Midweek Review

A Bigger Picture: how the Humanities can widen our perspectives

Published

3 years ago

2021/12/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

A scene from the movie, ‘Perfume- The story of a murderer’

by Liyanage Amarakeerthi

(Lecture given at the 18th annual academic sessions of the Sri Lanka College of Psychiatrists

On 16 December 2021 at Grand Kandyan Hotel, Kandy)

In order to understand life as a whole, one needs to focus on the bigger picture of human affairs- perhaps of forces larger than humans. Our lives are increasingly determined by much larger forces that we might not even perceive in our everyday lives. Within our education system, we have developed numerous subject areas that help us uncover those behind- the scene-forces. As a scholar in the humanities, I have no knowledge in many of those subjects. Even within the humanities, I only have some expertise in literary studies. Since literary studies have always been a richly interdisciplinary field, I may be able to touch on some adjacent fields such as history, philosophy, sociology, and so on. My topic should ideally be ‘how liberal arts can widen our perspectives’ because liberal arts includes humanities, social sciences and some natural sciences, but I decided to stick to the humanities primarily for two reasons: I will be making my points mostly with literary examples, and the term, ‘humanities’ is the term often used in Sri Lanka.

Professor Joseph B. Cuseo and Aaron Thompson in Humanity, Diversity and Liberal Arts Education (2015) describe seven socio-spatial perspectives typically developed in liberal arts teaching: Perspective of family, perspective of community, perspective of society, national perspective, international perspective, global perspective, and perspective of the universe (cosmos).

It is extremely difficult to elaborate on all these perspectives with different examples in short speech. Therefore, I decide to focus on one novel. Its film version might be quite familiar to the psychiatrists and psychologists in the audience. I use the novel and the film in my teaching at University of Peradeniya but not necessarily the same way that I am going to use it today. The novel is Perfume, the the film has the same name.

It is the story of Grenouille, illegitimate son of a female fish seller in the 18th century France. Even when he is born, his mother is selling fish. The new born is left on a heap of fish guts, – perhaps most disgusting and unhealth environment for a child to be born in. His mother does not want to raise him, and she could not afford to. He is left alone to die there on the heap of fish waste so that garbage collectors will put away the dead child fish guts in the evening.

The author of the novel, Patrick Suskind, explains the situation in a beautifully-crafted paragraph:

Here, then, on the most putrid spot in the whole kingdom, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille was born on the 17th July, 1738. It was one of the hottest days of the year. The heat lay leaden upon the graveyard, squeezing its putrefying vapour, a blend of rotting melon and the fetid odor of burnt animal horn, out in to the nearby alleys. When the labour pains began, Grenouille’s mother was standing at a fish stall in the rue aux Fers, scaling whiting that she had just gutted. The fish, ostensibly, taken that very morning from the Seine, already stank so vilely that the smell masked the odour of corpses. Grenouille’s mother, however, perceived the odour neither of the fish nor of the corpses, for her sense of smell had been utterly dulled, besides which her belly hurt and the pain deadened all susceptibility to sensate impressions. She only wanted to put this revolting birth behind her as quickly as possible. It was her fifth (p.5)”

She expects the new born to die there in the heap of fish guts. In the evening, a carter would come and pick up the garbage and drop them on the grave yard or to the river. Then, all her responsibilities will be over. She is still in her twenties.

Dangers of limitless love

But her fifth child does not bring her good luck; Grenouille does not die there. The mother is taken into custody and is accused of killing her previous babies and of attempting to kill the new born. She is decapitated in public. Grenouille grows up in orphanages to become one of the gruesome serial killers in history. But he is not a killer. He becomes one of the most skilled perfumers; he has an acute sense of smell; in some beautiful virgins he finds magically captivating fragrance. He develops the arts and science of extracting that fragrance from those young women’s hair, pubic hair, skin, and so on. By the time he was done perfecting the most fragrant perfume in history, he had killed twenty-five young women. The perfume is so captivating that it can enable people to engaged in acts of limitless love. Limitless love is so dangerous that a group of people madly intoxicated by the smell of the magical perfume, kills Grenouille alive. He literally vanishes from the earth.

None of us has extreme lives of this kind: But the point of narrative art is to intensify human experience and get us to reflect on. Story of this young man is illustrative of many of the perspectives I want to speak of during this speech.

Family determines who we eventually become. Familial impact on us takes place at many levels. Perfume demonstrates that Grenouille’s search for this magical fragrant emanating from some beautiful women, is in a way his desire to regain the warmth of his own mother – a pleasurable warmth he never experienced. His desire for those young women is a sublimated form of hating them. As the fantastic perfume he creates is capable making people engaged in mythical acts of love turns into extreme form of violence, his love for those young women leads to the most gruesome murder of them. Unimaginably violent acts on those bodies such as peeling their skins, are performed in a clinically scientific detachment.

Perfume is a work of art not a scientific treatise on how family or the lack of it shapes one’s character. Thus, the novel does not claim that any illegitimate son, who is forced to grow up without his mother, will certainly end up being a serial killer. Works of art provide us with frameworks for further contemplation not exact mathematical formulas.

