Tamil : a biography

Spoken by eighty million people in South Asia and a diaspora that stretches across the globe, Tamil is one of the great world languages, and one of the few ancient languages that survives as a mother tongue for so many speakers. David Shulman presents a comprehensive cultural history of Tamil language, literature, and civilization emphasizing how Tamil speakers and poets have understood the unique features of their language over its long history. Impetuous, musical, whimsical, in constant flux, Tamil is a living entity, and this is its biography. Two stories animate Shulman s narrative. The first concerns the evolution of Tamil s distinctive modes of speaking, thinking, and singing. The second describes Tamil s major expressive themes, the stunning poems of love and war known as Sangam poetry, and Tamil s influence as a shaping force within Hinduism. Shulman tracks Tamil from its earliest traces at the end of the first millennium BCE through the classical period, 850 to 1200 CE, when Tamil-speaking rulers held sway over southern India, and into late-medieval and modern times, including the deeply contentious politics that overshadow Tamil today. Tamil is more than a language, Shulman says. It is a body of knowledge, much of it intrinsic to an ancient culture and sensibility. Tamil can mean both knowing how to love in the manner of classical love poetry and being a civilized person. It is thus a kind of grammar, not merely of the language in its spoken and written forms but of the creative potential of its speakers. This Book Explores Two Millennia Of South Indian Tamil Civilization, With A Special Emphasis On The Way Tamil Speakers And Literati Understood The Unique Features Of Their Language And The Major Cultural Themes Articulated In Tamil Over This Long Time Span. Tamil Is One Of The Great World Languages, With Its 80 Million Speakers, Its Ancient, Classical Past, And The Profound Richness Of Its Cultural Traditions, Which Spread Throughout South Asia And Beyond To Sri Lanka And Southeast Asia And, Today, To A Large Tamil Diaspora Scattered Around The Globe. Presented In The Format Of A South Indian Musical Composition, The Chapters Take The Reader Through The Whole Of Tamil Cultural History, From Its Beginnings At The End Of The First Millennium B.c. Through The Stunning Poems Of Love And War Known As Sangam Poetry, The Burst Of Intense Religious Movements In The Mid-first-millennium A.d., The Chola Period Of Imperial Expansion, And Into Late-medieval And Modern Times, Including Present-day Tamil Politics And The Vast Cultural Production Of Chennai, Madurai, And Tanjavur. The Treasures Of The Tamil Language Deserve A Wide Audience--thus The Book Is Aimed At Readers With No Special Knowledge Of India No Less Than At Speakers And Connoisseurs Of Tamil. Translated Verses And Spicy Stories Of Poets, Lovers, Musicians, Warriors And Kings Fill The Pages Of This Book, Which Paints A Wide-angle, Panoramic Canvas Of One Of The Most Creative Civilizations In The History Of South Asia As It Evolved And Transformed Itself From The Distant Past Up To Our Own Generation.-- Beginnings: Alapanam -- First Budding, Tamil From The Inside : Pallavi -- Second Budding, The Musical Self : Anupallavi -- The Imperial Moment, Truth, And Sound : Caranam 1 -- Republic Of Syllables : Caranam 2 -- A Tamil Modernity : Caranam 3 -- Beyond The Merely Modern : Ragamalika. David Shulman. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 357-383) And Index. This book explores two millennia of south Indian Tamil civilization, with a special emphasis on the way Tamil speakers and literati understood the unique features of their language and the major cultural themes articulated in Tamil over this long time span. Tamil is one of the great world languages, with its 80 million speakers, its ancient, classical past, and the profound richness of its cultural traditions, which spread throughout South Asia and beyond to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia and, today, to a large Tamil Diaspora scattered around the globe. Presented in the format of a south Indian musical composition, the chapters take the reader through the whole of Tamil cultural history, from its beginnings at the end of the first millennium B.C. through the stunning poems of love and war known as "Sangam Poetry", the burst of intense religious movements in the mid-first-millennium A.D., the Chola period of imperial expansion, and into late-medieval and modern times, including present-day Tamil politics and the vast cultural production of Chennai, Madurai, and Tanjavur. The treasures of the Tamil language deserve a wide audience--thus the book is aimed at readers with no special knowledge of India no less than at speakers and connoisseurs of Tamil. Translated verses and spicy stories of poets, lovers, musicians, warriors and kings fill the pages of this book, which paints a wide-angle, panoramic canvas of one of the most creative civilizations in the history of South Asia as it evolved and transformed itself from the distant past up to our own generation.-- Provided by publisher This book explores two millennia of south Indian Tamil civilization, with a special emphasis on the way Tamil speakers and literati understood the unique features of their language and the major cultural themes articulated in Tamil over this long time span. Tamil is one of the great world languages, with its 80 million speakers, its ancient, classical past, and the profound richness of its cultural traditions, which spread throughout South Asia and beyond to Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia and, today, to a large Tamil Diaspora scattered around the globe. Presented in the format of a south Indian musical composition, the chapters take the reader through the whole of Tamil cultural history, from its beginnings at the end of the first millennium B.C. through the stunning poems of love and war known as "Sangam Poetry", the burst of intense religious movements in the mid-first-millennium A.D., the Chola period of imperial expansion, and into late-medieval and modern times, including present-day Tamil politics and the vast cultural production of Chennai, Madurai, and Tanjavur. The treasures of the Tamil language deserve a wide audience ... thus the book is aimed at readers with no special knowledge of India no less than at speakers and connoisseurs of Tamil. Translated verses and spicy stories of poets, lovers, musicians, warriors and kings fill the pages of this book, which paints a wide-angle, panoramic canvas of one of the most creative civilizations in the history of South Asia as it evolved and transformed itself from the distant past up to our own generation ..