Bends and blends
BAGESHREE S.
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One can write a lyrical piece on a bus journey and make some serious sociological observations en route, illustrate two recently-launched books by Rajendra Chenni
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POINT OF DEBATE Ramachandra Guha makes a forceful argument at the launch of Rajendra Chenni's books, as Manu Chakravarthy, the author and U.R. Ananthamurthy (from left) look on; the cover of Speaking for Someone, a book on contemporary society and culture PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.
The best way to dismiss an academic work is to call it "journalistic" and the most effective way to trash journalistic writing is to call it "academic". These linguistic preferences just about sum up the wedge between the two styles of writing and ways of viewing the world. But there is, sometimes, wonderful chemistry when the two waltz together.
Ample proof
There's ample proof of this in the two collections of journalistic writings by Rajendra Chenni, scholar and Head of the Department of English in Kuvempu University in Shimoga, released earlier this week in Crossword Bookstore, Bangalore. The best pieces in Speaking For Someone, Essays on Contemporary Society and Culture, and Of Many Worlds, Essays on Modern Kannada Literature, (CVG Books, Rs. 100 each) make a perfect union of serious scholarship and breezy journalistic style.
A short piece on the winding road leading to Agumbe ("On Time's Trail"), for instance, is fascinating for the way it comments on two lifestyles and economies even as it is joyfully lyrical and even philosophical. The deceptively complex "travel piece" packs in a spot of delightful "local arrogance" too, calling the road papacchi and saying: "Sorry, this can't be translated."!
In the two books Chenni takes on a wide gamut of debates — from environmental issues and farmers' movement to match fixing controversy and prejudices against AIDS patients. Many times he even takes the risk of being dubbed "anti-environment" or "anti-farmer" to finally convince us that there is no dumbing down the complexity of issues to allow for easy posturing. He brings into play an amazing variety of sources in the course of his complex arguments — from 17th Century Italian travellers' account of a Maha Sati in Keladi, European classics and Kannada literary texts to casual comments on "our boys" in a bus during the cricket season.
Plural pluralities
Well-known sociologist and historian Ramachandra Guha, who released the books, talked about these "plural pluralities" that mark Chenni's writings, as he comfortably straddles many cultures, languages, disciplines, religious beliefs and styles of writing. Guha spoke about an entire tradition of men who are constantly on the move ("ghumakkad") and yet remain firmly moored to their roots — from Gandhi down to the best of Kannada writers such as the late Shivarama Karanth ("the mother and father of all pluralists"), the late K.V. Subbanna and U.R. Ananthamurthy.
Manu Chakravarthy, in his extended and scholarly introduction to the works, spoke of how Chenni's writings never lose sight of the "larger issues involved in particular issues" and are remarkable for the way they blend "literary theory with sociological and political debates". For instance, the essay which sets out on "a semiotic analysis of terrorism" ("Terror Signs"), never loses sight of the realpolitik even as it uses jargon-heavy, post-modern categories. "He does not write for diasporic scholars or the native informants who feed them," he said.
Anathamurthy, who also spoke on the occasion, said it was important to "domesticate English" and "bring it to Bangalore, Shimoga and Sagar", so that it's "as available as Kannada". He applauded the role of bi-lingual publications such as CVG Books in this process.
Ananthamurthy had a word of caution on the notion of "pluralism" that could degenerate into either a "knowing-a-bit-of-everything" variety of eclecticism or a "unity in diversity" kind of sloganeering. He said we also need space for "a certain tension and a real dialogue" that at one point in history shaped a great visionary such as Kabir.
Immediate reader
Winding up the book launch function, Chenni said how he wrote these newspaper articles hoping to ruffle a few complacent nerves, hoping to address not the "unborn generation" but that immediate reader "who reads newspapers 10 minutes before and after breakfast".
Chenni writes in his introduction to Speaking For Someone: "It was an attempt to reach out to those who were willing to listen, argue and disagree on issues which affect the civil society."
Speaking For Someone and Of Many Worlds do indeed beg you to ask questions and pick quarrels. So, here's one in the true spirit of the book: does journalistic writing, which compels you to constantly keep an eye on the clock and the word count, sometimes take a toll on even the best of writers? Does this, to cite one instance from the collection Of Many Worlds, explain the hurried paragraph on popular culture at the end of the essay on representation of feminine beauty in the Kannada literary tradition ("The Soundarya Show"), which seems to endorse simplistic categories of high and low cultures?
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