Let me move on to a ‘the perspective of the community.’ A catholic monk named Terrier arranges a wet nurse for the child. Grenouille spends a few months with this extremely religious wet nurse, who believes that the baby is possessed with the devil because he sucks her dry. Yes. The child drinks a lot of breast milk. With his insatiable thirst for breast milk, the wet nurse refuses to keep him at her house. She also believes that the child except for his excrement does not smell at all.

Within this community where Catholic and pagan beliefs shape people’s thinking, the child does not get to develop any motherly attachment to any women. The wet nurse brings the child back to father Terrier and leaves the baby with him. The priest thinks that when a mother breastfeeds a child regularly, the child develops a certain attachment to the mother’s body and gets used to the rhythm of the heartbeat of the mother. This child would never know a mother’s heartbeat. Thus, we can see Grenouille’s character is crucially shaped by his close community.

Then comes the perspective of the society, which invites us to perceive the question at hand within the framework of larger society. Let’s stick to the novel, Perfume. What was the kind of society in which Grenouille lived in? It was 18th century France, fifty years before the French revolution, and it was a country ruled by kings and their regional deputies. The dominant worldview was the religious one. Scientific thought and human reason were still to become the main source of wisdom. Thus, it is no accident that Grenouille’s last and the most precious victim was mythically beautiful Laure, the only daughter of a regional lord. In that sense, the young perfumer’s search for the perfect scent was an individualist attack on a social structure that made him a bastard and an orphan. After all, that is the very society that made his mother kill her babies because she was too poor to raise them. In addition, she was sexually exploited by men in the positions of power in the society. Still in her twenties, her beauty intact, she hoped to find a man to marry, perhaps, aged widower, and settle herself into a better life.

Thus, selling fish is a something temporary for her. But she keeps getting pregnant by men whose names are not revealed to us. Through them she picks up diseases like syphilis as well. What else a poor young woman, living in the most disgusting corner of the city, can do to her newborns other than to hope for their death? The author of the novel situates her character in a larger societal frame and invites us see the bigger picture of life. In teaching a novel like this, insights from history, political science, sociology can be brought in to enrich the discussion.

As Cuseo and Thompson (2015: 15) maintain,” human societies also consist of groups of people stratified into different social classes with unequal amounts of resources and material wealth; those groups occupying lower social strata have less economic resources and social privilege.”(Humanity, Diversity and the Liberal Arts). Grenouille’s birth and death occur in pre-revolution France where social stratification was so pronounced that, in there, many people of the lowest strata lived a subhuman life. It is not surprising that the French word “Grenouille” means ‘the frog.’

Though there are more to be said about the novel, let me leave it that by summarizing my argument so far: the extraordinary life of this young man, Grenouille, can be better understood when he is analyzed through different perspectives such as family, community, and society. In doing so, we not only understand the young man better we also get to look into larger contexts within which human life is shaped.

Other ways of seeing things

Let me now briefly touch on other perspectives the liberal arts education at its best attempts to develop in students. The national perspective is an angle of vision that helps us reflect on how the realities of nationhood, nation state, national boundaries influence our lives. We all are aware of certain realities, obligations, frustrations and so on exist for us just because of the nature of our nation state. We have to live with them by virtue of being citizens of our nation state.

This is the opening sentence of the novel, Perfume, “In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages.” We can immediately see that the writer wants to see the main character’s predicament in ‘France’ in the 18th century. This brings us to the international perspective.

One cannot understand France at the time without understanding how France was connected to a host of other countries even before the French Revolution. A central metaphor of the novel is perfume. Many of the ingredients used to make perfume came through in international naval routes in colonial ships. Phenomenal development of perfume industry in France cannot be understood without referring to colonialism and international trade relations that France had developed with other countries. In addition, some of the girls killed are from Italy. During those days, poor Italian peasants came to France as seasonal workers for harvesting. Moreover, the consumers of those extremely expensive perfume were not just French people. The aristocracy in neighboring countries, perhaps, even in far away countries bought French perfume. Thus, one cannot isolate gruesome murders of one unknown French man, whose name means frog after all, from France’s connections with other countries those days.

I must recall here that I am trying to briefly explain all the perspectives by using a single novel. Still, the novel can be used to explain what we mean by ‘global perspectives.’ It is a quite broader perspective than ‘international’ perspective because it takes into account nearly everything that might have contributed to making a phenomenon. Let’s return to the novel. Grenoulle’s life is connected with so many things other than human affairs such as trade and politics which were discussed earlier. “It extends beyond nations to embrace both human and nonhuman life inhabiting our planet and how these life forms interface with the earth’s natural resources (minerals, air, and water). Human’s share the earth with approximately 10 million animal species and more than 300,000 forms of vegetative life, all of whose needs must be met and balanced to ensure the health and sustainability of our planet” (Cuseo and Thompson, p. 18).

In this novel, the central character is presented as someone much closer to nature than culture. Hence, the name ‘frog.’ He is born on a heap of fish guts, and in that sense too, he is nearly an amphibian. Later in his life, he spends seven years like an animal in a forest cave separated from human civilization. This is how the author explains the Grenouille’s life in that forest. “He also ate dry lichen and grass-berries. Such a diet, although totally unacceptable by bourgeoises standards, did not disgust him in the least. ” During those, seven years of hibernation or the forest-life, he is portrayed as a part of the larger nature of the planet earth. He is an insignificant and a seemingly innocent part of nature itself. But this very man, after being discovered again by the representatives of human civilization and taken into to the city, begins his adventure of murdering twenty odd young women and perfecting the most fragrant perfume in the world- in fact a perfume that can generate the perfect love.

