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| Home > Regional Literature > Tamil Literature > Modern Tamil Literature
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| | Modern Tamil Literature
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A modern trend in Tamil literature was begun in the 19th century by a group of writers influenced by English, Vedanayakam Pillai (1824-1889) being among them who wrote the first original novels and dramas.
A literary giant of the 20th century was Subramania Bharathi, whose poems and patriotic songs are well known. Although the development of prose has been pretty slow, the historical romances of C R Srinivasa Aiyangar, social novels like Padmavati and Vijaya Marttandam of A.S. Madhavayya, Kamalambal by Rajam Iyer and S. Venkataramani`s Murugam are prominent. The short story was popularized by V V S Iyer and Rajaji, while Sambanda Mudaliar`s adaptations of Shakespeare`s plays contributed to Tamil drama greatly. The Tamil society underwent a deep cultural shock with the imposition of western cultural influences. The Hindu religious establishments attempted to stem the tide of change and to safeguard the Tamil cultural values. Notable among these were the Saiva monastries at Tiruvavaduthurai, Dharmapuram and Kundrakudi. Meenakshisundaram Pillai (1815-1876) was a Tamil scholar who taught Tamil at one of these monastries. He wrote more than eighty books consisting of over 200,000 poems.He is more famous however for encouraging U.V.Swaminatha Iyer to go search for Tamil books that have been lost for centuries. Gopalakrishna Bharathi lived during the early nineteenth century. He wrote numerous poems and lyrics set to tune in Carnatic music. His most famous work is the Nandan Charitam on the life of Nandanar who having been born in a suppressed caste, faces and overcomes the social obstacles in achieving his dream of visiting the Chidambaram temple. This work is a revolutionary social commentary considering the period in which it was written, although Gopalakrishna Bharati expanded on the story in Periyapuranam.
Ramalinga Adigal (Vallalar) (1823-1874) wrote the devotional poem Tiruvarutpa is considered to be a work of great beauty and simplicity. Maraimalai Adigal (1876-1950) advocated for the purity of Tamil and wanted to clean it of words with Sanskrit influences. One of the great Tamil poets of this period was Subramanya Bharathy. His works are stimulating in their progressive themes like freedom and feminism. Bharathy introduced a new poetic style into the somewhat rigid style of Tamil poetry writing, which had followed the rules set down in the Tolkaappiyam. His puthukkavithai (Lit.:new poetry) broke the rules and gave poets the freedom to express themselves. He also wrote Tamil prose in the form of commentaries, editorials, short stories and novels. Some of these were published in the Tamil daily Swadesamitran and in his Tamil weekly India. Inspired by Bharathy, many poets resorted to poetry as a means of reform. Bharathidasan was one such poet. U.V.Swaminatha Iyer, was instrumental in the revival of interest in the Sangam age literature in Tamil Nadu. He travelled all over the Tamil country, collecting deciphering and publishing ancient books such as Cilappatikara, Kuruntoi, etc. He published over 90 books.
The novel as a genre of literature arrived in Tamil in the third quarter of 19th century, more than a century after it became popular with English writers. Its emergence was perhaps facilitated by the growing population of Tamils with a western education and exposure to popular English fiction. Mayuram Vedanayakam Pillai wrote the first Tamil novel Prathapa Mudaliar Charithram in 1879. This was a romance with an assortment of fables, folk tales and even Greek and Roman stories, written with the entertainment of the reader as the principal motive. It was followed by Kamalambal Charitram by B.R. Rajam Iyer in 1893 and Padmavathi Charitram by A. Madhaviah in 1898. These two portray the life of Brahmins in 19th century rural Tamil Nadu, capturing their customs and habits, beliefs and rituals. Although it was primarily a powerful narration of the common man`s life in a realistic style spiced with natural humour, Rajam Iyer`s novel has a spiritual and philosophical undertone. Madhaviah tells the story in a more realistic way with a searching criticism of the upper caste society, particularly the sexual exploitation of girls by older men.
The increasing demand of the literate public caused a number of journals and periodicals to be published and these in turn provided a platform for authors to publish their work. Rajavritti Bodhini and Dina Varthamani in 1855 and Salem Pagadala Narasimhalu Naidu`s fornightlies, Salem Desabhimini in 1878 and Coimbatore Kalanidhi in 1880, were the earliest Tamil journals. In 1882, G. Subramaniya Iyer started the newspaper Swadesamitran. It became the first Tamil daily in 1899. This was the start of many journals to follow and many novelists began to serialise their stories in these journal. The humour magazine Ananda Vikatan started by S.S. Vasan in 1929 was to help create some of the greatest Tamil novelists. Kalki Krishnamurthy (1899-1954) serialised his short stories and novels in Ananda Vikatan and eventually started his own weekly Kalki for which he wrote the immortal novels Parthiban Kanavu, Sivagmiyin Sabhatham and the popular Ponniyin Selvan. Pudhumaipithan (1906-1948) was a great writer of short stories and provided the inspiration for a number of authors who followed him.
Tamil Christian poets also added to the body of Tamil literature. Vedanayagam Shastriar, Krishna Pillai, and N. Samuel of Tranquebar were known as triumvirate.
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