Interview with Sarojini Sahoo by C P Aboobaker
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Sense & Sensuality
Jan 29, 2011, 3:20:02 PM1/29/11
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C.P: You seem to like writing on women problems very much? Wouldn't it
affect your creative writing?
S.S: When I started writing in 70's , there was a popular slogan in
America that 'personal is political'. But I was not aware of that
slogan. Still I used to write about women -- pious women, working
women, artists, wives, adulterers, daughters, widows, and sisters. The
characters of my fictions represent almost the entire range of female
experience in individually. Each of the female characters in my
fictions is unique and always more complex than a woman initially
seems. It is not that I have been writing cautiously to portray women
in my fiction , but the women have come to my sphere, to my
surroundings , are the characters of my fictions. In 90's When DD1
made a tele-documentary on me, the director of that tele film, Dr.
Satti Khanna , asked me why I am a feminist ? He pointed out that in
most of my fictions, I have painted the women's issue. I told him that
time if I am a feminist that is because I am a woman. It does not mean
that I have not written any thing besides women's issue. Recently I
have finished a novel, where the protagonist is a 25 years boy and
there women have very rare and minor role. But it is true that I feel
free to portray women in my writing. Feminism is a natural process of
my writing, not a fashion. I have tried to be truthful always to my
feelings and to my beliefs. So, never any day I find myself tussled
between my critical appraisal of feminism and creative writings. I am
not an activist at all. I am a writer and have my own limitations. I
always want to live my life with my beliefs and I always try to
portray my beliefs in my writings without any propagandist out look.
As a feminist I think I am more a writer and as a writer I think I am
more a feminist.
CP: Before I continue, may I ask you how you realized first that you
have the spark of writing in you?
SS: My first story appeared in a Sunday Literary Supplement of a
leading Oriya News paper of that time, The Prajatantra, when I was
mere a school going girl. What sparked me to write a story? One
morning , from the third floor of my parental house, I was brushing my
teeth and while spiting the foam of toothpaste from my mouth to the
ground, I marked some children from nearby huts were playing there and
they were trying to catch these foams by saying, “Look, how flowers
are showered from the sky”. It seems unbelievable, but was true and
that small event made me to write my first story 'Abaseosh O
Aboshosh' (Remains and Repentance). It was a sort of story based on
Marxian ideas. What ignited the flow of my writing at that time were
the ideas, not the feelings. Later when I found myself much mature, I
could realize that ideas and imaginations are not sufficient enough to
create a story. A newness in ideas, sincere observations to your
feelings, emotions and experiences and an insight in to the life
process is some of required factors for continuing one's creativity.
C.P: How many stories did you so far publish? Write?
S.S: I have not tried to count how many stories are there in my
credit. Besides my ten anthologies of short stories, there are some
stories still remained to be anthologized and are few stories, written
at the primary stage of my writing carrier, which I have discarded for
inclusion in any of my books. If an anthology contains ten to fifteen
of my stories, I think, I might have written around two hundred
stories, but I am not sure about this statistic.
C.P: Have you any inhibition in writing?
S.S: From the beginning of my carrier, critics have stamped me as a
frank speaking writer. You might have marked a typical shyness has
been found in common women writer's voice while relating the truth and
exposing their inner self. Even their weaknesses or love relations are
also not expressed clearly in fear of social scandal of their
character. A typical womanish shyness prevents them to write their
actual feelings towards sex and love. This is not only due to any
restriction imposed by their family, but many time we find that an
idea of being a good girl pursues them to hide their own feelings and
experiences. In The Second Sex, Simone also discusses three particular
inauthentic attitudes of women in which they hide their freedom in:
"The Narcissist," "The Woman in Love," and "The Mystic." In all three
of these attitudes, women deny the original thrust of their freedom by
submerging it into the object; in the case of the first, the object is
herself, the second, her beloved and the third, the absolute or God.
You know in India the 'chastity' means a lot for a woman and it is
always demanded that a female should keep her 'chastity' pure and
perfect. (It is another issue that nobody asks a man for the purity
and perfection of his chastity). In case of poetry, one can hide
herself with mystic metaphor or myth, but in fiction, one has to open
herself completely. So, it is difficult for a woman to write any
fiction sincerely hiding her experiences and reactions. I never find
any 'inhibition' in relating reality while writing. Because while I
write, I place me alien from the otherworld. Writing for me is a muse,
a monologue, a kind of self-intercourse. I enter in to the chore of
the character's self and find where I am hiding there. I lift my self
to the above, much more above from those characters and open and tear
and alter them as if I am re-dressing, remaking my self. There is no
place for the second or third person at that time. Inhibitions are
caused when you are aware of another's existence. When no body is
there and you are going to open yourself, to whom you would inhibit?
Is there any restriction, limitation, or shame to open anyone in front
of one's own self?
C.P: -What is the modus of your writing? About Virginia Woolf it is
said:"All through her life, Virginia Woolf used at intervals to write
short stories. It was her custom, whenever an idea for one occurred to
her, to sketch it out in a very rough form and then to put it away in
a drawer. Later, if an editor asked her for a short story, and she
felt in the mood to write one (which was not frequent), she would take
a sketch out of her drawer and rewrite it, sometimes a great many
times. " Does this occur to you? If so, why? What in your opinion can
be the reason for Virginia's neglect of her stories? She has written
some wonderful stories.
S.S:- This has happened with me also . Though I started my carrier as
a short story writer and for a good time I had been in those fields
but that time I had a 'phobia' for novel writing. After 90's onward,
when I started writing my first novel, I overcome this trepidation.
Nowadays, I have been writing very few short stories and all my
creative times have been spent for novel writing. You know, the novel
has a huge landscape and the author has much more freedom than the
short story writer. You can emerge any idea any story plot in a novel.
Virginia Woolf's An Unwritten Novel could have been a short story. The
total time span of her novel Mrs. Dalloway is only one day. I think,
like me Virginia Woolf might have been emerged her story ideas and
plots in her novels.
C.P.: May I put an irrelevant question in the course of our talk? I
find that three illustrious women writers of our period (Anne Sexton
(1928-1974) , Sylvia Plath( 1932-1963), Virginia Woolf ( 1882-1941)
committed suicide. The trio were feminists. In other societies also
feminist writers are seen to have done the same thing. E.G. Farough
Farukhabad of Iran. How does it happen? What is the psyche behind this
play of suicide among women writers?
S.S: Here are some lists of writers who made suicide.Acuna, Manuel
(Mexico, 1849-1873); Adamov, Arthur, born in Russia in 1908 and died
in France in 1970, Aguila, Pablo del: born and died in Granada
(1946-1968); Akhmatova, Anna: Born and died in Russia, Akutagawa,
Ryunosuke, (1892-1927), born and died in Japan; Aleramo, Sibilla
(pseudonym of Rina Faccio, 1876-1960), born and died in Italy; Amery,
Jean (1912-1978), born and died in Austria, Aragon, Louis (1897-1972):
born and died in Paris, Arenas, Reynaldo (1943-1990), born in Cuba and
died in USA. Arguedas, José María (1911-1969), nacido y muerto en
Perú. Arguedas, José María (1911-1969), born and died in Peru. Artaud,
Antonin (1895-1948): nacido y muerto en Francia. Artaud, Antonin
(1895-1948): born and died in France. Babel, Issak (1894-1941), nacido
y muerto en la Unión Soviética. Babel, Isaak (1894-1941), born and
died in the Soviet Union. Benjamin, Walter (1892-1940), nacido en
Alemania y muerto en Portbou, Girona. Benjamin, Walter (1892-1940),
born in Germany and died in Portbou, Girona. Berryman, John
(1914-1972): nacido y muerto en USA; Biest, Alain van der, nacido en
Bélgica en 1944, y muerto en 2002. Berryman, John (1914-1972): born
and died in USA; Biest, Alain van der, born in Belgium in 1944 and
died in 2002. Bjorneboe, Jens: (1920-1976), nacido y muerto en
Noruega. Bjørneboe, Jens: (1920-1976), born and died in Norway.