Let me quickly jump into the last perspective, cosmos. This is a wonderful novel in establishing the fact that man, even the central character, Paris, France or the earth, are not entities that stand in themselves. Here, we are not alone. We are part of larger universe; solar systems, milky ways and so on. No wonder that in the middle ages, astronomy was included in liberal arts. Not only that different entities in the universe are inherently connected to one another, we humans keep looking into what is out there. Just last month, scientists claimed that the moon’s top layer of soil contained oxygen that could sustain 8 billion human lives for more than one hundred thousand years.

Here in the novel, Perfume, the unknown, the unseen, the extra-terrestrial, the cosmic, is always present; and every key incident in the novel seems mysterious connected to something else, and to long chain of ‘something-elses’, some of which might extend as far as the heavens. If it is not the heavens, it is the nature, the Nature with a big N. Let me quote a couple of sentences where a certain character’s disappearance is described: “…The last was seen of him was his silhouette: hands lifted ecstatically to heaven and voice raised in song, he disappeared into the blizzard… [They did not find any trace of him] “no clothes, no body parts, no bones…”(Pp. 187-8).

In this speech, I wanted to show that in order to get at some understanding of Grenouille’s life to one has to enter his story from multiple perspectives. Among other things, liberal arts education aspires to cultivate skills in creatively using these perspectives in students. The life of the young man in the novel is an extreme case and the lives of many of us are not nearly as dramatic, tragic or gruesome. Yet, the intellectual training that we develop by trying to understand his life from multiple perspectives can carry over into our real lives. Even the most insignificant lives or phenomenon exists in complex networks of relations. My speech today hopefully contained some insights that could motivate the psychiatrists here in the audience to reflect on the need of situating their ‘subjects’ in a bigger picture. I hope with much that you will never have to treat a serial killer, any killer for that matter. But the seven perspectives I explained above might suggest that you are more than likely to meet some versions of Grenouille- human beings trying to perfect formulas for producing perfect love in an extremely imperfect world.

(Amarakeerthi is professor of Sinhala, University of Peradeniya)

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Midweek Review

A dilemma like no other!

Published

5 days ago

2025/01/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

Indian leader Modi greets President Dissanayake

Two contentious issues that may never be resolved are disagreement between India and Sri Lanka over granting police and land powers to Provincial Councils, arm twisted by New Delhi into establishing them here along with the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord following the infamous parippu drop over the North in 1987 and organized poaching by Tamil Nadu fishers, a problem that can be addressed only by India deploying its powerful Coast Guard, backed by the Navy, to prevent violation of Indo-Lanka maritime boundary.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

Sri Lanka is in a tight spot. Joint statements issued by India and Sri Lanka on Dec, 16, last year, and China and Sri Lanka on January 16, this year, following President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s state visits to New Delhi and Beijing, respectively, underscored the daunting foreign policy challenges faced by the new Sri Lankan leader whose National People’s Power (NPP) secured a landslide victory at the Nov. 2024 parliamentary election, promising a literal sea change.

Dissanayake is also the leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), a once rabidly anti-Indian political movement that waged two unsuccessful insurrections, in 1971 and 1987-1990. Under the JVP’s leadership, the NPP was formed in 2019, just ahead of that year’s presidential election.

Against the backdrop of an unprecedented political environment that had been created by the routing of existing major parties and the emergence of the NPP as the dominant political force here, the Asian giants are determined to consolidate their own separate position here. The joint statements emphasized their agenda.

The issues at hand cannot be examined without taking into consideration the strong and growing US-India relationship, in spite of the latter playing safe in the Russia-Ukraine war and the US-China conflict, as well as the US and India teaming up against Beijing. It appears, however, neither the US nor India trust each other. Their game plan is to try use the other for one’s own benefit in their current marriage of convenience. Washington, without doubt, considers both China and India are a threat to US hegemony.

Whether hapless Sri Lanka likes it or not, or regardless who wields political power here, the major powers won’t change their strategies. That is the unpleasant reality.

In the wake of President Dissanayake’s four-day visit to Beijing (January 14 to 17), a section of the Opposition engaged in the usual criticism of the NPP government, though they generally remained silent on the outcome of his New Delhi visit. China and India dominate major political parties represented in Parliament and the continuing political-economic-social turmoil facilitated their agenda. Our treacherous political party system is obviously incapable of addressing developing challenges. They have pathetically failed to reach consensus on national response to external interventions thereby allowing major powers to manipulate the country.

Having perused the two joint statements, the writer is of the view that in spite of Sri Lanka being party to both, they are contradictory and seem unrealistic to a certain extent. The bottom line is Sri Lanka cannot play ball simultaneously with China and India suspicious of each other. They are hell-bent on undermining each other and Sri Lanka is caught up in an utterly dangerous game. Sri Lanka is stuck in the China-India conflict and obviously there is no way out. Whatever Sri Lanka does may antagonize either party and Colombo seems helpless. The joint statements highlight Sri Lanka’s predicament. Nothing can be as absurd as Sri Lanka declaring a shared future with both India and China. In fact, the 34-point Indo-Lanka joint statement was headlined ‘Fostering partnerships for a shared future.’

