An Analysis of the Existential Philosophy Reflected in Nandana Weerasinghe's Poetry

Abstract

In the wider philosophical arena, Existentialism occupies a prominent figure. It quintessentially stands for the significance of the existence of an entity than its essence. While existentialists tend to question the meaning of treating human life with importance, they elucidate the ability to define a human through its existence as well. Abstract concepts like subjectivity, forlornness, anguish, and despair are closely bound with this philosophy. The research expects to explore and discuss the expression of such existentialist ideas that evolved through the literary works of Nandana Weerasinghe. He has been able to publish 12 books of poetry during his career. His two publications, "Chandra Bimba" and "Kshana Niyama", will be studied and incorporated to explore the influence of existentialist philosophical approaches on the current Sri Lankan poets. He is renowned for his experimenting with both Eastern and Western poetic traditions while displaying his identity to critically address various interactive social issues. His conventional poetry, short poems, narrative poems, essays, and several other translations demonstrate his experiments on conventional poetic elements, structural development, and language utilisation. The meaning added to every word in his poetic language, the intertextual characteristics involved with the work, and the incorporation of the philosophical viewpoints and ideas of Eastern and Western philosophers are evident throughout his recent literary works. Despite his works being widely discussed in the current Sri Lankan literary community, there is a lack of discussion on his most recent works that express his existentialist ideas. Information is expected to be taken from primary and secondary sources. While the key information will be taken into consideration, Nandana Weerasinghe's poetry and an interview to be held with five contemporary writers will be chosen as the primary sources. The interpretive framework will be developed according to the collected information. Certain modern concepts of literary criticism are expected to be utilised. The research will present an analytical, literary exploration related to the issue while maintaining the awareness of the Eastern and Western philosophical concepts that he supported in his poetry.