Colonizing the Realm of Words: The Transformation of Tamil Literature in Nineteenth-century South India (Suny Series in Hindu Studies) - Softcover

Ebeling, Sascha

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1438432003 ISBN 13: 9781438432007

Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr, 2011

Synopsis

A true tour de force, this book documents the transformation of one Indian literature, Tamil, under the impact of colonialism and Western modernity. While Tamil is a living language, it is also India's second oldest classical language next to Sanskrit, and has a literary history that goes back over two thousand years. On the basis of extensive archival research, Sascha Ebeling tackles a host of issues pertinent to Tamil elite literary production and consumption during the nineteenth century. These include the functioning and decline of traditional systems in which poet-scholars were patronized by religious institutions, landowners, and local kings; the anatomy of changes in textual practices, genres, styles, poetics, themes, tastes, and audiences; and the role of literature in the politics of social reform, gender, and incipient nationalism. The work concludes with a discussion of the most striking literary development of the time—the emergence of the Tamil novel.

About this title

About the Author

Sascha Ebeling is Assistant Professor of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.

Edition details

• Publisher: State Univ of New York Pr
• Publication date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1438432003
• ISBN 13: 9781438432007
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 355