Simon Navagattegama lso spelled Nawagattegama (September 15, 1940 – October 9, 2005) was a Sinhala

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is well known for his novel Sansararanye Dhadayakkaraya (Hunter in the wilderness of the Sansara) for its magical realism which is influenced by Buddhist mythologies,

Mahayana ''Mahāyāna'' (; "Great Vehicle") is a term for a broad group of Buddhist traditions, texts, philosophies, and practices. Mahāyāna Buddhism developed in India (c. 1st century BCE onwards) and is considered one of the three main existing bra ...

Buddhist concepts and Freudian and

Jungian Analytical psychology ( de , Analytische Psychologie, sometimes translated as analytic psychology and referred to as Jungian analysis) is a term coined by Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist, to describe research into his new "empirical science" ...

psychoanalysis.

Literary style

K. K. Saman Kumara, a literary critic and writer in Sri Lanka, calls Simon as the predecessor of

magical realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...

in Sri Lanka and calls his literary style as a Buddhist

Borgesian Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...

one. Saman Kumara terms the Simon’s Literature as the ‘

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Wisdom Literature’, taking it as a separate genre, which is unique to Sri Lanka. He compares Simon’s Literary endeavor to the philosophical attempts of Erick Fromm, who tried to merge Buddhism,

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, and

Freudian Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

psychoanalysis.

Malinda Seneviratne Malinda Channa Pieris Seneviratne (born September 23, 1965) is a Sri Lankan poet, critic, journalist, translator, political commentator, and activist. Known for his outspoken political views, his opinion pieces are among the most widely read in ...

, who translated the Simon’s novel Sansararanyaye Dadayakkaraya (Hunter in the wilderness of the Sansara) into English, says that it "was an important literary landmark and Simon is one of the best writers in Sinhala in the second half of the last century." Deepthi Kumara Gunarathna, has identified ‘Hunter in the wilderness of the Sansara’ as a novel which shows a

postmodernism Postmodernism is an intellectual stance or Rhetorical modes, mode of discourseNuyen, A.T., 1992. The Role of Rhetorical Devices in Postmodernist Discourse. Philosophy & Rhetoric, pp.183–194. characterized by philosophical skepticism, skepticis ...

unique to Sri Lanka. K. K. Saman Kumara recognizes Simon Navagaththegama as one of authors, which he call as the ‘Modernist Trinity’ in Sinhala Literature, Tennyson Perera and

Ajith Thilakasena Ajith Thilakasena (born 7 October 1933) is a Sinhala writer who deviated from the conventional use of language, creating his own version suitable for the modern age. His short stories are not only different from other Sinhala writers, in the use ...

among others.

Books

*Ohuge Kathawa *Saagara Jalaya Madi Handuwa Obasanda (Short Story collection) *Saahithyaya, Samajawadaya saha kala vicharaya *Suddhilage Kathawa *Sansaranyaye Dadayakkaraya unter in the Wilderness of Sansara*Sansaranyaye Urumakkaraya *Sansaranyaya Asabada *Dadayakkarayage Kathawa *Saankawa *Sapeshani *Ksheera Sagaraya Kalabina *Himalaya tharanaya kala Arjuna kumarayage Kathava *Wanaraya *Acharya Bryan De Cretser, Ohy saha ohuge adahas *Kalawa, Samajawadaya saha Kala Vicharaya

Film scripts

* Suddilage Kathaawa * Siri Medura * Sagara Jalaya Madi Haduwa Obasanda *

Seilama ''Seilama'' ( en, The City) is a Sri Lankan drama film directed by H. D. Premaratne and produced by Soma Edirisinghe for EAP Films. It was released on the international circuit in 1993 and later released in Sri Lanka in 1995. Plot Bande ( Cyril ...

* Shieera Sagaraya Kelabina (production of the movie delayed due to the cost involved)

Radio play

*Wanaraya

Stage drama

*Gangawak, Sapathukabalak saha Maranayak *Puslodan *Suba saha Yasa *Sthrii (woman) *Sudu saha Kalu *Pandukhabaya

References

External links

Simon Nawagaththegama on Sinhala Cinema Database
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Navagattegama, Simon 1940 births 2005 deaths Sri Lankan dramatists and playwrights Sri Lankan novelists Sri Lankan radio writers Sri Lankan screenwriters Alumni of the University of Peradeniya 20th-century novelists 20th-century dramatists and playwrights Kala Keerthi 20th-century screenwriters