Abstract
Based on an analysis of the Culladhanuggaha jataka and its Sri Lankan theatrical adaptations (the Maname Kolama and Ediriweera Sarachchandra's play Maname Niitakaya), the paper explores the relationship between myth and art. It uses Aleksei Fyodorovich Losev's theory of myth as the framework for the analysis of the Culladhanuggaha Jataka as myth and the changes that the story undergoes when it enters the realm of art. The paper argues that while the transference of the story from myth to art strips the story of much of its mythical character, the story even in its new context remains tied to the notion of myth in an important manner. The paper concludes with the argument that the theatrical pieces in question embody a broader consciousness defined by both the mythical consciousness and the poetic consciousness in the Losevian sense of the terms.
Highlights
The union between myth and art could be seen as fundamental to human expression
Theatre adaptation of The Culladhanuggaha ]ataka; and Professor Ediriweera Sarachchandra's play Maname Natakaya(1956),3 which is based on the same jataka story and which marked a turning point in the Sinhala theatrical tradition, the paper argues that the transference of the Culladhanuggaha ]6.taka from the realm of myth to the realm of art gives rise to a space that is defined by a complex interrelationship between myth and art but can be reduced to neither of the alternatives
While there are a number of versions of the Maname Kalama, which are slightly different from each other, the version that the present paper examines is the one published in the following text: Maname Kalama [The Maname Kalama], Ed
Summary
The union between myth and art could be seen as fundamental to human expression. Numerous cases that exemplify this union can be found from cultures across the globe. One could argue that the use of masks adds a certain mythical/mystical quality to the performance, the fact that the masks used in the Maname Kalama are recognisably human looking (with the exception of the one worn by the actor playing the jackal, which is a depiction of the animal that it represents) emphasises the worldly nature of the characters.
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