POETRY: THE NEW
CHALLENGES
P.P. RAMACHANDRAN
There is no challenge
specific to Malayalam poetry only. The challenges Malayalam poetry faces
are only a part of what is faced by the society as a whole in common.
Malayalam is only one among the several linguistic communities whose
identity and existence are being challenged in the current scenario of
globalization. The uncertainties faced by all communities around the
world, which are uprooted from their soil, and histories are faced by
Keralites also.
This crisis has
induced a rethinking and redefinition on every walk of life. Naturally
poetry also was forced into a renewal as part of the new circumstances.
The new poets in Malayalam are also part of that complexity. In this they
did not have the backing of ideologies or movements, which came to the
help of Modernists and their predecessors. It is true that the so-called
�content� doesn�t resound in the new poetry as in the poetry of
renaissance or modernist periods. This period of deterioration of ideals
and movements instead highlighted the �small things� rather than the �big
things�.
An upcomimg young
poet Mohanakrishnan in Malayalam writes:
� By the time I
arrived in Wayanad
Heavy rains had
already ceased
What remained were
The trees still
dripping
And the drops from
the roof edges�
Another poem by the
young Malayalam poet P. Raman goes like this:
� I didn�t get
properly
Drenched by any rain
Through the creeks
The tail drops swept
in
No
experiences
No world
Only their tails�
Many very frequently
quote a critic to scoff at the lack of experience of new poets these
lines. But the confession of this poet is genuine. At least it doesn�t
follow the false pretences of the �existentialistic angst� of the
modernists.
It�s true that the
new poetry doesn�t carry the bloodstains of grand movements. By the time
they arrived, the festival was over.
�It was as if the
festivity was over; there was little to experiment with; almost every form
of verse and prose had been tried; the past was a shade; the present
offered little stimulus; the future seemed bleak. Anything they wrote was
likely to be accused of echoing their immediate predecessors. Creating a
space for themselves, articulating the experience of their own generation
in fresh styles, was no easy task�
( K. Sachidanandan,
�Malayalam Poetry: The Changing Scenario, The Book Review, Dec 2000)
The Wayanad hills
that once gushed with the presence of revolutionaries have now turned into
pilgrim centers.
� In Thirunelli
where Varghese shot
down the rain clouds
Invisibly flows water
For souls to dip in�
( Rain in wayanad)
The poet writes about
�Pakshipathalam ,� the politically resonant tribal hill of Wayanad .If
this name could be taken as a symbol in New poetry ,it denotes the
deviation in vision also. It is a realization that there is no liberation
limited only to the tribals of Wayanad. It essentially also extends far
beyond encompassing the entire environment of birds and rivers and forests
and so on.
Mohan Krishnan�s poem
ends like this :
� One needs just
wings to enter the �Pakshipathalm�
Nothing heavy need to
be taken along.�
( Rain in wayanad)
Weight (bharam)
becomes an obstacle. Poets, freed from the heaviness of the past (poorvabharangal)
arise. They don�t need even their bodies in full, just wings. They
establish their presence with just a single feather.
�to prove that
I was here
It is enough
That I drop a single
feather�
( P.P. Ramachandran)
This shift from the
macro to the micro, from the center to the margins, from the excesses (of
emotions) to leanness is evident in new poetry. Gradually it got
standardized, became monotonous, and sometimes even boring.
Within the last
decade, there have been major changes in the worldview of Kerala society.
The traditional values and beliefs have been questioned by the
instabilities and uncertainties in the socio-political system. Language
didn�t get renewed in line with the increasing pace and span of
experiences. Like a path, which doesn�t grow to match the increasing
number of vehicles, the poetic language began to appear as narrow and
twisted. Poetic language, by virtue of its archaic heaviness, itself
continued to be most conventional. Besides, the spread of electronic
visual media also influenced the ways of communication. Like digital
technology that influenced the art of painting, even the concise and
connotative advertisement copies demanded poetry to probe for its basic
function.
It is in this context
that debates and controversies appeared in the literary journals. Also,
the works of new poets began to come to light and new collections and
anthologies were brought out. Even fundamentalist attitudes like expelling
all that is not �poetry� from poetry gathered weight. Opinions that social
or political ideas would pollute the purity of poetry were raised in many
debates. Some tried to reemphasize the definition of poetry as the
fundamental linguistic and personal experience .It was reminded that since
language is also a vehicle of thought, history and culture, no expression
could stand on its own as absolute/insular. Yet, these debates failed to
go beyond the individualistic expressions of likes and dislikes. Never
before has there been a time when expressions of dissatisfactions on
account of poetry was so vociferous.
What differentiate
new poetry from modernist poetry are mainly two things. Firstly,
content-wise, it reflects day-to-day life, and is true to its experience,
however insignificant it might appear to be. Secondly, in its mode of
narration, it shook off exhibitionist tendencies and moved closer to the
mundane, conversational language. But the very absence of authorship
seemed to turn words hollow. Unable to row to a destination, they floated
along helplessly. Their words proliferated as the helplessness, absolute
agonies and fanciful observations of individuals.
Writing has to
transform itself from its existing state as reflections of states into
self-reconstruction. It is not a task which can be accomplished just by
the right selection or coining of words .It has to evolve naturally from a
social life which is productive and resistant. The observation �When
politics become creative, slogans turn into art�, by the critic Sri.
B.Rajeevan also points in the same direction.
The challenge to
change the world and the challenge to change along with the world are not
the same. If the latter is a question of craft, the former demands
creativity. It follows the gospel of globalization: � there is no
alternative�. The language and culture of the have-nots must face the
first challenge. Then, each poem becomes a declaration that �alternatives
are possible�.
P P RAMACHANDRAN
Mail: ppr@harithakam.com
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