While India based its relationship with Sri Lanka on the basis of Premier Narendra Modi’s ‘Neighborhood First Policy’ (read India first policy) and ‘SAGAR’ vision (Security and growth for all in the Indian Ocean region) meaning our giant neighbour is primus inter pares, China focused on what the joint statement described as deepening traditional friendship and advancing high-quality Belt and Road cooperation widely discussed as a massive China-led infrastructure project.

But unlike China, India being our giant neighbour she is overbearing and it would be wise of us to handle India with extreme care. Therefore allowing her to have a monopoly position in any part of our economy is asking for trouble to say the least.

Launched in 2013 the China project is also known as ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (BRI) and ‘New Silk Road.’ The US and its allies are strongly opposed to the Chinese project, originally called ‘One Belt One Road’.

India strongly opposes any Chinese initiative here hence the joint statement issued following President Dissanayake’s visit must have disappointed New Delhi greatly. The truth is that the statement from Beijing questions the very basis of the joint statement issued on Dec. 16th last year. Regardless of Western and Indian pressure, Beijing has constantly advanced its own project here and elsewhere.

India’s main grouse is the sea and land-based China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that may give China a strategic advantage over India.

Key points in Jan. 16 statement

President Dissanayake’s delegation to Beijing included two Ministers – Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism Vijitha Herath, and Transport, Highways, Ports and Civil Aviation Minister and Leader of the House Bimal Rathnayake. Both are senior JVPers who stood by Dissanayake during the internal turmoil within that party during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tenure as the President (2005-2014).

President Dissanayake met President Xi Jinping, Premier of the State Council Li Qiang and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress Zhao Leji.

In line with the overall Chinese approach, their focus was on Belt and Road cooperation. Against that background, the joint statement emphasized the pivotal importance of advancing what the Chinese called ‘high quality Belt and Road cooperation.’

They reiterated unwavering commitment to what the joint statement described as expanding China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership.

Then they also decided to sustain ‘close high-level exchanges in keeping with ‘strong strategic guidance’ given by the Chinese and Sri Lankan leaders.’

Sri Lanka repeated its longstanding commitment for ‘One-China’ policy or principle in line with the United Nations general assembly Resolution 2758 passed on Oct. 25th, 1971. In other words, that Resolution accepted Taiwan as an inalienable part of China. It would be pertinent to mention that India, too, accepted the ‘One-China’ principle but over the years refrained from reiterating its position. According to the joint statement, Sri Lanka fully backed all efforts by China to achieve national reunification.

Sri Lanka also assured that the country wouldn’t be a platform for anti-China activity and also backed Beijing in respect of issues related to Xizang (Tibet) and the predominantly Muslim Xinjiang regions where China is under Western fire over purported human rights violations.

The UN that often echo Western line saw its Human Rights Chief Volker Turk jumped to criticise Chinese actions in the above-mentioned regions and the Chinese alleged that the UNHRC strategy is meant to undermine China.

In the fifth paragraph of the joint statement with Colombo that dealt with the contentious Xizang and Xinjiang issues, China reiterated its ‘commitment to an independent foreign policy of peace’ whereas Sri Lanka repeated its pledge for ‘an independent non-aligned foreign policy.’

Having been trapped in Chinese, Indian and Western machinations, declaration of ‘an independent non-aligned foreign policy, ‘seemed ridiculous.

The focus on Belt and Road cooperation was underscored with Sri Lanka’s acceptance of President Jinping’s flagship project key to economic and social development. Therefore, the reiteration of the pivotal importance of the Colombo Port City and Hambantota Port, both built by China, didn’t surprise anyone. However, eyebrows were raised that China and Sri Lanka entered into a Belt and Road cooperation plan meant to upgrade/strengthen the Chinese flagship project.

Once Gotabaya Rajapaksa told the writer how Indian National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval pressed him to cancel major Chinese projects here. Responding to queries raised by the writer in Dec., 2016, Gotabaya Rajapaksa explained the dissimilarity between Doval and his predecessor Shivshankar Menon (January 2010 to May 2014) who had served as Foreign Secretary before receiving the appointment as NSA.

The former Defence Secretary said Menon, in his memoirs, Choices: Inside the Making of India’s Foreign Policy had acknowledged the understanding between the Mahinda Rajapaksa government and India during the war and post-conflict period. However, Menon’s successor Ajit Doval had taken an entirely different stand vis-a-vis Sri Lanka, Rajapaksa said.

Rajapaksa said Doval called for the cancellation of the USD 1.4 bn Chinese flagship project, the Colombo Port City. In addition to that demand which Rajapaksa said was very unfair, India demanded that Sri Lanka take over the Colombo International Container Terminals Limited (CICT), a joint venture between China Merchants Port Holdings Company Limited (CMPH) and the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA).

CMPH holds 85% of the partnership whilst the balance 15% is with the SLPA.

