Exploration of self and community

"A Nice Burgher Girl" by Jean Arasanayagam. Published by the Social Scientists' Association. Reviewed by Nelun Gunasekara

I was delighted when I was asked to review Jean Arasanayagam's book, "A Nice Burgher Girl". Rather naively, I imagined that I would receive a slim volume, containing a linear narrative detailing a story about the life of a Burgher girl in pre-Independence times. Reality, however, was very different. A large and heavy monograph arrived, its pages filled with infinitely lyrical prose and evocative poetry, densely packed with recollections of sights, sounds and smells, people and places, journeys to and fro, in an on-going search and exploration.

It is not merely a story, but a continuing historical exploration of self and community, written with passion and joy combined with a critical sensibility, sometimes in the linear narrative I had anticipated, but often expressed in a stream of consciousness mode. As I read, I am submerged in overlapping images, with words and sentences tumbling over one another as Arasanayagam revisits, in fact, relives, the various stages of her life, the phases of her '"unfinished personal history" and the multitude of experiences that mould and re-fashion her identity and her understanding of who she is and can be, in specific times and locations.

Known primarily as a poet, Jean Arasanayagam is also a short story writer. Her previous literary explorations culminate in this compelling book, her magnum opus, which contains both literary forms, creating a vivid and intricate mosaic of memories recalled, with an authenticity, with delight tempered with pain, interwoven with facts and detailed descriptions. These recollections evoke a range of emotions and sensations in the reader as they poignantly delineate the celebrations, the sorrows, the minutiae of the everyday life of a particular segment of the people of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) within a slice of our contemporary history. In its form and unceasing energy, the book urges the reader to move back and forth, to read and re-read particular stories. It takes time and commitment to absorb this complex narrative of deeply personal experiences.

Arasanayagam's opening story in the book describes her encounter at the British Council in the 1980's, in which she seeks to be remembered by another member of the Burgher community. It is the outcome of this brief meeting that provides the impetus for this on-going search for identity and for self. The well-known Judge's recollection and regretful pronouncement that she was then, a 'nice Burgher girl' frames her in the perception of another - one still safely ensconced in the Burgher community. It is a harsh reminder that she has transgressed many boundaries especially that of her ethnic origins, and is now, perhaps, no longer a 'nice' girl and is no longer within that exclusive 'Burgher' fold.

'Memories', 'self-discovery', 'childhood', 'histories', 'inheritance' - these are the stepping stones in Arasanayagam's journey to uncover her roots and the legacies which define her identity. Her inheritance, drawn from many genealogical strands from the west, forges a unique identity in an island in the east. It is a multiplicity of identities that shift and change in response to the exigencies of historical moments. The processes of colonization and empire created many communities across the globe, distinguished by their hybridity, which are a confluence of a myriad socio-cultural, religious, economic and political streams. The Burghers were one such community.

Their ancestors came as servants of the Dutch East India Company or as 'Free Burghers' - men who came to colonized lands for trade and commerce and some women who followed their menfolk to these alien lands. Many left when the British took over the island, but others opted to remain, adopting the English language and the island as their home. With the consolidation of British rule, the people of Dutch origin and those from other European countries who had migrated to the colony during Dutch colonial rule began to form a distinct community. Their European ancestry and use of the English language gave them a singular advantage and by the turn of the 19th century they had established themselves in British colonial society and had acquired a status and an advantaged position quite disproportionate to their numerical strength. Access to education in British missionary schools led to employment in the civil administration, in the medical and legal professions and in the sphere of education.

Jean Arasanayagam is very much a product of these processes and her recollections and stories reveal to us a period in our island's history, as seen through the lens of the Burghers, particularly those employed in the Ceylon railways.

The twelve chapters of the book, divided by and containing poems reflective of their narrative content, move back and forth in time, reflecting the interior monologue that takes us along the writer's explorations of her past, in this country and in others. Each chapter, with its specific theme, has a collection of stories, each distinct in itself, yet connected to the others almost seamlessly. The author's personal story is intricately bound up with the stories of special individuals and various families from different communities that constitute the dramatis personae of her life. It is in the richly detailed and delicately wrought recollections of her childhood and girlhood that we meet the many people and learn about the multitude of experiences that created the woman she became, led to the choices she made as an adult and resulted in the directions that she took in later life.

Throughout the book we meet a host of characters, so reminiscent of that era, brought to life in colourful, textured vignettes. The Joussen Jollyman and the Boru Kakul man who provided entertainment, the Chinese cloth vendor and the thromble man who brought cloth and dressmaking items to the doorstep. They are now gone from our lives and are lost to present day society, except identity and self, in nostalgic recollections.

In contrast to such entertaining reminiscences, Arasanayagam also shares stories of some unpleasant experiences as she moves from childhood to girlhood. The writer's candour in recovering and retelling such encounters are perhaps cathartic, both for herself and for many readers whose own memories of similar situations have been submerged in feelings of shame and guilt.

Many readers, not only of the Burgher community but also those of other communities, including ethno-cultural hybrids like myself, will find much that connects with their own lives. The book's salience is also for those of that generation and class that enjoyed the fruits of empire, only to become objects in the political and social upheavals of the post-independence era.

Jean Arasanayagam has invested an enormous amount of time and energy in creating this book with its rich harvest of memories. We are privileged that she has offered readers such a diverse and fascinating selection so carefully distilled from the vast memory bank she possesses. She has opened up her life to the gaze of the outsider, welcoming strangers to participate in her individual odyssey and allowing them to share in her inheritance. We must remember, however, that others who have left and those who are left behind must celebrate this continuing search for they too carry this hybrid inheritance and are compelled to negotiate the constantly shifting demarcations of community and identity.

While the story of a 'nice Burgher girl' is Arasanayagam's personal quest, it gives readers, who may be 'insiders' or 'outsiders' - one of the many 'others' in this island nation, an opportunity to engage with their own distinctive histories and to explore the meaning of identity and community in a country which continuously recasts the boundaries of space and self .