Over the top

By Richard Boyle

I must be a masochist. Later this month I’ll be giving an informal talk for the third year in a row at the rising star in the literary festival scene, held at the beautiful Dutch fort-dominated, ancient port of Galle, Sri Lanka.

I’m a masochist for several reasons. I’m a recluse and don’t often speak in public, so I get stressed-out well in advance. Yet every year I want to contribute something, and so far the festival-wallahs have accepted my suggestions. As I explained in Fabulous Merchandise and Fabulous Nobodies (Himal, October – November 2008), Galle has been transformed this century. The magnificent fort was run-down – although  designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site – but due to the promotion of one Englishman, Geoffrey Dobbs, it’s now a refurbished enclave for several hundred wealthy yet largely unknown foreigners (an exception being Anouska Hempel) termed the ‘fabulous nobodies’, replete with several prohibitively expensive (for the typical writer anyway) boutique hotels.

The point is that having created this exotic retreat, Dobbs’ next step was to make Galle an international centre of attention. Elephant polo was a start, but a truly cosmopolitan literary festival was a brilliant idea. Many Sri Lankans were disappointed it wasn’t a local idea, that local writers are not featured enough to counterbalance the well-known writers from outside, and tickets too expensive. So, as a foreigner resident in Sri Lanka, my masochism also includes enduring a certain paranoia that some of the audience may think that a Sri Lankan should be talking about Sri Lankan subjects. Last year I spoke about the novels with a Ceylon/Sri Lanka setting written by outsiders (“Fictional Island”, Himal, February 2009). A while later I received this blog:

One White Guy called Richard Boyle gave a talk titled ‘Sri Lanka through the eyes of fiction writers and fantasists’. You may not believe it but it was mostly about White fellows ridiculing our people and our culture. It was terrible. The worse thing was that our people were laughing when this fellow was quoting Europeans writing about our people and culture in their books in a very derogative manner.

This comment was caused not by my constant “ridiculing our people and culture” – but by laughing, along with the audience, at the over-the-top writing of Robert Standish in Elephant Walk (later made into a movie starring Elizabeth Taylor):

“Rayna – for that is her name – puts on a blouse and manages to enter Wilding’s bungalow in order to meet and seduce the Englishman. After explaining to Wilding that she is a Rodi she tells him: “There is a law which says we must not wear anything above the waist. Of course, there are no Rodiya people here, so it does not matter, but’ – she laughed engagingly – ‘although this’ – she touched the cerise blouse – ‘is very pretty, it is not very comfortable. I only wore it, you see, because I had to look very beautiful the first time you saw me. I think now I shall take it off.’ “With the greatest unconcern, Rayna removed her blouse. ‘That is better,’ she said, more at ease, stroking her breasts luxuriously. “’Yes,’ said Wilding, ‘that is better . . .’”

Makes me wonder what comments might be made this year when I examine a parallel subject – the early factual books written on Ceylon and the Ceylonese – which include some strange remarks about the ‘natives’ that are necessary to quote not to ridicule but to indicate the bigotry, racism and lack of awareness.

Take for instance: “Its natives are nasty . . . The riff raff of rascality endemic in all parts is here exceptionally repulsive. The high water mark of social tone, moral elevation, manners and refinement is attained by the Japanese ladies of pleasure.”

Richard Bolye is a Contributing Editor to Himal Southasian based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.