PREFACE
The Department of Indian Studies, University of Malaya brings out the seventh volume of Tamil Peraivu which is a bi-annual journal. Academicians around the globe contribute their articles to this journal. The present volume consist of nine research articles. The leit –motive of a research has to be scientific and this is the sole objective of this journal.
The article, ‘Poetry Arguments of Murasu’ Dr M S Shri Lakshmi (Singapore), focuses on the literary arguments about the traditional poems versus the verse poetry in Singapore. Similar arguments were very popular in seventies in Tamil Nadu. This article explains that, in Malaysia and Singapore, young writers welcomed the new development but the traditional poets were not with them. Singapore poet Ilangovan was a pioneer in modern Verse Poetry. Poets like K T M Iqbal, V T Arsau (Editor in Chief of Tamil Murasu), followed the footstep of Ilangovan. These poets initiated a literary argument in 1991-1992. Current articles depicts the writing skills, argumentative skills and also the literary knowledge of the participants of this group. Author argues that this literary arguments were indirectly helped the development of the local poetry scene in Singapore.
The next article is by Professor Dr. M. Rajantheran (Malaysia) and Mr.Nagarajan (India) entitle, ‘Contribution of the Indian Literature to the Development of the Classical Malay Literature’ is an attempt to express the immense role played by the Indian literature to the development of the classical Malay literature. The authors has developed this article based on concrete evidences such as inscriptions, records from the early history books, literary texts, Chinese records, Arabian references and cultural heritage of the Malay people. This article clearly establishes with relevant examples the immense contribution of the Indian literature to the development of the Classical Malay Literature.
The third article in this volume is about the Meaning of the Term YÄṇar in Sangam Literature, written by Dr.N.Athiyaman (India) and Dr. T.Kannan (India). This article points out that as per the commentators and redactors of Sangam Literature the term yÄṇar means 'new income'. If one agrees the meanings proposed by the commentators for the word yÄṇar as 'new income', the meaning of the sentences become very ambiguous on many occasions. Hence a hermeneutics study is made in this article looking into the context of the usage of that word and suggests that if one takes the meaning of yÄṇar, just as 'fresh' or ‘new’ then the sentences meaning are free of ambiguities. From this analysis, new insight into the social formation of Early Historic Tamil Nadu is obtained.
The following article of Dr.K.Subashini (Germany) is entitled, ‘Preservation of Ancient Tamil Maritime Records’. The history and missing records about ancient Tamil seafarers becomes the focus of this paper. The author demonstrates that the early Tamil maritime begins long time back, but inadequate information lead to the opinion that maritime trade activities were pioneered by European seafarers. She further establishes that the Ancient Tamil seafarers explored the wide ocean, discovered new lands, and initiated trade activities with other ancient civilizations in the past. However only fewer records describing Tamils seafaring experience details were identified so far. This article discloses many evidences to support the point that the Tamils were among the earliest to explore the sea and initiating contacts with foreign land.
The following article of S.Babu is entitled, ‘Archaeological evidence of the Tamil people’s history’. This paper provides insight into several new sources for the history of the Tamil people. The author explains that the people of Tamil Nadu are well known for their ability to create great literature, heroism, and charity. Further the researcher claims that in the past Tamil kings crossed the vast sea, and conquered many land and brought glory to the motherland. Several archaeological evidence that explains the history of Tamil people have been found in and out of Tamil Nadu. In fact the early rulers have left many archaeological evidence that explain the early history of Tamils. As an addition to the available evidence, the author has found a number of artefacts (including inscriptions during his field work. These artefacts are said to describe rare messages about early life of the Tamils.
The Coming of Tamils to Indonesia and the Emergence of Kampung Madras’by Associate Prof. Dr. Samikkanu Jabamoney Ishak Samuel (Malaysia), Dr. Manonmani Devi M.A.R Annamalai (Malaysia) and Dr. Kingston Palthamburaj (India) is the next article in this volume of Tamil Peraivu journal. This article mentions that Tamils ​​live in 164 countries in the world and they have migrated to various parts of the world from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka during different periods of time. This includes the migration of Tamils to many parts of South East Asia. Earlier they played the role as empire builders and sea merchants, but they were brought in as coolies to Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa and Medan by the British rulers later in the end of nineteenth and twentieth century AD. This article is an attempt to describe the diaspora Indians especially those who are living in the new village at Kampung Madras in Medan, Sumatra, Indonesia.
The next article entitled, ‘The Influence of Chinese Believes on Malaysian Indians’ was written by Dr Silllalee kandasamy, Tamil Arasi Muniandy and Krishnaveni Subramaniam. This article gives some background information about Indians in Malaysia and the cultural relationship between India and Malaysia.. The similar background is noticeable in the history of the arrival of the Chinese Community. After the independence of Malaysia, the Indian and Chinese communities got citizenship and remained permanently in Malaysia. According to the authors, the Indian community whose long stay in Malaysia has a unique life with Chinese practices. This is observed in many cultural practices. Many of these practices are being followed by the Indians in Malaysia to bring wealth and success in their lives and also to get protection from spirits and negative forces. This article surveys and analyses this aspect of Malaysian Indians’ culture.
The following article by Premananthini Dhemudu (Malaysia) and Dr.Mohana Dass Ramasamy (Malaysia) entitled, ‘Rhetorical Conventions in Kannadasan’s Cinema Songs’. The main objective of this article is to suggest the teaching methods of Grammar (Rhetorical Conventions) in Tamil language using the cinema songs which are the most popular form of Tamil literature, especially those authored by Poet Kannadasan. The author has successfully demonstrated through the analysis of a reasonable amount of examples from Kannadasan’s Cinema Songs, that merging Grammar with literature would give the better outcome during the process of Teaching and Learning.
‘Wife Ill Treated by Husband in The Short Story ‘Amma’’, by Rajeswari Arumugam focuses on the sufferings of a woman in the hands of her husband from one of the short stories begotten from the anthology of short stories published by the Tamil Society of University Malaya from 1986 to 2009 under the name of ‘Peravaik Kathaikal’. The primary purpose of this article is to identify the woman's status and her emancipation in the selected short story based on the theory of cultural feminism. Of the 294 short stories published in 25 years, 43 short stories reflect the cultural feminism. Among those, nine stories talked about the wives who have been tortured by their husbands. The researcher reveals the struggles faced by a wife in the short story 'Amma' and explains how cultural feminism influenced the wife’s thoughts and attitudes.
The last article of this volume is entitled ‘Tholkappiyar’s Theory of Kalaviyal in The Novel ‘Madhu’, authored by Thinesh Subramaniam (Malaysia). This paper reveals that the Kalaviyal theory of Tholkappiyam can be employed to study even the Malaysian Tamil novels. The author has selected Malaysian Tamil novel entitled Mathu, as an example to demonstrate the applicability of the kalaviyal theory. As a result, all the aspects of kalaviyal theory except the first meeting, (doubt, resolving doubt, brooding, tempting, having love affair, mating and preparing for marriage) are identified in the novel Mathu. This article is accepted for publication mainly for the new effort of the author to apply a classical Tamil Literary theory to study a modern Tamil Novel.
This Journal in its sustaining effort records the innovate ideas of many researchers. The Editorial Board feels immense pleasure in bringing this sixth Volume of Tamil Peraivu expressing heartfelt thanks to all the contributors and evaluators of this volume. Last but not least, we would like to thank Mr.MGL.Velayutham – Alma Herbal Nature Pvt. Ltd for his sincere generosity in sponsoring this journal.
Professor Dr.M.Rajantheran
Chief Editor
24.07.2018
ABOUT TAMIL PERAIVU
