Abstract:
The aim of this study is to bring to light the various theoretical elements of
communication that the critic and commentator, Regi Siriwardcna has explored through
his literary writing carried out in the time period of 1947-2004.
The methodology used in this study took into account the Selected Writings ol Regi
Siriwardena: Literature und the Arts, Volume 1, edited by A. J. Canagaratna (Colombo:
ICES; 2005). In this volume. his 'ATitings have been categorized according to several
main theoretical approaches. which arc:
Art, media and communication
Marx and literature
Fiction and the Marxist critic
Form, content, art and ideology
Ideology and materialism
Marxism, literature and time
In the Gut of the living
When we speak of ideology, we must realize that ideology seeps through all human
activity and that it is inseperable from the experience of human existance.
In this regard art is richer and more "translucient" than political and economic theory
because it is less purely ideological. It is important here to grasp the precise meaning of
'ideology' in the context of Marxism. In Marxism Ideology is not a set of doctrienes; it
signifies the way men live out their roles in class-society. the values, ideas and images
which bind them to their social functions thus preventing them from gaining a true
knowledge of society as a"' bole.