Carvan, Laura; Casariego Córdoba, Pedro (1955-1993): nacido y muerto
en Madrid, España. Carvan, Laura; Casariego Cordoba, Pedro
(1955-1993): born and died in Madrid, Spain. Casey, Calvert, nacido en
Cuba (1924) y muerto en Roma en 1969. Casey, Calvert, born in Cuba
(1924) and died in Rome in 1969. Castelo Branco, Camilo (1825-1890),
nacido y muerto en Portugal. Castelo Branco, Camilo (1825-1890), born
and died in Portugal. Celan, Paul (1930-1970), nacido en Rumania y
muerto en Francia. Celan, Paul (1930-1970), born in Romania and died
in France. Cesarano, Giorgio (1928-1975). Cesarano, Giorgio
(1928-1975). Chatterton, Thomas: Nacido en Bristol, 1752; muerto en
Londres, 1770; Costafreda, Alfonso (1926-1974); nacido y muerto en
España. Chatterton, Thomas: Born in Bristol, 1752, died in London,
1770; Costafreda, Alfonso (1926-1974), born and died in Spain. Crane,
Hart (1899-1932), nacido y muerto en USA. Crane, Hart (1899-1932),
born and died in USA. Cravan, Arthur (1887-1920), nacido en Francia y
muerto en México. Cravan, Arthur (1887-1920), born in France and died
in Mexico. Crevel, René (1898-1935), nacido y muerto en Francia.
Crevel, René (1898-1935), born and died in France. Cuesta, Jorge
(1903-1942): Nacido y muerto en México. Cuesta, Jorge (1903-1942):
born and died in Mexico. Curtis Ian (1956-1980), nacido y muerto en
Inglaterra. Ian Curtis (1956-1980), born and died in England.
Dagerman, Stig (1923-1954), nacido y muerto en Suecia. Dagerman, Stig
(1923-1954), born and died in Sweden. Dazai, Osamu (1909-1949), nacido
y muerto en Japón. Dazai, Osamu (1909-1949), born and died in Japan.
Debord, Guy (1932-1994), nacido y muerto en Francia. Debord, Guy
(1932-1994), born and died in France. Deleuze, Gilles (1925-1995),
nacido y muerto en Francia. Deleuze, Gilles (1925-1995), born and died
in France. Dick, Phillip K. Dick, Phillip K. (1928-1982), nacido y
muerto en USA. (1928-1982), born and died in USA. Drieu La Rochelle,
Pierre (1893-1945), nacido y muerto en Francia. Drieu La Rochelle,
Pierre (1893-1945), born and died in France. Duprey, Jean-Pierre
(1930-1959), nacido y muerto en Francia. Duprey, Jean-Pierre
(1930-1959), born and died in France. Egea, Javier (1952-1999): Nacido
y muerto en España; Esenin, Sergei: nacido en Konstantinov, 1895, y
muerto en Leningrado, 1925; Espanca, Florbela (1895-1930), nacida y
muerta en Portugal. Egea, Javier (1952-1999): born and died in Spain;
Esenin Sergei: born in Konstantinov, 1895, and died in Leningrad,
1925; Espanca, Florbela (1895-1930), born and died in Portugal.
Fassbinder, Rainer Weiner (1946-1982), nacido y muerto en Alemania.
Fassbinder, Rainer Weiner (1946-1982), born and died in Germany.
Redern, Paul (1871-1950), nacido en Austria y muerto en USA. Redern,
Paul (1871-1950), born in Austria and died in USA. Ferrater Soler,
Gabriel (1922-1972), nacido y muerto en España. Ferrater Soler,
Gabriel (1922-1972), born and died in Spain. Forrest Thompson,
Verónica: Nacida y muerta (1975) en Inglaterra; Forrestal, James
(1982-1949), nacido y muerto en USA. Forrest Thompson, Veronica: Born
and died (1975) in England, Forrestal, James (1982-1949), born and
died in USA. Galvao, Patricia (1910-1962), nacida y muerta en Brasil.
Galvao, Patricia (1910-1962), born and died in Brazil. Ganivet, Angel:
Nacido en Granada, 1865, y muerto en Riga, 1898. Ganivet, Angel: Born
in Granada, 1865, and died in Riga, 1898. García Sierra, Antonio.
Garcia Sierra, Antonio. Gary, Romain (1914-1980), nacido en Rusia y
muerto en Francia. Gary, Romain (1914-1980), born in Russia and died
in France. Gilman, Charlotte (1860-1935), nacida y muerta en USA.
Gilman, Charlotte (1860-1935), born and died in USA. Gogu, Katherina:
Nacida y muerta (1993) en Grecia. Gogu, Katherina: Born and died
(1993) in Greece. Gómez Jattin, Raúl (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia,
1945-1977). Jattin Gomez, Raul (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia,
1945-1977). Graciotti, Mario (1901-1993, nacido y muerto en Brasil.
Graveraux, Fabrice: (1951-1982). Nacido y muerto en Francia;
Günderode, Karoline von (1780-1806): Nacida y muerta en Alemania.
Halcón, Manuel (1903-1989): nacido y muerto en España. Haliwell,
Kenneth: (1926-1967), nacido y muerto en Inglaterra. Hemingway, Ernst
(1898-1961), nacido y muerto en USA. Hernández Camarero, Luis: Nacido
en Perú, 1941, y muerto en Buenos Aires en 1977. Hervás, Eduardo
(-1976): Nacido y muerto en España. Inge, William (1913-1973), nacido
y muerto en USA. Jarrell, Randall: Nacido y muerto en USA; Jonsson,
Tor: Nacido (1916) y muerto (1951) en Noruega; József, Attila (1905,
1937): Nacido y muerto en Rumanía; Karyotakis, Kostas: Nacido y muerto
en Grecia (1896-1928). Kawabata, Yasunari (1899-1972), nacido y muerto
en Japón. Kees, Weldon (1914- presumiblemente el 18/7/1955), nacido y
muerto en USA. Kennedy Toole, John. Kiš, Danilo (Subotica, 1935 -
París, 1989). Kleist, Heinrich von (1777-1811), nacido y muerto en
Alemania. Kofman, Sarah (1934-1994) Nacida en Polonia y muerta en
Francia. Koestler, Arthur (1905-1983), nacido en Hungría y muerto en
Inglaterra. Kosinski, Jerzy (1933-1991), nacido en Polonia y muerto en
USA. Lafargue, Paul (1842-1911), nacido en Cuba y muerto en Francia.
Lapathiotis, Napoleón: Nacido y muerto (1944) en Grecia. Laranjerira,
Manuel (1877-1912), nacido y muerto en Portugal. Larra, Mariano José
de (1809-1837), nacido y muerto en España. Lequier, Jules (1814,1962),
nacido y muerto en Francia. Levi, Primo (1919-1987), nacido y muerto
en Italia. Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931), nacido y muerto en USA.
London, Jack (1876-1916), nacido y muerto en USA. López Merino,
Francisco (1904-1928): Nacido y muerto en Buenos Aires. Lowry, Malcolm
(1909-1957), nacido y muerto en Inglaterra. Lucentini, Franco
(1920-2002), nacido y muerto en Italia. Lugones, Leopoldo (1874-1938),
nacido y muerto en Argentina. Mandiargues, Pieyre de: Nacido y muerto
en Francia (1909-1991). Mann, Klaus (1906-1949), nacido en Alemania y
muerto en Francia. Márai, Sandor (1900-1989), nacido en Hungría y
muerto en USA. Maupassant, Guy de (1850-1893), nacido y muerto en
Francia. Mayakovsky, Vladimir (1893-1930), nacido y muerto en Rusia.
Mirande, Jon: Nacido y muerto en París, 1925-1972. Mishima, Yukio
(1925-1970), nacido y muerto en Japón. Montherlant, Henry de
(1896-1972), nacido y muerto en Francia. Murena, Héctor (1923-1975):
Nacido y muerto en Buenos Aires. Nava, Pedro (1903-1984), nacido y
muerto en Brasil. Novo, Salvador: Nacido y muerto en México; Obregón,
Carlos: Bogotá, 1929- Madrid, 1963. Pavese, Cesare (m. 1950), nacido y
muerto en Italia. Pérez Creus, Juan; Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963), nacida
y muerta en USA. Polydouri, María (1902-1930), nacida y muerta en
Grecia. Potocki, Jan: Polonia (1761-1815). Pozzi, Antonia: Nacida y
muerta en Milán, Italia, 1912-1938; Ramos Sucre, José Antonio: Nacido
en Cumaná, Venezuela, 1890, muerto en Ginebra, 1930; Roethke,
Theodore: Nacido y muerto en USA; Roussel, Raymond: País, 1877,
Palermo, 1933; Safo, siglo V aC; nacida y muerta en Lesbos, Grecia.
Salgari, Emilio: Verona, 1862, muerto en Turín, 1911. Salvia, Beppe:
Potenza, 1954- Roma, 1985; Antonio Rotundo, Roma, 1987; Sarréra,
Danielle: (1932-1949): Nacido y muerto en Francia. Sexton, Anne
(1928-1974), nacida y muerta en USA. Silberer, Herbert. Silva, José
Asunción: Nacido (1865) y muerto (1896) en Bogotá, Colombia; Sola
González, Alfonso: Nacido y muerto en Argentina; Szondi, Peter
(1929-1971), nacido en Budapest y muerto en Berlín; Teasdale, Sara:
Saint Louis, 1884, Nueva York, 1933; Thompson, Hunter S. (USA,
1938-2005) Torres Bodet, Jaime: (1902-1974). Nacido y muerto en
México; Traianós, Alexis: Nacido (1944) y muerto (1980) en Grecia.