Rajapaksa quoted Doval as having told him that India wanted all Chinese funded infrastructure projects stopped and for Sri Lanka to have full control of the Hambantota Port. Rajapaksa quoted Doval as having told him: “Sri Lanka is a small country, you don’t need such development projects.”

Maritime issues, etc.

In addition to Sri Lanka seeking early implementation with China of what the joint statement called an agreed debt restructuring plan and early conclusion of a comprehensive free trade agreement, they dealt with maritime cooperation. They agreed to conduct regular bilateral consultations on maritime matters.

China and Sri Lanka decided to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Ocean Cooperation to pave the way for what the joint communique called Blue Partnership. The Blue Partnership is obviously an integral part of the Belt and Road Cooperation.

The joint statement conveniently refrained from making reference to the contentious issue of Chinese research vessels’ visit to Sri Lanka. Repeated Indian and US protests during the early phase of Ranil Wickremesinghe’s presidency (2022 July-Nov 2024) compelled the beleaguered leader to declare a moratorium on such foreign vessels. That decision was meant to prevent Chinese research vessels entering Sri Lankan waters. The Indian media had routinely categorized all Chinese research vessels as spy ships.

President Dissanayake’s government is yet to announce its stand on Wickremesinghe’s moratorium on such foreign ship visits. In spite of Minister Vijitha Herath’s declaration on Dec., 20, 2024, that a special committee would be established to implement a national policy in respect of foreign vessels seeking to enter Sri Lankan waters nothing has been heard so far of the proposed committee.

Regardless of repeated assurances that Sri Lankan territory won’t be used against India’s security interests, the Modi government is seriously concerned over Chinese moves here. India hardened its stance after the Yahapalana government (2015 January to 2019 November) leased the strategically located Hambantota Port on a 99-year lease to China in 2017. That increased Indian concerns as China consolidated its position here. It would be pertinent to mention that China secured what it wanted in spite of the Yahapalana government initially taking an extremely hostile position towards Beijing. The Yahapalana government went to the extent of suspending the Colombo Port City project in March 2015. But, China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) resumed the project in August 2016 after China and Sri Lanka settled differences over the project that was finalized in Sept. 2014 in the presence of President Jinping in Colombo.

Chinese leader Jinping with President Dissanayake

In addition to the USD 1.4 ban Colombo Port City project, China invested USD 1.2 bn in the Hambantota Port. But, President Disanayake’s Office claimed that it secured a fresh investment of USD 3.7 bn for a state-of-the-art oil refinery in Hambantota. That investment declared as the single largest FDI by the President’s Office is part of the Belt and Road cooperation.

However, the UNP has challenged the President’s claim, emphasizing that the agreement on an oil refinery with China was finalized in Nov. 2023 by President Wickremesinghe’s administration.

According to the UNP, Sri Lanka reached consensus on Chinese investment due to the delay in construction undertaken by a consortium that included Silver Park International (Private) Limited of Singapore (controlled by India’s Accord Group) and Oman’s Ministry of Oil and Gas. Interestingly, that agreement had been signed in March 2019 during Maithripala Sirisena’s presidency.

China hasn’t allowed domestic politics here to derail their plans. The Chinese strategy is on track. The Hambantota Port agreement and the proposed oil refinery at Mirijjawila are cases in point. Having signed a deal on the construction of a brand new international port at Hambantota during Mahinda Rajapaksa’s presidency, China secured the port for a mere USD 1.2 bn from the Wickremesinghe regime.

Later President Gotabaya Rajapaksa found fault with the Yahapalana administration for leasing the port to China. Declaring that the leasing of the Hambantota Port was a mistake, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, in his first interview as President with Nitin A. Gokhale, Editor-in-Chief of Bharat Shakti.in and SNI, in late Nov. 2019, said he wanted to renegotiate the deal. The Yahapalana deal covered the port and approximately 15,000 acres around it. China simply dismissed that notion about an agreement concluded with the previous Yahapalana regime. Since then no one dared to take up that issue. China obviously intends to consolidate its position in the South around Hambantota, just as India tightens its grip around Northeast Sri Lanka, which includes the world’s fourth largest natural harbour at Trincomalee earlier coveted by the US.

Post-Aragalaya developments

In the run-up to the presidential election last Sept, India indicated what it desired from the new President. On behalf of India, Pathfinder Foundation presented a comprehensive proposal meant to consolidate Indo-Lanka partnership to all presidential candidates.

During President Disanayake’s visit, India built up on the agreement Premier Modi finalized with President Wickremesinghe in July 2023. Like China, India, too, since the successful conclusion of the war in 2009, advanced its strategy, here, meticulously.

However, China never matched Indian financial assistance during the unprecedented crisis here. India provided assistance posthaste. According to Premier Modi, India extended grants and Lines of Credit worth USD 5 bn to Sri Lanka during the presidencies of Gotabaya Rajapaksa and Ranil Wickremesinghe. In fact, NPP leader Disanayake in the run-up to the presidential election thanked India for unprecedented assistance provided in the hour of Sri Lanka’s need.

New Delhi also paid USD 20.66 mn to settle payments due from Sri Lanka for Indian projects here completed under operational Lines of Credit.

