Is the public expectation of political correctness in literary works planting constraints in the creative freedom of Malayalam writers and leaving them secluded from global literary trends and possibilities?
The question was raised by Malayalam writer and novelist M. Mukundan delivering the Prof. C.P. Sivadasan Memorial Oration on ‘Reading contemporary literature: a writer’s perspective’ organised on the Thalassery campus of the Kannur University at Palayad here on Monday.
Mr. Mukundan said that for a Malayalam writer to succeed, he or she should write in a politically correct way since the public was not concerned about the literary style and structure of writing but about content.
“There are certain parametres set for writers and the major challenge for them is to write within these parametres,” Mr. Mukundan said adding that every writer in the State was expected to be socio-political in his or her writing. A true writer, however, had lot of other things to reckon with such as language and style, as writing was always fleeting and constantly evolving, he said. As a writer, he was concerned about socio-political issues such as health problems caused by Endosulfan, abuse of girls and road accidents, for example, but he could not reduce these issues to sloganeering in his writings, he said. This demand for political correctness was a major challenge he was facing as a Malayalam writer, he observed.
“We (Malayalam writers) have, in fact, closed our doors to infinite possibilities of literature,” the novelist said, adding that the writers had lost a global perspective because of this emphasis on political correctness. Outside Kerala, this focus on socio-political issues was often scoffed at in literary circles which believed that it was wrong to expect that such issues would be solved through literature, he pointed out. As a writer, he said, his major concern was to use new literary possibilities to renovate his writing and, therefore, he was in favour of reconciling this creative urge for renewing his writing with the demand for political correctness, he said, adding that the writers here had to strike a balance between the two. “That is what I am doing in my latest short novel ‘Nritham’,” he said.
Noting that the architecture of reading had changed over the years, he observed that readers today had greater choice of books, writers and content. However, readers in the State were losing interest in Malayalam writings because of the lack of reader-friendly books. How to make literary works popular and intellectual was a challenge that the writers should take up, he said, calling on them to reconcile both the aspects of popularity and intellectuality.
Presiding over the function organised jointly by the Kannur University Department of Studies in English and the English Department Alumni Association, Kannur University Vice-Chancellor P.K. Michael Tharakan said that late Prof. Sivadasan, who had served as the head of the department, was known for his approach in teaching, his pedagogical flourish in his teaching as well as his theoretical insights.
Retired Professor and head of the Calicut University Department of English N. Ramachandran Nair and retired Principal of the District Institute of Education and Training here M.P. Balakrishnan Master remembered Prof. Sivadasan who had died on August 17, 2010. Noted literary critic K.P. Mohanan spoke on ‘Predicament and Narration — a postmodern scenario’. Department head M. Dasan and Alumni Association secretary N. Sajan were also present.