Tsvietáieva, Marina (1892-1941), nacida en Moscú y muerta en Yelabuga,
Rusia. Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941), nacida y muerta en Inglaterra.
Yanópoulos, Periclis: Nacido en Patras, 1870, muerto en Eleusis, 1910;
Yavórov, Peiu, búlgaro (1878, 1914). Zenón (Cition, Chipre, aprox. 336
– Atenas, aprox. 264). Zürn, Unica (Berlín, 1916 – París, 1970).
Graciotti, Mario (1901-1993, born and died in Brazil. Graveraux,
Fabrice: (1951-1982). Born and died in France; Günderode, Karoline von
(1780-1806): Born and died in Germany. Falcon, Manuel ( 1903-1989):
born and died in Spain. Halliwell, Kenneth: (1926-1967), born and died
in England. Hemingway, Ernst (1898-1961), born and died in USA.
Hernández Camarero, Luis: Born in Peru , 1941, and died in Buenos
Aires in 1977. Hervas, Eduardo (-1976): born and died in Spain. Inge,
William (1913-1973), born and died in USA. Jarrell, Randall: born and
died in USA; Jonsson, Tor: Born (1916) and dead (1951) in Norway,
József, Attila (1905, 1937): born and died in Romania; Karyotakis,
Kostas: born and died in Greece (1896-1928). Kawabata Yasunari
( 1899-1972), born and died in Japan. Kees, Weldon (1914 - presumably
18/7/1955) born and died in USA. Kennedy Toole, John. Kis, Danilo
(Subotica, 1935 - Paris, 1989). Kleist, Heinrich von (1777-1811), born
and died in Germany. Kofman, Sarah (1934-1994) Born in Poland and died
in France. Koestler, Arthur (1905-1983), born in Hungary and died in
England. Kosinski , Jerzy (1933-1991), born in Poland and died in USA.
Lafargue, Paul (1842-1911), born in Cuba and died in France.
Lapathiotis, Napoleon was born and died (1944) in Greece. Laranjerira,
Manuel ( 1877-1912), born and died in Portugal. Larra, Mariano José de
(1809-1837), born and died in Spain. Lequien, Jules (1814.1962), born
and died in France. Levi, Primo (1919-1987 ) born and died in Italy.
Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931), born and died in USA. London, Jack
(1876-1916), born and died in USA. López Merino, Francisco
(1904-1928): Born and died in Buenos Aires. Lowry, Malcolm
(1909-1957), born and died in England. Lucentini, Franco (1920-2002),
born and died in Italy. Lugones, Leopoldo (1874-1938), born and died
in Argentina. Mandiargues, Pieyre of: born and died in France
(1909-1991). Mann, Klaus (1906-1949), born in Germany and died in
France. Márai, Sandor (1900-1989), born in Hungary and died in USA.
Maupassant, Guy de (1850-1893), born and died in France. Mayakovsky,
Vladimir (1893-1930), born and died in Russia. Mirande, Jon: born and
died in Paris, 1925-1972. Mishima, Yukio (1925 -1970), born and died
in Japan. Montherlant, Henry (1896-1972), born and died in France.
Murena, Hector (1923-1975): born and died in Buenos Aires. Nava, Pedro
(1903-1984) born and died in Brazil. Novo, Salvador: born and died in
Mexico, Obregon, Carlos: Bogotá, 1929 - Madrid, 1963. Pavese, Cesare
(d. 1950) born and died in Italy. Creus Pérez, Juan; Plath , Sylvia
(1932-1963), born and died in USA. Polydouri, Maria (1902-1930), born
and died in Greece. Potocki, Jan: Poland (1761-1815). Pozzi, Antonia,
born and died in Milan, Italy, 1912-1938, Ramos Sucre, Jose Antonio:
Born in Cumana, Venezuela, 1890, died in Geneva, 1930; Roethke,
Theodore: born and died in USA; Roussel, Raymond: Country, 1877,
Palermo, 1933; Sappho V century BC, born and died in Lesbos, Greece.
Salgari, Emilio: Verona, 1862, died in Turin, 1911. Salvia, Beppe:
Potenza, 1954 - Rome, 1985; Antonio Rotundo, Rome, 1987; Sarrera,
Danielle: ( 1932-1949): born and died in France. Sexton, Anne
(1928-1974), born and died in USA. Silberer, Herbert. Silva, José
Asunción: Born (1865) and dead (1896) in Bogota, Colombia; Sola
Gonzalez, Alfonso: born and died in Argentina; Szondi, Peter
(1929-1971), born in Budapest and died in Berlin; Teasdale, Sara:
Saint Louis, 1884, New York, 1933, Thompson, Hunter S. (USA, 1938
-2005) Torres Bodet, Jaime (1902-1974). born and died in Mexico;
Traiana, Alexis: Born (1944) and dead (1980) in Greece. Tsvietáieva,
Marina (1892-1941), born in Moscow and dead in Yelabuga, Russia.
Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941), born and died in England. Yanópoulos,
Periclis: Born in Patras, 1870, killed at Eleusis, 1910; Yavorov,
Peiu, Bulgarian (1878, 1914). Zeno (Cition Cyprus, approx. 336 -
Athens, approx. 264). Zürn, Unica (Berlin, 1916 - Paris, 1970).
(This suicidal writers' list compiled by Vicente Mora, which I copy
and paste here. Strange enough, this long list does not contain
Virginia Woolf's name.)
What does it mean? Can we reach to any solution or can we find any
relation between writing and suicide? I think Anne
Sexton( 1928-1974) , Sylvia Plath( 1932-1963), Virginia Woolf
( 1882-1941) and even E.G. Farough Farukhabad of Iran are mere
coinciding with the above list and nothing to be generalize with
feminism and suicide from these facts.
The lives of those three writers (I am excluding the Iranian writer,
as I have less read about her) are different from each other. Except
Virginia Woolf, the other two writers are completely hetero sexual. So
you can't blame any LGBT affair in them. The suicide of Woolf may be
influenced by the sexual abuse she and her sister Vanessa were
subjected to by their half-brothers George and Gerald Duckworth. (It
is debatable, but once Woolf recalled in her autobiographical essays A
Sketch of the Past and 22 Hyde Park Gate). Anne Saxton was suffered
from nervous breakdown and this may be a cause for her suicide. The
death of Sylvia Plath has still been remained under controversy
whether it was an accident or a suicide. If it was a suicide, it is
due to any of her personal cause.
Suicidal tendency no doubt is a psychological trauma. People who
attempt suicide are not crazy. Most of the people who are suicidal are
in pain and probably have a chemical imbalance in their brain. And
telling them that they "just want something" or "are trying to
manipulate" is both insensitive and ignorant.Anyone could attempt
suicide.
C.P: Which is your work you like best? Which is the literary work you
like best? As a novelist and story writer, which is the best story,
which is your best novel? And from the world of stories, which would
you select to be the best in world literature?
S.S: It is difficult for any creative writer to choose his/her best
writing. When ever I write any story or novel, it seems me as would be
the best of my works. But when I see that in print alphabets, I feel
depressed as that time it seems, it could be written in better ways.
However I can say Hatred (published in Thanal Online) is my best story
and about novel, though The Dark Abode has gained reader's
appreciation and popularity and much acclaimed critically, I have
satisfied more with Pakhibasa (the novel first written in Oriya and
then translated in to Bengali and Hindi respectively) from my creative
writer's point of view.
About other writer's fiction, I have been impressed by many stories
and novels of different authors in time to time. If you just ask me to
name any story or novel , without thinking for a while, I would say
Innocent Eréndira of Gabriel García Márquez as short story and
Disgraceby JM Coetzee as novel, which have impressed me for a long
time, even nowadays also while years ago I did read it.
C.P: "The characters of my fictions represent almost the entire range
of female experience". Can you substantiate this statement by
providing examples from your works?