A major difference between India-Sri Lanka joint statement and China-Sri Lanka communique is the former’s focus on defence relations. During a joint media briefing with President Dissanayake in New Delhi Premier Modi declared that he and President Dissanayake decided to quickly finalize the Security Cooperation Agreement. However, the Indo-Lanka joint statement differed from Premier Modi’s declaration in respect of the proposed Security Cooperation Agreement.

According to the joint communique, India and Sri Lanka agreed to explore the possibility of concluding a framework agreement on defence cooperation. Under a section headlined ‘Strategic & Defence Cooperation’, the communique dealt comprehensively with Sri Lanka’s needs. India addressed the issues at hand while assuring backing for defence needs. But, entering into a Security Cooperation Agreement /Defence Cooperation Agreement as mentioned in the joint communique, cannot under any circumstances be taken by the government without having consensus with all political parties represented in Parliament.

India’s offer should be examined keeping in mind Sri Lanka never sought a defence agreement with any particular country, even during the difficult war to defeat LTTE terrorism that lasted for about 30 years, but somehow procured arms, ammunition and equipment as well as training from a wide range of suppliers, including China, Israel, Pakistan, Czechoslovakia, Ukraine as well as Russia. The matter is definitely bone of contention for obvious reasons.

Although India caused terrorism here in the ’80s and should be held responsible for massive death and destruction caused, the war couldn’t have been brought to a successful conclusion without New Delhi’s silent, but invaluable backing to defeat the LTTE during the final Eelam War (2006 Aug. to 2009 May). That is the hard truth. Many people may find that hard to accept. With the LTTE getting too big for its shoes, with subtle backing from the West, especially by turning a blind eye to its terror infrastructure like drug running and arms smuggling from their countries, India, too, was left with no other option, especially after it daringly assassinated its beloved former Premier Rajiv Gandhi on its own soil.

Midweek Review

Humanities in Medical Education

Published

5 days ago

2025/01/22

Sahan Weerasooriya

By Dr. Siri Galhenage
sirigalhenage@gmail.com

‘They are shallow animals, having always employed their minds about Body and Gut, they imagine that in the whole system of things there is nothing but Gut and Body’

Samuel Taylor Coleridge [1772-1834]

The above derisive comment regarding doctors was made by the renowned romantic poet and philosopher, over two centuries ago. He was aggrieved by the predominantly biological preoccupation by doctors in the practice of their craft, giving less credence to a broader perspective about life. He was perhaps roused by the growing interest in a natural basis for disease and healing during the Renaissance period [14 – 17 centuries] in the West, with the emergence of anatomically based scientific medicine, moving away from mystic and spiritual traditions.

A HOLISTIC APPROACH to the PRACTICE of MEDICINE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Over the years, scientific medicine has progressed, with the development of high-tech diagnostic techniques exploring deeply into the body, its tissues and cells, and the discovery of effective pharmaceutical weapons against organic disease. This powerful science-based biomedical tradition spread globally and has remained dominant, despite a greater conceptualisation of social and psychological issues pertaining to health and well-being. As a result, the medical profession has tended to develop a sense of therapeutic self-confidence, with a tendency to ignore the psychosocial aspects of medicine and the benefits of the doctor-patient relationship, giving less importance to a display of humanity. It is true to say that, as a result, there is a growing discontent towards the medical system and the medical profession in recent times.

The above disparity in healthcare has attracted the attention of medical educators around the globe, who have started introducing a holistic [broad-based] approach to training of doctors by incorporating Humanities in the medical curriculum. ‘A Good Doctor Treats the Disease; A Great Doctor Treats the Patient’.

It was heartening to read Randima Attygalle’s interview with Dr. Santhushi Amarasuriya titled, ‘Medical Humanities: an interdisciplinary approach to holistic health’ regarding the initiative by the Faculty of Medicine, Colombo, in establishing a Department of Medical Humanities [Sunday Island: Oct. 6, 2024]. I also read with interest the scholarly articles by Susantha Hewa, ‘Humanities in the ‘art’ of healing: A case for subject integration’ [The Island: Oct. 16, 2024] and by Prof. Liyanage Amarakirthi of the University of Peradeniya: ‘Increasing scholarly mutuality for holistic understanding of life: Some initial reflections’ [The Island: Nov. 6, 2024], addressing the need for subject integration.

ROLE of HUMANITIES in MEDICAL EDUCATION

The aim of including Humanities in medical education is to nurture the desirable personal qualities in a medical practitioner in becoming a healer in the true sense of the word.

1. In gaining a broader understanding of the human condition in order to adopt a more holistic approach towards the practice of medicine.

2. In developing empathy and compassion towards one’s patients while maintaining professional boundaries.

3. In acquiring appropriate and effective communication skills in dealing with patients, as well as respectful discourse with colleagues and the team that the doctor works with.

4. In maintaining professional boundaries and ethical and moral standards.

5. In cultivating personal growth and resilience in having to confront the many challenges and adverse circumstances faced during the course of a doctor’s professional life.

HUMANITIES: ETYMOLOGY AND SCOPE

The base word ‘human’ with its Latin root ‘Humanus’, which refers to the characteristics of mankind has generated a range of derivatives with shades of meaning. It has given birth to such terms as ‘humane’ [which refers to being compassionate]; ‘humanitarian’ [having the welfare of mankind at heart; ‘humanism’ [the belief in human effort rather than divinity]; ‘humanity’ [which connotes mankind and civilisation]; and ‘humanities’ [a collective of academic disciplines that study the human condition].

