Gift of Tamil

Tamil, the language of over 50 million people located primarily in the Indian state of Tamilnadu and in parts of Sri Lanka, possesses one of the oldest and most diverse literary traditions of the Indian sub-continent. This volume provides an anthology of translations from Tamil into English. The contributors have striven to translate not just the meaning of original words, but also their overall rhetorical and poetic effects, in a style that is true to a modern aesthetic sensibility. Their translations demonstrate the distinctiveness, diversity, con- tinuity, and vitality of Tamil literature.

The earliest Tamil poetry (ca. 100-300 C.E.) was collected into two kinds of anthologies: the poems concerned with the inner world of love and intimacy and the poems concerned with the outer world of public life, war, and conflicts about honor. Translations from these anthologies appear in the section of this volume titled ‘Classical Poetry’. The section ‘Wisdom Literature’ contains translated excerpts from Tirukkural, a work composed of couplets on the nature of virtue and the proper way to live one’s life. Selections from two extended narratives can be found in the section titled ‘Long Narrative Poems’. ‘Devotional Poetry’ includes a variety of poetry from the Hindu bhakti tradition representing different genres and poets from different sectarian traditions. Stories collected in Tamil villages appear in the section on ‘Folk Literature’. Finally, ‘Modern Literature’ contains a varied set of selections from both prose poetry and short stories.

The editors compiled this book in honor of K. Paramasivam. Paramasivam, who earned his M.A. in Tamil Language and Literature (Annamalai University), Diploma in Linguistics (Madurai Kamaraj University) and his Ph.D. in Linguistics (University of Chicago), has been a major influence on several generations of teachers and students who have come to Tamilnadu to study Tamil. Paramasivam currently serves as Head of the Tamil Language Program for the American Institute of Indian Studies. He has written a number of books and articles, including Effectivity and Causativity in Tamil and Trends in Modern Tamil.

Norman Cutler and Paula Richman, both received their Ph.D.s in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Cutler is the author of The Poetics of Tamil Devotion and co-edited Gods of Flesh/Gods of Stone with Joanne Punzo Waghorne. Richman has written Women, Branch Stories, and Religious Rhetoric in a Tamil Buddhist Text and edited Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia. The translators come from a number of different fields including literature, anthropology, history of religions, and linguistics: Lyn Bigelow, Rahul Bonner, David Buck, Elaine Craddock, George Luzerne Hart, James Lindholm, John Loud, Diane Paull Mines, Patricia Mumme, Sally Noble, A.K. Ramanujan, James Ryan, Martha Ann Selby, Swami Sevananda, David Shulman, and Abbie Ziffren.