S.S: - In my writings, I want to portray the feelings of a woman from
her preschooler days to the post menopausal days. I think, there are
some feelings, intricate mental agony and complexity which a man
couldn't feel any day and these should be discussed in our fictions. I
portray the feelings of first menstrual period of a girl, when she was
locked in a room for five days as a local ritual in my story Time to
Fly, agony of and annoyance of menopause in The Couple and the shaking
situations of a sixty years old lady, who is still waiting for her
menopause and in every month her embarrassing situation when she finds
herself with bleeding (The afternoon). I have also tried to portray
the feelings of a pregnant lady in my story Waiting for Manna,
hysteria in Burkha , fear of abortion (Sakal:The Morning*), false
pregnancy (Tarali Jauthiba Durga :The Melting Castle*),Lesbianism
(Behind the scene) . Even in my story Jahllad *(Butcher) I have told
the story of an infant who finds herself being raped by a caretaker
servant. In my novel Upanibesh*, (which is considered as the first
attempt in Oriya novel to discuss about female sexual desire) I have
taken the symbol of “Shiva Linga” as the sexual desire of women .
Medha, the protagonist of Upanibesh (The Colony), was a bohemian. In
her pre-marital stage, she was thinking that it was boring to live
with a man life-long. Perhaps she wanted a chain free life, where
there would be only love, only sex and wouldn't be any monotony. In my
novel Pratibandi*, the thematic development of sexuality in a woman
has been discussed. Priyanka, the protagonist of the novel has to
encounter the loneliness in the exile of a remote village Saragpali .
This loneliness develops into a sexual urge and soon Priyanka finds
herself sexually attached with a former Member of Parliament. Though
there is an age gap between them, his intelligence impresses her and
she discovers a hidden archaeologist in him.
In my novel The Dark Abode (Gambhiri Ghara in Oriya, Irunda Koodaram
in Malayalam and Mithya Gerosthali in Bengali) , I want to glorify
the power of sexuality, where Kuki, the protagonist, a Hindu married
woman of India tries to rectify Safik, a Muslim Pakistani artist to
keep him up from perversion and sexual maniac. She has convinced Safik
that sexual affinity without love is like hunger of a caterpillar.
Though this is not the central theme of the novel, but its broad
acceptance for sexuality made the fundamentalists to react.
(The starred mark stories and novels are yet to be translated in to
English)
CP- Apart from a few short stories, I have read The Dark Abode in
depth. I feel you have done a great job there. In the first place it
is a very novel atmosphere you have created. Man and woman everywhere
is the same. They love, hate, engage in alliances, withdraw, then
again tie up in what not knots? What is the inspiration behind The
Dark Abode?
S.S: What inspired me to write The Dark Abode? Was there any personal
love affair behind this novel? Whenever a female writer writes a love
story, readers want to peep her personal life. Well, this is not any
love affair, but a protest which made me to write such novel. Once I
was requested to submit a story for a special issue of an Oriya
magazine. I submitted an Oriya story entitled 'Gambhiri Ghara' and the
editor thanked me for my cooperation. After few days I received a
phone call from someone from that editor's office, asking me to submit
another story as they would not able to publish that story. The
message was conveyed by an assistant and not by the editor. I
contacted him (editor) and asked why they would not publish that
story. The editor hesitated at first and then told me I should talk to
Jagadish Bhai (my husband) later on regarding the reason. Such answer
made me annoyed and I asked him did he think ever that my husband had
any control over my writer's entity? The answer made me disturbed
and I fixed my mind to convert the short story into a novel. The
decision resulted at my novel The Dark Abode.
CP- This brings us to a very interesting part of literary activity,
publishing what has been written. Without publishing, the writing does
not consummate. And here, as in many other cases, the publishers
command the writers to write according to their diktats. A large
number of worthy writers do not find it possible to bring their
writings to light just because of the publishers' apathy. And
publishers tend to exploit the writers in several ways. How would you
comment?
S.S: J.K. Rowling when appeared with the manuscript of Harry Potter
and the Philosopher's Stone a dozen of publishers including Penguin
and HarperCollins rejected her manuscript. It is Bloomsbury, a small
London publisher, only took it on at the behest of the CEO's eight-
year old daughter, who begged her father to print the book. William
Faulkner, D.H. Lawrence, Rudyard Kipling, E.E .Cummings, Vladimir
Nabokov, Sylvia Plath, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Jorge Luis Borges and
many other famous writers were rejected by publishers once or several
times . Big name publishers only publish Big Name authors! They're
only after the money! They don't know everything; look at the names
they've 'rejected' that are now big-time sellers. They won't even read
first page of the manuscript! A first timer doesn't have a chance and
must self-publish if he/she wants to see his/her work in print - it's
not fair! I think this is the tragedy with literary writings not only
in India but with all over the world. You can't measure a literary
standard of a book by its selling outputs. But it is the criteria
nowadays the global economy is creating as a norm to judge the
creativity with economical earnings. Awards are prescribed to a book
with its 'best selling' quality.
CP- You depict human society with special reference to women and their
problems; still, the most interesting thing is that you never despise
men folk; in fact you exhibit extraordinary empathy with them. How
could you explain it?
S.S- My Home page says, “For me feminism is not a gender problem or
any confrontational attack on male hegemony. So, it is quite different
from that of Virginia Woolf or Judith Butler. She accepts feminism as
a total entity of female hood which is completely separate from the
man's world. She writes with a greater consciousness of women bodies,
which would create a more honest and appropriate style of openness,
fragmentation and non-linearity. In my various essays, I have told
that I am not here to replace matriarchal society with patriarchal one
as the Second wave western Feminists once wished. What I want is the
equality between the rights of two genders. Unlike the second wave
feminists, I have denied the 'other theory' of Simon de Beauvoir and I
believe that woman is 'other' from man by her nature. There are
inherent physical, behavioral, emotional, and psychological
differences between men and women and we affirm and celebrate these
differences as wonderful and complementary. These differences do not
evidence the superiority of one sex over the other but rather, serve
to show that each sex is complemented and made stronger by the
presence of the other. As a different unit, similar to man, the female
mass has their right for equity as well. I always argue for the two
types of fundamental rights for women. One is their financial rights
and other is the right over their own body.
I always want to paint the sexuality opposite to Indian patriarchy
concept, where women sexuality is used for raising of children only
and there was no seat for the women's sexual desire. I think,
sexuality has a major role in understanding feminism. But our second
wave western feminists were sex negative or correctly to say they were
negative in attitude to heterosexual binary gender system. In my essay
“ Mythical sexual politics”, I want to show how with the development
of patriarchal control over feminine civil rights, the sexual freedom
was cut down from the women's world and transferred to the men's world
with anti-feminist moral milieus which gradually made the female a sex
object, however powerful they might be in their goddess perspectives.
This is a strapping point, I believe, that the sex negative feminists
have to think of before raising their voice against the sex role
attitudes of the female. And if we admit the essentiality of
heterosexual orientation in our attitude, male and female both become
essential component. Hence, how could we eliminate one's existence
from the society?
I want to use an integrated analysis of oppression which means that
both men and women are subjected to oppression and stereotypes and
that these oppressive experiences have a profound affect on beliefs
and perceptions. I am against the patriarchy role model of society but
it does not mean that I want to replace a matriarchal form of society
in place of the existing patriarchal one. What I want is to develop
equal mutual relationships of caring and support between all genders
and I want to focus on strengthening women in areas such as
assertiveness, communication, relationships, and self esteem.
I do believe that economic inequality between men and women are the
main barricade to solve the gender inequalities and not the marital
practice or motherhood, as the Western feminist always tries to paint.
Our motto should be to change our marriage system out of the political
realm and fully back into the private one. The new slogan of feminism
should be 'the personal is personal'. Still in India, in majority
cases it stands in sharp contrast to the traditional marriage with
children, in which the man works and the woman stays home, or the
'supermom' marriage, in which the man works and the woman tries to
balance a career with the lion's share of the childcare and household
tasks. Equally shared parenting is more than an extension of feminism;
it is more than simply what is fair. Equally sharing the care of your
children with your partner is about balancing your life, balancing
your family's collective life and sharing equally in the joys of
raising a family.
C.P- What is your message to the young writers of Kerala who have
taken up the path of feminism?
S.S- They should give more importance to femininity. Femininity has a
wonderful power. In our de-gendered times a really feminine woman is a
joy to behold and you can love and unleash your own unique yet
universal femininity. We are here for gender sensitivity to proclaim
the differences between men and woman with a kind of pretence that we
all the same. Too many women have been de-feminized by society. To be
feminine is to know how to pay attention to detail and people, to have
people skills and to know how to connect to and work well with others.
There will be particular times and situations within which we will
want to be more in touch and in tune with our femininity than others -
being able to choose is a great skill.
C P Aboobaker - C.P. ABOOBACKER, editor of thanalonline, belongs to
Calicut in Kerala. His interests include writing, publishing poems,
essays, and many more literary things. Latest writing is about
Channels and Globalizations. He is a retired professor of history.e-
mail: cpaboo...@gmail.com
(Courtesy: Thanal Online (http://www.thanalonline.com/en/page.asp?
