisation and supportive care may be necessary.
While most children recover from chikungunya without any major issues, some may experience long-term sequelae. Joint pain can persist for months or even years in some individuals, impacting their quality of life. In rare cases, chikungunya can lead to chronic arthritis. Children that have suffered from neurological complications can have long term effects.
The ultimate outcome or prognosis for chikungunya in children is generally favourable. Most children recover fully within a few days or a couple of weeks. However, the duration and severity of symptoms can vary quite significantly.
Prevention is key to controlling the spread of chikungunya. Mosquito control is of paramount importance. These include eliminating stagnant water sources where mosquitoes breed, using mosquito repellents, wearing long-sleeved clothing and pants, using mosquito nets, especially for young children and installing protective screens on windows and doors. While a chikungunya vaccine is available, its current use is mainly for adults, especially those traveling to at risk areas. More research is being conducted for child vaccinations.
Chikungunya outbreaks can strain healthcare systems and have significant economic consequences. Public health initiatives aimed at mosquito control and disease surveillance are crucial for preventing and managing outbreaks.
Key considerations for children are that some of them, especially infants and young children, are more vulnerable to severe chikungunya complications and early diagnosis and supportive care are essential for minimising the risk of long-term sequelae. Preventing mosquito bites is the most effective way to protect children from chikungunya. By understanding the causation, clinical features, treatment, and prevention of chikungunya, parents, caregivers, and healthcare professionals can work together to protect children from this illness that could sometimes be quite debilitating.
Dr B. J. C. Perera
MBBS(Cey), DCH(Cey), DCH(Eng), MD(Paed), MRCP(UK), FRCP(Edin), FRCP(Lond), FRCPCH(UK), FSLCPaed, FCCP, Hony. FRCPCH(UK), Hony. FCGP(SL)
Specialist Consultant Paediatrician and Honorary Senior Fellow, Postgraduate Institute of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Joint Editor, Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health and Section Editor, Ceylon Medical Journal
Founder President, Sri Lanka College of Paediatricians – 1996-97)
Power, Culture, and Historical Memory:
(Continued from yesterday)
Newton Gunasinghe, a pioneering Sri Lankan sociologist and Marxist scholar, made significant contributions to the study of culture and class in Sri Lanka by incorporating the concepts of great and little traditions within an innovative Marxist framework. His theoretical synthesis offered historians a fresh perspective for evaluating the diversity of past narratives.
At the same time, Michel Foucault’s philosophical intervention significantly influenced the study of historical knowledge. In particular, two of his key concepts have had a profound impact on the discipline of history:
1. The relationship between knowledge and power – Knowledge is not merely an objective truth but a manifestation of the power structures of its time.
2. The necessity of considering the ‘other’ in any conceptual construction – Every idea or framework takes shape in relation to its opposite, highlighting the duality inherent in all intellectual constructs.
These concepts challenged historians to rethink their approaches, prompting them to explore the dynamic interplay between knowledge, power, and culture. The existence of Little Tradition prompted historians to pay attention to ‘other’ histories.
The resurgence of ethnic identities and conflicts has brought renewed attention to the dichotomy of culture, steering the discourse in a new direction. The ethnic resurgence raises three key issues. First, the way non-dominant cultures interpret the past often differs from the narratives produced by dominant cultures, prompting the question: What is historical truth? Second, it underscores the importance of studying the histories of cultural identities through their own perspectives. Finally, and most importantly, it invites reflection on the relationship between ‘Little Traditions’ and the ‘Great Tradition’—how do these ‘other’ histories connect to broader historical narratives?
When the heuristic construct of the cultural dichotomy is applied to historical inquiry, its analytical scope expands far beyond the boundaries of social anthropology. In turn, it broadens the horizons of historical research, producing three main effects:
1. It introduces a new dimension to historical inquiry by bringing marginalised histories to the forefront. In doing so, it directs the attention of professional historians to areas that have traditionally remained outside their scope.
2. It encourages historians to seek new categories of historical sources and adopt more innovative approaches to classifying historical evidence.
3. It compels historians to examine the margins in order to gain a deeper understanding of the center.
The rise of a new theoretical school known as Subaltern Studies in the 1980s provided a significant impetus to the study of history from the perspective of marginalised and oppressed groups—those who have traditionally been excluded from dominant historical narratives and are not linked to power and authority. This movement sought to challenge the Eurocentric and elitist frameworks that had long shaped the study of history, particularly in the context of colonial and postcolonial societies. The writings of historians such as Ranajit Guha and Eric Stokes played a pioneering role in opening up this intellectual path. Guha, in particular, critiqued the way history had been written from the perspective of elites—whether colonial rulers or indigenous upper classes—arguing that such narratives ignored the agency and voices of subaltern groups, such as peasants, laborers, and tribal communities.
Building upon this foundation, several postcolonial scholars further developed the critical examination of power, knowledge, and representation. In her seminal essay Can the Subaltern Speak?, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak questioned whether marginalized voices—especially those of subaltern women—could truly be represented within dominant intellectual and cultural frameworks, or whether they were inevitably silenced by hegemonic. Another major theorist in this field, Homi Bhabha, also focused on the relationship between knowledge and social power relations. His analysis of identity formation under colonialism revealed the complexities of power dynamics and how they persist in postcolonial societies.
