A Comparative Analysis of Address of Social Issues in Modern Sri Lankan and Indian Poetry

Abstract

In the South Asian region, India and Sri Lanka are the two main countries that have been acclaimed in producing English literature that attracts the interest of the international reader. The modern Poetry of the two countries under discussion has not received an in-depth comparative analysis compared to other genre of literature as novels and short stories produced by the modern writers of the two countries.Modern English poetry of the two countries does not show any subordination to the poetry produced in the west. Stemmed from a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious environment, the poetry of the countries displays a multi-faceted diversity appealing to diverse interests of people throughout the world. Among various themes addressed by the poets of the two countries, social issues of the two countries have been addressed with a touch of their local identities by the poets like Lakdasa Wickramasinghe, Jean Arasanayagam, Yasmine Gooneratne, Nisim Ezzikeel, A.K. Ramayanan and Kamala Das. Irrespective of the Geographical diversity, the poetry of the above poets that address various social issues of the two regional contexts sometimes shows similar characteristics and sometimes differ from each other from the way of presentation of the theme, poetic moods, styles, etc. In addition to exposing the social issues in a high standard channel to the international arena, they convey “Sri Lankanness” and “Indianness” through their poetry.Accordingly, this study is a comparative analysis of the conveyance of social issues in the poetry of the above modern Sri Lankan and Indian poets.