ID=4&page=1)
affect your creative writing?
S.S: When I started writing in 70's , there was a popular slogan in
America that 'personal is political'. But I was not aware of that
slogan. Still I used to write about women -- pious women, working
women, artists, wives, adulterers, daughters, widows, and sisters. The
characters of my fictions represent almost the entire range of female
experience in individually. Each of the female characters in my
fictions is unique and always more complex than a woman initially
seems. It is not that I have been writing cautiously to portray women
in my fiction , but the women have come to my sphere, to my
surroundings , are the characters of my fictions. In 90's When DD1
made a tele-documentary on me, the director of that tele film, Dr.
Satti Khanna , asked me why I am a feminist ? He pointed out that in
most of my fictions, I have painted the women's issue. I told him that
time if I am a feminist that is because I am a woman. It does not mean
that I have not written any thing besides women's issue. Recently I
have finished a novel, where the protagonist is a 25 years boy and
there women have very rare and minor role. But it is true that I feel
free to portray women in my writing. Feminism is a natural process of
my writing, not a fashion. I have tried to be truthful always to my
feelings and to my beliefs. So, never any day I find myself tussled
between my critical appraisal of feminism and creative writings. I am
not an activist at all. I am a writer and have my own limitations. I
always want to live my life with my beliefs and I always try to
portray my beliefs in my writings without any propagandist out look.
As a feminist I think I am more a writer and as a writer I think I am
more a feminist.
CP: Before I continue, may I ask you how you realized first that you
have the spark of writing in you?
SS: My first story appeared in a Sunday Literary Supplement of a
leading Oriya News paper of that time, The Prajatantra, when I was
mere a school going girl. What sparked me to write a story? One
morning , from the third floor of my parental house, I was brushing my
teeth and while spiting the foam of toothpaste from my mouth to the
ground, I marked some children from nearby huts were playing there and
they were trying to catch these foams by saying, “Look, how flowers
are showered from the sky”. It seems unbelievable, but was true and
that small event made me to write my first story 'Abaseosh O
Aboshosh' (Remains and Repentance). It was a sort of story based on
Marxian ideas. What ignited the flow of my writing at that time were
the ideas, not the feelings. Later when I found myself much mature, I
could realize that ideas and imaginations are not sufficient enough to
create a story. A newness in ideas, sincere observations to your
feelings, emotions and experiences and an insight in to the life
process is some of required factors for continuing one's creativity.
C.P: How many stories did you so far publish? Write?
S.S: I have not tried to count how many stories are there in my
credit. Besides my ten anthologies of short stories, there are some
stories still remained to be anthologized and are few stories, written
at the primary stage of my writing carrier, which I have discarded for
inclusion in any of my books. If an anthology contains ten to fifteen
of my stories, I think, I might have written around two hundred
stories, but I am not sure about this statistic.
C.P: Have you any inhibition in writing?
S.S: From the beginning of my carrier, critics have stamped me as a
frank speaking writer. You might have marked a typical shyness has
been found in common women writer's voice while relating the truth and
exposing their inner self. Even their weaknesses or love relations are
also not expressed clearly in fear of social scandal of their
character. A typical womanish shyness prevents them to write their
actual feelings towards sex and love. This is not only due to any
restriction imposed by their family, but many time we find that an
idea of being a good girl pursues them to hide their own feelings and
experiences. In The Second Sex, Simone also discusses three particular
inauthentic attitudes of women in which they hide their freedom in:
"The Narcissist," "The Woman in Love," and "The Mystic." In all three
of these attitudes, women deny the original thrust of their freedom by
submerging it into the object; in the case of the first, the object is
herself, the second, her beloved and the third, the absolute or God.
You know in India the 'chastity' means a lot for a woman and it is
always demanded that a female should keep her 'chastity' pure and
perfect. (It is another issue that nobody asks a man for the purity
and perfection of his chastity). In case of poetry, one can hide
herself with mystic metaphor or myth, but in fiction, one has to open
herself completely. So, it is difficult for a woman to write any
fiction sincerely hiding her experiences and reactions. I never find
any 'inhibition' in relating reality while writing. Because while I
write, I place me alien from the otherworld. Writing for me is a muse,
a monologue, a kind of self-intercourse. I enter in to the chore of
the character's self and find where I am hiding there. I lift my self
to the above, much more above from those characters and open and tear
and alter them as if I am re-dressing, remaking my self. There is no
place for the second or third person at that time. Inhibitions are
caused when you are aware of another's existence. When no body is
there and you are going to open yourself, to whom you would inhibit?
Is there any restriction, limitation, or shame to open anyone in front
of one's own self?
C.P: -What is the modus of your writing? About Virginia Woolf it is
said:"All through her life, Virginia Woolf used at intervals to write
short stories. It was her custom, whenever an idea for one occurred to
her, to sketch it out in a very rough form and then to put it away in
a drawer. Later, if an editor asked her for a short story, and she
felt in the mood to write one (which was not frequent), she would take
a sketch out of her drawer and rewrite it, sometimes a great many
times. " Does this occur to you? If so, why? What in your opinion can
be the reason for Virginia's neglect of her stories? She has written
some wonderful stories.
S.S:- This has happened with me also . Though I started my carrier as
a short story writer and for a good time I had been in those fields
but that time I had a 'phobia' for novel writing. After 90's onward,
when I started writing my first novel, I overcome this trepidation.
Nowadays, I have been writing very few short stories and all my
creative times have been spent for novel writing. You know, the novel
has a huge landscape and the author has much more freedom than the
short story writer. You can emerge any idea any story plot in a novel.
Virginia Woolf's An Unwritten Novel could have been a short story. The
total time span of her novel Mrs. Dalloway is only one day. I think,
like me Virginia Woolf might have been emerged her story ideas and
plots in her novels.
C.P.: May I put an irrelevant question in the course of our talk? I
find that three illustrious women writers of our period (Anne Sexton
(1928-1974) , Sylvia Plath( 1932-1963), Virginia Woolf ( 1882-1941)
committed suicide. The trio were feminists. In other societies also
feminist writers are seen to have done the same thing. E.G. Farough
Farukhabad of Iran. How does it happen? What is the psyche behind this
play of suicide among women writers?
S.S: Here are some lists of writers who made suicide.Acuna, Manuel
(Mexico, 1849-1873); Adamov, Arthur, born in Russia in 1908 and died
in France in 1970, Aguila, Pablo del: born and died in Granada
(1946-1968); Akhmatova, Anna: Born and died in Russia, Akutagawa,
Ryunosuke, (1892-1927), born and died in Japan; Aleramo, Sibilla
(pseudonym of Rina Faccio, 1876-1960), born and died in Italy; Amery,
Jean (1912-1978), born and died in Austria, Aragon, Louis (1897-1972):
born and died in Paris, Arenas, Reynaldo (1943-1990), born in Cuba and
died in USA. Arguedas, José María (1911-1969), nacido y muerto en
Perú. Arguedas, José María (1911-1969), born and died in Peru. Artaud,
Antonin (1895-1948): nacido y muerto en Francia. Artaud, Antonin
(1895-1948): born and died in France. Babel, Issak (1894-1941), nacido
y muerto en la Unión Soviética. Babel, Isaak (1894-1941), born and
died in the Soviet Union. Benjamin, Walter (1892-1940), nacido en
Alemania y muerto en Portbou, Girona. Benjamin, Walter (1892-1940),
born in Germany and died in Portbou, Girona. Berryman, John
(1914-1972): nacido y muerto en USA; Biest, Alain van der, nacido en
Bélgica en 1944, y muerto en 2002. Berryman, John (1914-1972): born
and died in USA; Biest, Alain van der, born in Belgium in 1944 and
died in 2002. Bjorneboe, Jens: (1920-1976), nacido y muerto en
Noruega. Bjørneboe, Jens: (1920-1976), born and died in Norway.
Carvan, Laura; Casariego Córdoba, Pedro (1955-1993): nacido y muerto
en Madrid, España. Carvan, Laura; Casariego Cordoba, Pedro
(1955-1993): born and died in Madrid, Spain. Casey, Calvert, nacido en
Cuba (1924) y muerto en Roma en 1969. Casey, Calvert, born in Cuba
(1924) and died in Rome in 1969. Castelo Branco, Camilo (1825-1890),
nacido y muerto en Portugal. Castelo Branco, Camilo (1825-1890), born
and died in Portugal. Celan, Paul (1930-1970), nacido en Rumania y
muerto en Francia. Celan, Paul (1930-1970), born in Romania and died
in France. Cesarano, Giorgio (1928-1975). Cesarano, Giorgio
(1928-1975). Chatterton, Thomas: Nacido en Bristol, 1752; muerto en
Londres, 1770; Costafreda, Alfonso (1926-1974); nacido y muerto en
España. Chatterton, Thomas: Born in Bristol, 1752, died in London,
1770; Costafreda, Alfonso (1926-1974), born and died in Spain. Crane,
Hart (1899-1932), nacido y muerto en USA. Crane, Hart (1899-1932),
born and died in USA. Cravan, Arthur (1887-1920), nacido en Francia y
muerto en México. Cravan, Arthur (1887-1920), born in France and died
in Mexico. Crevel, René (1898-1935), nacido y muerto en Francia.