Together, these scholars significantly reshaped historical and cultural studies by emphasising the voices and experiences of those previously ignored in dominant narratives. Their work continues to influence contemporary debates on history, identity, and the politics of knowledge production.
The Sri Lankan historiography from very beginning consists of two distinct yet interrelated traditions: the Great Tradition and the Little Traditions. These traditions reflect different perspectives, sources, and modes of historical transmission that have influenced the way Sri Lanka’s past has been recorded and understood. The Great Tradition refers to the formal, written historiography primarily associated with elite, religious, and state-sponsored chronicles. The origins of the Great Tradition of historiography directly linked to the introduction of Buddhism to the island by a mission sent by Emperor Asoka of the Maurya dynasty of India in the third century B.C. The most significant sources in this tradition include the Mahāvaṃsa, Dīpavaṃsa, Cūḷavaṃsa, and other Buddhist chronicles that were written in Pali and Sanskrit. These works, often compiled by Buddhist monks, emphasise the island’s connection to Buddhism, the role of kingship, and the concept of Sri Lanka as a sacred land linked to the Buddha’s teachings. The Great Tradition was influenced by royal patronage and aimed to legitimise rulers by presenting them as protectors of Buddhism and the Sinhala people.
In contrast, the Little Tradition represents oral histories, folk narratives, and local accounts that were passed down through generations in vernacular languages such as Sinhala and Tamil. These traditions include village folklore, ballads, temple stories, and regional histories that were not necessarily written down but played a crucial role in shaping collective memory. While the Great Tradition often portrays a centralised, Sinhala-Buddhist perspective, the Little Tradition captures the diverse experiences of various communities, including Tamils, Muslims.
What about the history of those who are either unrepresented or only marginally represented in the Great Tradition? They, too, have their own interpretations of the past, independent of dominant narratives. Migration from the four corners of the world did not cease after the 3rd century BC—so what about the cultural traditions that emerged from these movements? Can we reduce these collective memories solely to the Sokari Nadagams?
The Great Traditions often celebrate the history of the ruling or majority ethnic group. However, Little Traditions play a crucial role in preserving the historical memory and distinct identities of marginalised communities, such as the Vedda and Rodiya peoples. Beyond caste history, Little Traditions also reflect the provincial histories and historical memories of peripheral communities. Examples include the Wanni Rajawaliya and the Kurunegala Visthraya. The historical narratives presented in these sources do not always align with those of the Great Tradition.
The growth of caste histories is a key example of Little Historical Traditions. Jana Wansaya remains an important source in this context. After the 12th century, many non-Goigama castes in Sri Lanka preserved their own oral historical traditions, which were later documented in written form. These caste-based histories are significant because they provide a localised, community-centered perspective on historical developments. Unlike the dominant narratives found in the Great Tradition, they capture the social, economic, and cultural transformations experienced by different caste groups. For instance, the Karava, Salagama, and Durava castes have distinct historical narratives that have been passed down through generations.
Ananda S. Kulasuriya traced this historical tradition back to the formal establishment of Buddhism, noting that it continued even after the decline of the Polonnaruwa Kingdom. He identified these records as “minor chronicles” and classified them into three categories: histories of the Sangha and Sasana, religious writings of historical interest, and secular historical works. According to him, the first category includes the Pujavaliya, the Katikavatas, the Nikaya Sangrahaya, and the Sangha Sarana. The second category comprises the Thupavamsa, Bodhi Vamsa, Anagatha Vamsa, Dalada Sirita, and Dhatu Vamsa, along with the two Sinhalese versions of the Pali Hatthavanagalla Vihara Vamsa, namely the Ehu Attanagalu Vamsa and the Saddharma Ratnakaraya. The third category consists of works that focus more on secular events than religious developments, primarily the Rajavaliya. Additionally, this category includes the Raja Ratnakaraya and several minor works such as the Sulu Rajavaliya, Vanni Rajavaliya, Alakesvara Yuddhaya, Sri Lanka Kadaim Pota, Kurunegala Vistaraya, Buddharajavaliya, Bamba Uppattiya, Sulu Pujavaliya, Matale Kadaim Pota, Kula Nitiya, and Janavamsaya (Kulasuriya, 1978:5). Except for a few mentioned in the third category, all other works are products of the Great Historical tradition.
Over the last few decades, Gananath Obeyesekera has traversed the four corners of Sri Lanka, recovering works of the Little Historical Traditions and making them accessible for historical inquiry, offering a new lens through which to reread Sri Lankan history. Obeyesekera’s efforts to recover the Little Historical Traditions remind us that history is never monolithic; rather, it is a contested space where power, culture, and memory continuously shape our understanding of the past. By bringing the Little Historical Traditions into the fold of Sri Lankan historiography, Obeyesekera challenges us to move beyond dominant narratives and embrace a more pluralistic understanding of the past. The recovery of these traditions is not just an act of historical inquiry but a reminder that power shapes what we remember—and what we forget. Sri Lankan history, like all histories, is a dialogue between great and little traditions and it is to engage both of them. His latest work, The Doomed King: A Requiem for Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe, is a true testament to his re-reading of Sri Lankan history.
BY GAMINI KEERAWELLA
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