Humanities, as opposed to biological and physical sciences, embody a wide range of disciplines, such as languages, literature, the arts, history and philosophy, and their critical evaluation. Religion and divinity are not within the range of interest of humanities, although their relevance in the spiritual growth of mankind cannot be disregarded.

RELEVANCE of CLASSICAL LITERATURE

in MEDICAL HUMANITIES

My focus here is classical literature which is an integral part of the discipline of Humanities. Great works of literary art attempt to explore and transmit the full range and depth of human experience, calling into play our emotional and intellectual faculties. Literary analysts observe that art and literature have the capacity to ‘convey serious truths and significant ideals’, ‘broaden our understanding of human nature’, ‘kindle our imaginations’, ‘raise our spirits’ and ‘enhance our sensibility’ [to quote Prof. Frodsham, late Professor of comparative literature, Murdoch University, Perth, Western Australia]. Those works regarded as of high quality are deeply humanistic and provide insights which enrich human existence, elevating our lives to a higher plane of functioning.

Works of literary artistry provide socio-cultural awareness, psychological insights, moral and ethical consciousness, in addition to aesthetic appreciation – the confluence of all of which has now evolved into the notion of literary sensibility, first conceived by the legendary English poet Geoffrey Chaucer of Canterbury Tales fame. It is a sensibility every human being should aspire to develop, the doctor in particular, who is expected to take on the task of healing.

Great writers tend to exercise their literary talent in directing the reader in achieving personality growth vicariously through the portrayal of characters and the situations they create. It is an enriching experience which generates an appreciation of beauty, use of metaphor, psychosocial insights [intra-psychic and interpersonal] that reflect societal attitudes, and moral instruction.

NURTURING LITERARY SENSIBILITY

While strongly advocating the introduction of Humanities in Medical Education, I believe that there should also be a greater emphasis by educational authorities on nurturing reading ability in children from their early formative years, as a way of sensitising them to literature in their later life. Reading with children and exploring their thoughts about what is read and helping them to understand and articulate their thoughts about life within their capacity, is called ‘conversational reading’.

The more young children read, are read to, and are engaged in conversation that flows on from stories read, the more they begin to love books [and words], increase their vocabulary and enhance their communication skills. It enhances a child’s self-worth and personal identity sadly lacking in those who lag behind reading for whatever reason. What better way for children to be introduced to the world that they are to be part of than be immersed in a story that is all about beings that surround them? What better way for children to learn about ideas and speech patterns, how people interact and react, how dialogue reveals more about a person than what they say, and gain an understanding of empathy and compassion? There is no better way to convey moral instruction than by vicarious learning through reading, and no better way to enhance their thinking and reasoning, to generate creativity and to introduce them to a life rich in meaning.

We in Sri Lanka are endowed with an ancient literary tradition that fosters literary sensibility. As far back as between the 7th and 10th century AD, our ancestors scribbled their sentiments in poetry on the mirror wall of Sigiriya Rock [Sigiri Kurutu Gee]. Our ancient scholars produced great literary works such as Sandesha Kavya, Kavya Sekaraya, Guththilaya, Subhasithaya [to mention a few], and in the 15th Century AD, King Parakramabahu the 6th. gave patronage to literary discourse. As a nation, we hold a predisposition to develop literary sensibility.

A FEW EXAMPLES of LITERARY ART to

ILLUSTRATE THEIR VALUE IN

MEDICAL HUMANITIES

I have cited below, a few examples of literary art, many of global fame, in order to illustrate their value in understanding human nature by tapping into their allegorical meaning. It was not my intention to suggest including them in a reading list in medical humanities; although some of them may attract the interest of the medical educators and the general readership.

Rudyard Kipling, in his narrative masterpiece, ‘Kim’, takes a Tibetan Lama and his disciple across what he calls ‘the great and wonderful land of Hind’ [India] along ‘the grand trunk road, teeming with life’ [a metaphor he uses for the path of life’]. The travellers are on a quest for understanding of humanity with the hope of achieving personal growth.

In an inspiring piece of lyrical ballad, The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, Samuel Coleridge, places his protagonist on board a ship and sends him off on a voyage – an archetypal journey of life with its trials and tribulations. The poet exposes the vulnerability of the human condition by making him commit an impulsive act of killing the albatross that guides him. He faces the wrath of nature, takes on board a burden of guilt and suffering, and on reaching the shore, embarks on a spiritual path, elevating him to being a productive human being.

Viktor Frankl, the celebrated Austrian psychiatrist of Jewish descent proposed the theory that the primary motivational force in man is to find meaning in life. He developed his theory, which gained wide application in medical practice through his direct personal experience as a prisoner in Auschwitz, the Nazi concentration camp, which led to his popular publication, ‘Man’s Search for Meaning’.