Crevel, René (1898-1935), born and died in France. Cuesta, Jorge
(1903-1942): Nacido y muerto en México. Cuesta, Jorge (1903-1942):
born and died in Mexico. Curtis Ian (1956-1980), nacido y muerto en
Inglaterra. Ian Curtis (1956-1980), born and died in England.
Dagerman, Stig (1923-1954), nacido y muerto en Suecia. Dagerman, Stig
(1923-1954), born and died in Sweden. Dazai, Osamu (1909-1949), nacido
y muerto en Japón. Dazai, Osamu (1909-1949), born and died in Japan.
Debord, Guy (1932-1994), nacido y muerto en Francia. Debord, Guy
(1932-1994), born and died in France. Deleuze, Gilles (1925-1995),
nacido y muerto en Francia. Deleuze, Gilles (1925-1995), born and died
in France. Dick, Phillip K. Dick, Phillip K. (1928-1982), nacido y
muerto en USA. (1928-1982), born and died in USA. Drieu La Rochelle,
Pierre (1893-1945), nacido y muerto en Francia. Drieu La Rochelle,
Pierre (1893-1945), born and died in France. Duprey, Jean-Pierre
(1930-1959), nacido y muerto en Francia. Duprey, Jean-Pierre
(1930-1959), born and died in France. Egea, Javier (1952-1999): Nacido
y muerto en España; Esenin, Sergei: nacido en Konstantinov, 1895, y
muerto en Leningrado, 1925; Espanca, Florbela (1895-1930), nacida y
muerta en Portugal. Egea, Javier (1952-1999): born and died in Spain;
Esenin Sergei: born in Konstantinov, 1895, and died in Leningrad,
1925; Espanca, Florbela (1895-1930), born and died in Portugal.
Fassbinder, Rainer Weiner (1946-1982), nacido y muerto en Alemania.
Fassbinder, Rainer Weiner (1946-1982), born and died in Germany.
Redern, Paul (1871-1950), nacido en Austria y muerto en USA. Redern,
Paul (1871-1950), born in Austria and died in USA. Ferrater Soler,
Gabriel (1922-1972), nacido y muerto en España. Ferrater Soler,
Gabriel (1922-1972), born and died in Spain. Forrest Thompson,
Verónica: Nacida y muerta (1975) en Inglaterra; Forrestal, James
(1982-1949), nacido y muerto en USA. Forrest Thompson, Veronica: Born
and died (1975) in England, Forrestal, James (1982-1949), born and
died in USA. Galvao, Patricia (1910-1962), nacida y muerta en Brasil.
Galvao, Patricia (1910-1962), born and died in Brazil. Ganivet, Angel:
Nacido en Granada, 1865, y muerto en Riga, 1898. Ganivet, Angel: Born
in Granada, 1865, and died in Riga, 1898. García Sierra, Antonio.
Garcia Sierra, Antonio. Gary, Romain (1914-1980), nacido en Rusia y
muerto en Francia. Gary, Romain (1914-1980), born in Russia and died
in France. Gilman, Charlotte (1860-1935), nacida y muerta en USA.
Gilman, Charlotte (1860-1935), born and died in USA. Gogu, Katherina:
Nacida y muerta (1993) en Grecia. Gogu, Katherina: Born and died
(1993) in Greece. Gómez Jattin, Raúl (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia,
1945-1977). Jattin Gomez, Raul (Cartagena de Indias, Colombia,
1945-1977). Graciotti, Mario (1901-1993, nacido y muerto en Brasil.
Graveraux, Fabrice: (1951-1982). Nacido y muerto en Francia;
Günderode, Karoline von (1780-1806): Nacida y muerta en Alemania.
Halcón, Manuel (1903-1989): nacido y muerto en España. Haliwell,
Kenneth: (1926-1967), nacido y muerto en Inglaterra. Hemingway, Ernst
(1898-1961), nacido y muerto en USA. Hernández Camarero, Luis: Nacido
en Perú, 1941, y muerto en Buenos Aires en 1977. Hervás, Eduardo
(-1976): Nacido y muerto en España. Inge, William (1913-1973), nacido
y muerto en USA. Jarrell, Randall: Nacido y muerto en USA; Jonsson,
Tor: Nacido (1916) y muerto (1951) en Noruega; József, Attila (1905,
1937): Nacido y muerto en Rumanía; Karyotakis, Kostas: Nacido y muerto
en Grecia (1896-1928). Kawabata, Yasunari (1899-1972), nacido y muerto
en Japón. Kees, Weldon (1914- presumiblemente el 18/7/1955), nacido y
muerto en USA. Kennedy Toole, John. Kiš, Danilo (Subotica, 1935 -
París, 1989). Kleist, Heinrich von (1777-1811), nacido y muerto en
Alemania. Kofman, Sarah (1934-1994) Nacida en Polonia y muerta en
Francia. Koestler, Arthur (1905-1983), nacido en Hungría y muerto en
Inglaterra. Kosinski, Jerzy (1933-1991), nacido en Polonia y muerto en
USA. Lafargue, Paul (1842-1911), nacido en Cuba y muerto en Francia.
Lapathiotis, Napoleón: Nacido y muerto (1944) en Grecia. Laranjerira,
Manuel (1877-1912), nacido y muerto en Portugal. Larra, Mariano José
de (1809-1837), nacido y muerto en España. Lequier, Jules (1814,1962),
nacido y muerto en Francia. Levi, Primo (1919-1987), nacido y muerto
en Italia. Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931), nacido y muerto en USA.
London, Jack (1876-1916), nacido y muerto en USA. López Merino,
Francisco (1904-1928): Nacido y muerto en Buenos Aires. Lowry, Malcolm
(1909-1957), nacido y muerto en Inglaterra. Lucentini, Franco
(1920-2002), nacido y muerto en Italia. Lugones, Leopoldo (1874-1938),
nacido y muerto en Argentina. Mandiargues, Pieyre de: Nacido y muerto
en Francia (1909-1991). Mann, Klaus (1906-1949), nacido en Alemania y
muerto en Francia. Márai, Sandor (1900-1989), nacido en Hungría y
muerto en USA. Maupassant, Guy de (1850-1893), nacido y muerto en
Francia. Mayakovsky, Vladimir (1893-1930), nacido y muerto en Rusia.
Mirande, Jon: Nacido y muerto en París, 1925-1972. Mishima, Yukio
(1925-1970), nacido y muerto en Japón. Montherlant, Henry de
(1896-1972), nacido y muerto en Francia. Murena, Héctor (1923-1975):
Nacido y muerto en Buenos Aires. Nava, Pedro (1903-1984), nacido y
muerto en Brasil. Novo, Salvador: Nacido y muerto en México; Obregón,
Carlos: Bogotá, 1929- Madrid, 1963. Pavese, Cesare (m. 1950), nacido y
muerto en Italia. Pérez Creus, Juan; Plath, Sylvia (1932-1963), nacida
y muerta en USA. Polydouri, María (1902-1930), nacida y muerta en
Grecia. Potocki, Jan: Polonia (1761-1815). Pozzi, Antonia: Nacida y
muerta en Milán, Italia, 1912-1938; Ramos Sucre, José Antonio: Nacido
en Cumaná, Venezuela, 1890, muerto en Ginebra, 1930; Roethke,
Theodore: Nacido y muerto en USA; Roussel, Raymond: País, 1877,
Palermo, 1933; Safo, siglo V aC; nacida y muerta en Lesbos, Grecia.
Salgari, Emilio: Verona, 1862, muerto en Turín, 1911. Salvia, Beppe:
Potenza, 1954- Roma, 1985; Antonio Rotundo, Roma, 1987; Sarréra,
Danielle: (1932-1949): Nacido y muerto en Francia. Sexton, Anne
(1928-1974), nacida y muerta en USA. Silberer, Herbert. Silva, José
Asunción: Nacido (1865) y muerto (1896) en Bogotá, Colombia; Sola
González, Alfonso: Nacido y muerto en Argentina; Szondi, Peter
(1929-1971), nacido en Budapest y muerto en Berlín; Teasdale, Sara:
Saint Louis, 1884, Nueva York, 1933; Thompson, Hunter S. (USA,
1938-2005) Torres Bodet, Jaime: (1902-1974). Nacido y muerto en
México; Traianós, Alexis: Nacido (1944) y muerto (1980) en Grecia.
