Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 14:47:37 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Re: Translation, Indian vernacular and "Classical"


A quick response to Thomas's questions:

Modern Tamil literature is, like any other literature, a varied
affair-there is Dalit writing, women's writing, "urban" writing, etc. all
anthologized as such in various forms.

With regard to the presence of the classical in the modern: there are
schools of poetry explicitly setting out to adapt and rejuvenate the
aesthetics of ancient Tamil literature within a contemporary context.
[Aside from A. K. Ramanujan and other scholars, there is a reasonably
informative introduction to some aspects of classical Tamil aesthetics in
R. Parthasarthy's translation of the Shilappadikaram (Columbia UP).]

Of course, even more than high literature (a minority enterprise), the
classical is present in the popular-direct references to the classical are
common in popular film and music. The song "Pettai Rap" from Kaathalan
(popular because of A. R. Rahman's music) in the midst of all the Western
allusions refers also to Kannaki and Sita, for example. 

--Shankar


++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
S. Shankar
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Rutgers University 
Newark, NJ 07102
Tel.: 973 353 5279 x 616	Email: sshankar-AT-andromeda.rutgers.edu




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