Leo Tolstoy, the Great Russian author skilfully constructs the character of Ivan Ilych in his much celebrated novella, ‘The Death of Ivan Ilych’. The author takes his protagonist, an upwardly mobile lawyer, to the top of a ladder, and makes him fall off it, both literary and metaphorically, into an abyss of misery. The crisis precipitates a terminal illness that makes him evaluate his life and gain insight into the inescapable truth about life – suffering – which reflects the author’s spiritual leaning towards Buddhism. In addition, the novella provides a brilliant portrayal of the patient’s ‘Abnormal Illness Behaviour’ and the ‘Doctor- Patient Relationship’ that should attract the attention of the student of Medicine.

As many scholars believe, there is no other literary artist than William Shakespeare who has had an in-depth understanding of the human condition, long before formal study of the human mind was undertaken by psychologists and psychiatrists. In his Magnum Opus, ’Hamlet’, he gives dramatic expression to the mourning and melancholy of Prince Hamlet, and the flight into a state of mania of grief-stricken Ophelia – two of his skilful character developments. He depicts the genesis of morbid jealousy in ‘Othello’ [a favourite of Psychiatrists!], and the existential dilemma of old age in ‘King Lear’, to mention a few. In his narrative poem ‘Lucrece’, Shakespeare poignantly gives lyrical expression to the agony and the psychological consequences of a victim of a sexual assault.

William Wordsworth, the lake poet of ‘The Daffodils’ fame maintained a high degree of resilience throughout life despite a series of personal losses including the loss of both his parents during his early development. He gained his inner strength by being nurtured by nature, the source of his creative energy-his sorrows sublimated through poetry. Wordsworth raises nature to a divine level to underscore her importance to man as teacher and healer.

Prose, verse and song often merging into one, and carried into a musical crescendo with matching melody was the main channel through which Rabindranath Tagore directed his creative energy. His wisdom is embodied in the ‘primordial truth’ of the interconnectedness of man and nature and the cosmic whole which formed the philosophical basis of his musical compositions. The predisposition to such confluence of feeling and nature occurred during his formative years: born to a family of 14 he was alone but not lonely, having nature as his companion, allowing his imagination run wild.

Many critics believe that Martin Wickremasinghe’s novel ‘Viragaya’ [dispassion] displays the best of his literary prowess. His skill in crafting the personality profile of Aravinda Jayasena, the protagonist of the narrative, makes it unique amongst his many works of creative literary artistry. It depicts the journey towards peace and tranquillity of a young man attempting to shed off all his passions. Often dubbed the ‘psychological novel’, Viragaya’s appeal is in the behavioural profile of Aravinda, which leaves the ‘psychological minded’ reader to mull over the complexities of his character.

Sinhabahu,

the mythical tale of the origin of the Sinhala race given dramatic expression by our greatest playwright, Prof. Ediriweera Sarachchandra, depicts a deeper psychological meaning of a young man’s separation and individuation by breaking away from his family to develop his own identity. The play enjoyed by many of us at the ‘wala’ at my alma mater in Peradeniya, oblivious then to its allegorical meaning!!

METHODOLOGIES in INCORPORATING

HUMANITIES in MEDICAL EDUCATION

Reorientation of the student of medicine by integrating humanities into the demanding medical curriculum is a challenge due to wider issues in our education system. Students who follow a science-based education with the intention of entering medical school perceive a dichotomy between natural sciences and literature. The dichotomy is a spurious one as both disciplines deal with the human condition! Those educated in evidence-based science subjects with ‘hard facts’, consider literature as a ‘softer’ area of study. The highly competitive tertiary entrance examination encourages the gathering of factual knowledge giving the student less time to be engaged in the arts and literature and to be absorbed in reflection.

As stated above, our nation is endowed with an ancient literary tradition well-placed to nurture literary sensibility. But many educationists today lament that we have lost our romance with the written word. Starting from the pre-school stage a significant restructuring of our education system is warranted to realise our literary potential.

A wide range of methodologies are used globally in incorporating Humanities into the medical curriculum. These include role play, use of video clips etc.

A common methodology used in the application of literature in Medical Humanities is the technique of ‘Close Reading’. It involves looking at a specific piece of text eg. a narrative poem, a short story or novella, and examining it in close detail in order to draw the imaginative and analytic skills of the student. It involves the exploration of characters, their personality profiles, the way they communicate with each other and the events and crises they create; appreciating the sociocultural context in which they occur; the student’s emotional response to the characters and situations; the allegorical meaning beneath the literal narrative; and the recognition of any underlying moral instruction. The intention is to create a safe environment for the students to freely discuss their observations. The facilitator navigates the discussion towards a clinically meaningful territory.

CONCLUSION

With the rapid progression of medicine into a technologically advanced profession, Social Sciences and Humanities as essential aspects of the Art of practice of medicine has struggled to occupy space in the heavily loaded medical curriculum. Classic literature, as a component of Humanities, has a role to play in meeting this need, vicariously, by fostering literary sensibility [and hence psychosocial and moral cognizance] through the allegorical themes presented by great works of literary art. Also, an added challenge posed by technological advances is the loss of our romance with the written word with the loss of sensibility during formative years, requiring an overhaul in our education system.

‘Wherever the art of medicine is loved there is also a love of humanity’ – Socrates.

[The writer is a retired Consultant Psychiatrist resident in Perth, Western Australia. He is a former examiner to the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and the recipient of the 2023 Meritorious Service award of the RANZCP [WA Branch]. sirigalhenage@gmail.com