Tsvietáieva, Marina (1892-1941), nacida en Moscú y muerta en Yelabuga,
Rusia. Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941), nacida y muerta en Inglaterra.
Yanópoulos, Periclis: Nacido en Patras, 1870, muerto en Eleusis, 1910;
Yavórov, Peiu, búlgaro (1878, 1914). Zenón (Cition, Chipre, aprox. 336
– Atenas, aprox. 264). Zürn, Unica (Berlín, 1916 – París, 1970).
Graciotti, Mario (1901-1993, born and died in Brazil. Graveraux,
Fabrice: (1951-1982). Born and died in France; Günderode, Karoline von
(1780-1806): Born and died in Germany. Falcon, Manuel ( 1903-1989):
born and died in Spain. Halliwell, Kenneth: (1926-1967), born and died
in England. Hemingway, Ernst (1898-1961), born and died in USA.
Hernández Camarero, Luis: Born in Peru , 1941, and died in Buenos
Aires in 1977. Hervas, Eduardo (-1976): born and died in Spain. Inge,
William (1913-1973), born and died in USA. Jarrell, Randall: born and
died in USA; Jonsson, Tor: Born (1916) and dead (1951) in Norway,
József, Attila (1905, 1937): born and died in Romania; Karyotakis,
Kostas: born and died in Greece (1896-1928). Kawabata Yasunari
( 1899-1972), born and died in Japan. Kees, Weldon (1914 - presumably
18/7/1955) born and died in USA. Kennedy Toole, John. Kis, Danilo
(Subotica, 1935 - Paris, 1989). Kleist, Heinrich von (1777-1811), born
and died in Germany. Kofman, Sarah (1934-1994) Born in Poland and died
in France. Koestler, Arthur (1905-1983), born in Hungary and died in
England. Kosinski , Jerzy (1933-1991), born in Poland and died in USA.
Lafargue, Paul (1842-1911), born in Cuba and died in France.
Lapathiotis, Napoleon was born and died (1944) in Greece. Laranjerira,
Manuel ( 1877-1912), born and died in Portugal. Larra, Mariano José de
(1809-1837), born and died in Spain. Lequien, Jules (1814.1962), born
and died in France. Levi, Primo (1919-1987 ) born and died in Italy.
Lindsay, Vachel (1879-1931), born and died in USA. London, Jack
(1876-1916), born and died in USA. López Merino, Francisco
(1904-1928): Born and died in Buenos Aires. Lowry, Malcolm
(1909-1957), born and died in England. Lucentini, Franco (1920-2002),
born and died in Italy. Lugones, Leopoldo (1874-1938), born and died
in Argentina. Mandiargues, Pieyre of: born and died in France
(1909-1991). Mann, Klaus (1906-1949), born in Germany and died in
France. Márai, Sandor (1900-1989), born in Hungary and died in USA.
Maupassant, Guy de (1850-1893), born and died in France. Mayakovsky,
Vladimir (1893-1930), born and died in Russia. Mirande, Jon: born and
died in Paris, 1925-1972. Mishima, Yukio (1925 -1970), born and died
in Japan. Montherlant, Henry (1896-1972), born and died in France.
Murena, Hector (1923-1975): born and died in Buenos Aires. Nava, Pedro
(1903-1984) born and died in Brazil. Novo, Salvador: born and died in
Mexico, Obregon, Carlos: Bogotá, 1929 - Madrid, 1963. Pavese, Cesare
(d. 1950) born and died in Italy. Creus Pérez, Juan; Plath , Sylvia
(1932-1963), born and died in USA. Polydouri, Maria (1902-1930), born
and died in Greece. Potocki, Jan: Poland (1761-1815). Pozzi, Antonia,
born and died in Milan, Italy, 1912-1938, Ramos Sucre, Jose Antonio:
Born in Cumana, Venezuela, 1890, died in Geneva, 1930; Roethke,
Theodore: born and died in USA; Roussel, Raymond: Country, 1877,
Palermo, 1933; Sappho V century BC, born and died in Lesbos, Greece.
Salgari, Emilio: Verona, 1862, died in Turin, 1911. Salvia, Beppe:
Potenza, 1954 - Rome, 1985; Antonio Rotundo, Rome, 1987; Sarrera,
Danielle: ( 1932-1949): born and died in France. Sexton, Anne
(1928-1974), born and died in USA. Silberer, Herbert. Silva, José
Asunción: Born (1865) and dead (1896) in Bogota, Colombia; Sola
Gonzalez, Alfonso: born and died in Argentina; Szondi, Peter
(1929-1971), born in Budapest and died in Berlin; Teasdale, Sara:
Saint Louis, 1884, New York, 1933, Thompson, Hunter S. (USA, 1938
-2005) Torres Bodet, Jaime (1902-1974). born and died in Mexico;
Traiana, Alexis: Born (1944) and dead (1980) in Greece. Tsvietáieva,
Marina (1892-1941), born in Moscow and dead in Yelabuga, Russia.
Woolf, Virginia (1882-1941), born and died in England. Yanópoulos,
Periclis: Born in Patras, 1870, killed at Eleusis, 1910; Yavorov,
Peiu, Bulgarian (1878, 1914). Zeno (Cition Cyprus, approx. 336 -
Athens, approx. 264). Zürn, Unica (Berlin, 1916 - Paris, 1970).
(This suicidal writers' list compiled by Vicente Mora, which I copy
and paste here. Strange enough, this long list does not contain
Virginia Woolf's name.)
What does it mean? Can we reach to any solution or can we find any
relation between writing and suicide? I think Anne
Sexton( 1928-1974) , Sylvia Plath( 1932-1963), Virginia Woolf
( 1882-1941) and even E.G. Farough Farukhabad of Iran are mere
coinciding with the above list and nothing to be generalize with
feminism and suicide from these facts.
The lives of those three writers (I am excluding the Iranian writer,
as I have less read about her) are different from each other. Except
Virginia Woolf, the other two writers are completely hetero sexual. So
you can't blame any LGBT affair in them. The suicide of Woolf may be
influenced by the sexual abuse she and her sister Vanessa were
subjected to by their half-brothers George and Gerald Duckworth. (It
is debatable, but once Woolf recalled in her autobiographical essays A
Sketch of the Past and 22 Hyde Park Gate). Anne Saxton was suffered
from nervous breakdown and this may be a cause for her suicide. The
death of Sylvia Plath has still been remained under controversy
whether it was an accident or a suicide. If it was a suicide, it is
due to any of her personal cause.
Suicidal tendency no doubt is a psychological trauma. People who
attempt suicide are not crazy. Most of the people who are suicidal are
in pain and probably have a chemical imbalance in their brain. And
telling them that they "just want something" or "are trying to
manipulate" is both insensitive and ignorant.Anyone could attempt
suicide.
C.P: Which is your work you like best? Which is the literary work you
like best? As a novelist and story writer, which is the best story,
which is your best novel? And from the world of stories, which would
you select to be the best in world literature?
S.S: It is difficult for any creative writer to choose his/her best
writing. When ever I write any story or novel, it seems me as would be
the best of my works. But when I see that in print alphabets, I feel
depressed as that time it seems, it could be written in better ways.
However I can say Hatred (published in Thanal Online) is my best story
and about novel, though The Dark Abode has gained reader's
appreciation and popularity and much acclaimed critically, I have
satisfied more with Pakhibasa (the novel first written in Oriya and
then translated in to Bengali and Hindi respectively) from my creative
writer's point of view.
About other writer's fiction, I have been impressed by many stories
and novels of different authors in time to time. If you just ask me to
name any story or novel , without thinking for a while, I would say
Innocent Eréndira of Gabriel García Márquez as short story and
Disgraceby JM Coetzee as novel, which have impressed me for a long
time, even nowadays also while years ago I did read it.
C.P: "The characters of my fictions represent almost the entire range
of female experience". Can you substantiate this statement by
providing examples from your works?
