Gabriel García Márquez is considered to be the most significant novelist who went his journey on a different path. On other hand, his novels were typical examples that challenge the traditional framework of writing through "Magic Realism"
Actually alternative pathways come in to the scene, when current frameworks are no more enough to express their ideas. History proves it well. After the world wars, development in communication & transportation made the western world changed a lot which resulted complexity & frustration. Money & Power dominated the societies. People struggled to express the realities they felt.. People, politics & society were no more explained with just realism. With those changes, we can see the evolution in art media, that became quite complex. Realism is no more enough.. New structures were being introduced like Surrealism. A novelist like Marcas is a typical result from a society (deformed?) that doesn't know where it heads! He was one of the most significant writers in the 20th century and Nobel Prize was awarded to him in 1982.
Is Martin Wickramasinghe's Gamperaliya enough to explain the realities we feel today?
As I could remember Madawala (Mohan Raj Madawala) had done a great effort to go beyond the traditional expressionism through his short story book.(i.e Bodilima) It was released in mid nineties. It contained a very different model that I haven't read in any Sinhala book. He was brave enough to do that research. Even though, I don't know, whether it was successful in Sinhala reading crowd, a lot of intellectuals were keeping hopes on this new model in Sinhala literature. He could have been the Marques in Sri Lankan context!
Please read below extract from the book.
I was among the people, who expected more books from Madawala. I became a self appointed campaigner for his book. Most of the people around me (Including my Mum) became very harsh Criticizers!
Please refer Another example;
I didn't hear anything more about this writer for another few years. I thought, may be he would have gone out of the country for his higher studies or something.. But then I heard his name in a third class radio channel as a presenter! I couldn't believe that he was doing this kind of thing to make his living. Who could believe this one was a radical writer that gave a lot of hopes to Sinhala readers.
This creative writer had been killed by this commoditized society!
For me.. Sri Lankan Márquez had died in his early ages!
Related post : Contravention of Victorianism: Magam Soliya (මාගම් සෝලිය)