S.S: - In my writings, I want to portray the feelings of a woman from
her preschooler days to the post menopausal days. I think, there are
some feelings, intricate mental agony and complexity which a man
couldn't feel any day and these should be discussed in our fictions. I
portray the feelings of first menstrual period of a girl, when she was
locked in a room for five days as a local ritual in my story Time to
Fly, agony of and annoyance of menopause in The Couple and the shaking
situations of a sixty years old lady, who is still waiting for her
menopause and in every month her embarrassing situation when she finds
herself with bleeding (The afternoon). I have also tried to portray
the feelings of a pregnant lady in my story Waiting for Manna,
hysteria in Burkha , fear of abortion (Sakal:The Morning*), false
pregnancy (Tarali Jauthiba Durga :The Melting Castle*),Lesbianism
(Behind the scene) . Even in my story Jahllad *(Butcher) I have told
the story of an infant who finds herself being raped by a caretaker
servant. In my novel Upanibesh*, (which is considered as the first
attempt in Oriya novel to discuss about female sexual desire) I have
taken the symbol of “Shiva Linga” as the sexual desire of women .
Medha, the protagonist of Upanibesh (The Colony), was a bohemian. In
her pre-marital stage, she was thinking that it was boring to live
with a man life-long. Perhaps she wanted a chain free life, where
there would be only love, only sex and wouldn't be any monotony. In my
novel Pratibandi*, the thematic development of sexuality in a woman
has been discussed. Priyanka, the protagonist of the novel has to
encounter the loneliness in the exile of a remote village Saragpali .
This loneliness develops into a sexual urge and soon Priyanka finds
herself sexually attached with a former Member of Parliament. Though
there is an age gap between them, his intelligence impresses her and
she discovers a hidden archaeologist in him.
In my novel The Dark Abode (Gambhiri Ghara in Oriya, Irunda Koodaram
in Malayalam and Mithya Gerosthali in Bengali) , I want to glorify
the power of sexuality, where Kuki, the protagonist, a Hindu married
woman of India tries to rectify Safik, a Muslim Pakistani artist to
keep him up from perversion and sexual maniac. She has convinced Safik
that sexual affinity without love is like hunger of a caterpillar.
Though this is not the central theme of the novel, but its broad
acceptance for sexuality made the fundamentalists to react.
(The starred mark stories and novels are yet to be translated in to
English)
CP- Apart from a few short stories, I have read The Dark Abode in
depth. I feel you have done a great job there. In the first place it
is a very novel atmosphere you have created. Man and woman everywhere
is the same. They love, hate, engage in alliances, withdraw, then
again tie up in what not knots? What is the inspiration behind The
Dark Abode?
S.S: What inspired me to write The Dark Abode? Was there any personal
love affair behind this novel? Whenever a female writer writes a love
story, readers want to peep her personal life. Well, this is not any
love affair, but a protest which made me to write such novel. Once I
was requested to submit a story for a special issue of an Oriya
magazine. I submitted an Oriya story entitled 'Gambhiri Ghara' and the
editor thanked me for my cooperation. After few days I received a
phone call from someone from that editor's office, asking me to submit
another story as they would not able to publish that story. The
message was conveyed by an assistant and not by the editor. I
contacted him (editor) and asked why they would not publish that
story. The editor hesitated at first and then told me I should talk to
Jagadish Bhai (my husband) later on regarding the reason. Such answer
made me annoyed and I asked him did he think ever that my husband had
any control over my writer's entity? The answer made me disturbed
and I fixed my mind to convert the short story into a novel. The
decision resulted at my novel The Dark Abode.
CP- This brings us to a very interesting part of literary activity,
publishing what has been written. Without publishing, the writing does
not consummate. And here, as in many other cases, the publishers
command the writers to write according to their diktats. A large
number of worthy writers do not find it possible to bring their
writings to light just because of the publishers' apathy. And
publishers tend to exploit the writers in several ways. How would you
comment?
S.S: J.K. Rowling when appeared with the manuscript of Harry Potter
and the Philosopher's Stone a dozen of publishers including Penguin
and HarperCollins rejected her manuscript. It is Bloomsbury, a small
London publisher, only took it on at the behest of the CEO's eight-
year old daughter, who begged her father to print the book. William
Faulkner, D.H. Lawrence, Rudyard Kipling, E.E .Cummings, Vladimir
Nabokov, Sylvia Plath, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Jorge Luis Borges and
many other famous writers were rejected by publishers once or several
times . Big name publishers only publish Big Name authors! They're
only after the money! They don't know everything; look at the names
they've 'rejected' that are now big-time sellers. They won't even read
first page of the manuscript! A first timer doesn't have a chance and
must self-publish if he/she wants to see his/her work in print - it's
not fair! I think this is the tragedy with literary writings not only
in India but with all over the world. You can't measure a literary
standard of a book by its selling outputs. But it is the criteria
nowadays the global economy is creating as a norm to judge the
creativity with economical earnings. Awards are prescribed to a book
with its 'best selling' quality.
CP- You depict human society with special reference to women and their
problems; still, the most interesting thing is that you never despise
men folk; in fact you exhibit extraordinary empathy with them. How
could you explain it?
S.S- My Home page says, “For me feminism is not a gender problem or
any confrontational attack on male hegemony. So, it is quite different
from that of Virginia Woolf or Judith Butler. She accepts feminism as
a total entity of female hood which is completely separate from the
man's world. She writes with a greater consciousness of women bodies,
which would create a more honest and appropriate style of openness,
fragmentation and non-linearity. In my various essays, I have told
that I am not here to replace matriarchal society with patriarchal one
as the Second wave western Feminists once wished. What I want is the
equality between the rights of two genders. Unlike the second wave
feminists, I have denied the 'other theory' of Simon de Beauvoir and I
believe that woman is 'other' from man by her nature. There are
inherent physical, behavioral, emotional, and psychological
differences between men and women and we affirm and celebrate these
differences as wonderful and complementary. These differences do not
evidence the superiority of one sex over the other but rather, serve
to show that each sex is complemented and made stronger by the
presence of the other. As a different unit, similar to man, the female
mass has their right for equity as well. I always argue for the two
types of fundamental rights for women. One is their financial rights
and other is the right over their own body.
I always want to paint the sexuality opposite to Indian patriarchy
concept, where women sexuality is used for raising of children only
and there was no seat for the women's sexual desire. I think,
sexuality has a major role in understanding feminism. But our second
wave western feminists were sex negative or correctly to say they were
negative in attitude to heterosexual binary gender system. In my essay
“ Mythical sexual politics”, I want to show how with the development
of patriarchal control over feminine civil rights, the sexual freedom
was cut down from the women's world and transferred to the men's world
with anti-feminist moral milieus which gradually made the female a sex
object, however powerful they might be in their goddess perspectives.
This is a strapping point, I believe, that the sex negative feminists
have to think of before raising their voice against the sex role
attitudes of the female. And if we admit the essentiality of
heterosexual orientation in our attitude, male and female both become
essential component. Hence, how could we eliminate one's existence
from the society?
I want to use an integrated analysis of oppression which means that
both men and women are subjected to oppression and stereotypes and
that these oppressive experiences have a profound affect on beliefs
and perceptions. I am against the patriarchy role model of society but
it does not mean that I want to replace a matriarchal form of society
in place of the existing patriarchal one. What I want is to develop
equal mutual relationships of caring and support between all genders
and I want to focus on strengthening women in areas such as
assertiveness, communication, relationships, and self esteem.
I do believe that economic inequality between men and women are the
main barricade to solve the gender inequalities and not the marital
practice or motherhood, as the Western feminist always tries to paint.
Our motto should be to change our marriage system out of the political
realm and fully back into the private one. The new slogan of feminism
should be 'the personal is personal'. Still in India, in majority
cases it stands in sharp contrast to the traditional marriage with
children, in which the man works and the woman stays home, or the
'supermom' marriage, in which the man works and the woman tries to
balance a career with the lion's share of the childcare and household
tasks. Equally shared parenting is more than an extension of feminism;
it is more than simply what is fair. Equally sharing the care of your
children with your partner is about balancing your life, balancing
your family's collective life and sharing equally in the joys of
raising a family.
C.P- What is your message to the young writers of Kerala who have
taken up the path of feminism?
S.S- They should give more importance to femininity. Femininity has a
wonderful power. In our de-gendered times a really feminine woman is a
joy to behold and you can love and unleash your own unique yet
universal femininity. We are here for gender sensitivity to proclaim
the differences between men and woman with a kind of pretence that we
all the same. Too many women have been de-feminized by society. To be
feminine is to know how to pay attention to detail and people, to have
people skills and to know how to connect to and work well with others.
There will be particular times and situations within which we will
want to be more in touch and in tune with our femininity than others -
being able to choose is a great skill.
C P Aboobaker - C.P. ABOOBACKER, editor of thanalonline, belongs to
Calicut in Kerala. His interests include writing, publishing poems,
essays, and many more literary things. Latest writing is about
Channels and Globalizations. He is a retired professor of history.e-
mail: cpaboo...@gmail.com
(Courtesy: Thanal Online (http://www.thanalonline.com/en/page.asp?
ID=4&page=1)
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