Conclusion

Many unorthodox views were expressed on the preceding pages, and I am almost certain that they will meet with disapproval in some quarters. However, I strongly believe in the interpenetration of literary history and literary criticism. As Wellek and Warren rightly say, “There are simply no data in literary history which are completely neutral ‘facts’. Value judgements are implied in the very choice of materials: in the simple preliminary distinction between books and literature, in the mere allocation of space to this or that author”.¹ Let me in conclusion sum up some of the views expressed in this book, in order to facilitate the orientation of those who wish to contest them.

¹ René Wellek-Austin Warren, Theory of Literature, 3rd ed., 1963, p. 40.

I have expressed the opinion that the Tolkāppiyam, as we have it today, is not an integral and untampered with text, a work of one single author, but rather the work of an entire scholastic group, with a number of additions and interpolations, the final redaction of which is comparatively late (middle of the 1st Millennium A.D.); and that, possibly, the whole third book (Poruļatikāram) is later than the first two portions.

I disagree with the conception that early classical (Cańkam) poetry was “democratic in spirit”. I believe that this poetry—the best which has ever been composed in the Tamil language-is basically aristocratic and early feudal in outlook and bardic and clannish in origin. Judging it purely aesthetically I believe that it is fully commensurable in quality with the very peaks of world lyrical poetry, specifically of the “objective” and “professional” type. I do not consider any of the didactic texts to be truly great literature not even the Tirukkuṟaḷ. I believe that the “didactic heresy” was detrimental to both old Tamil poetry and the Tamil fiction of the 19th-20th Centuries.

Contrary to the opinion of traditional Tamil panditdom, I think that Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ’s “Lay of the Anklet” and not the Rāmāyaṇa of the kavicakravarti Kampaṉ is the greatest single poem in Tamil literature.

I cannot fully agree with the analysis of bhakti poetry as the literary expression of social protest. I also consider some of the cittar poets, particularly Tirumūlar and Paṭṭiṉattar, as great creative poets.

I do not regard S. Bharathi as a great “world-poet” on a par with some other Indian authors such as Vālmīki, Kālidāsa, Iḷaṅkō, Kampaṉ, or even Tagore and Vallathol.

I think that modern Tamil prose is still rather stagnate and sterile, though there are a few exceptional authors and a great promise of future inventive and creative developments. For the benefit of those who want to read good modern prosateurs in Tamil I shall risk to give a list of names who I believe are truly representative of good, solid, serious, even exceptional modern Tamil writing: Mauni (the “Tirumülar of short story writing” as Putumaippittaṉ called him), N. Pichamurti, K. Alagiriswamy, R. Shanmugasundaram, T. Janakiraman, S. Ramaswamy, L. S. Ramamirtham, N. Padmanabhan.

I consider the putukkavitai movement the greatest achievement of modern Tamil poetry so far. The names which I would like to specifically mention in this connection are those of N. Pichamurti, C. Mani, S. Ramaswamy, D. Sivaramu, Vallikkannan, Hari Sreenivasan, Shanmugam Subbiah, and, as truly outstanding, S. Vaitheeswaran and T. S. Venugopalan.

I think that the critical approaches developed in Eḻuttu and Ilakkiya vaṭṭam by C. S. Chellappa and K. N. Subrahmanyam are basically sound and correct, though they tend to be, sometimes, too iconoclastic, too sophisticated, and too exclusive and clannish.

Finally, I think that the specific glory of Tamil literature, past and present, is in the “short form”-in lyrical poetry, short story, essay; while the novel, the drama, and great epos do not belongowing to a complicated network of causes-to the great achievements of Tamil.

Above all I believe that the outstanding works of Tamil literature of the past, and the very interesting writings of the present times, should be translated, published and spread wide; they intrinsically belong to the literary heritage of the world and man’s culture will be enriched by their general knowledge.

Epilogue

      palarpukal nanmolip pulavarērē
      yarumperan marapir perumpeyar muruka…
      ninnati yulli vantanen

      —
      (Tirumurukärruppatai 268…279)

      “O lion
      among poets with mellifluous speech
      praised by many,
      O Muruka, great glory,
      goal of salvation so hard to reach
      I came to you
      seeking your feet!”

Select And Critically Annotated Bibliography Of Books And Articles On Tamil Literature In English, German And French

General Works

Jesudasan, C. and H., A History of Tamil Literature, The Heritage of India Series, Y.M.C.A. Publishing House, Calcutta, 1st ed. 1961, pp. 305. Index. A fair, mildly critical and rather objective general introduction, usually quite reliable; good for quick orientation and reference; no doubt the best which is available for a non-specialist.
Meenakshisundaran, T.P., A History of Tamil Literature, Annamalai University, Annamalainagar, 1965. Pp. 211. Index. Based on a series of lectures at the University of Chicago. Not as thorough and reliable as No. 1. Very uneven in quality. Contains some brilliant observations and interesting formulations, but also a few superficial portions. Rather essayistic in parts. Should be read with caution.
Meenakshisundaran, T. P., The Pageant of Tamil Literature, Sekar Pathippagam, Madras, 1966. Pp. 126. A collection of 21 essays on Tamil literature, of very uneven quality.
Vaiyapuri Pillai, S., History of Tamil Language and Literature, New Century Book House, Madras, 1956. Pp. 206. Index. The most scholarly and the most critical, as well as very richly documented history of Tamil literature up to the epic age. Based on strict historical methodology; biased rather in the “overcritical” direction. Contains many misprints and inaccuracies. In parts, dated. Should be studied by all who want to penetrate deeper into the problems of Tamil literary history.
Renou, L. Filliozat, J., L’Inde classique, Paris, 1947-53, t.I, 446-463,

II, 297-314, 717. Pertinent portions on Tamil literature and prosody written by P. Meile and J. Filliozat. Short, but brilliant and reliable survey of classical Tamil literature.

Sastri, K. A. Nilakanta, A History of South India, Oxford University Press, Madras, 3rd ed. 1966, pp. 365-393. A short but detailed account of Tamil literature from its beginnings to cca 1650 A.D. Good for first quick reference. Dating reliable. Slight pro-Sanskritic bias.
Basham, L., The Wonder That Was India, Evergreen, New York, 1961 (the orig. edition published in 1954 in London). The pertinent pages contain a very good but very brief evaluation of classical Tamil literature, and a few good translations of Tamil poetry by J. R. Marr.
Glasenapp, Helmuth von, Literaturen Indiens, 1st ed. 1929, 2nd ed.
Contains chapters on Tamil literature written by H. W. Schomerus (1879-1945). Dated, but interesting; the author had intimate knowledge of Tamil religious hymns and purāṇas. Gives contents of a number of literary works.
Ramachandra Dikshitar, V. R., Studies in Tamil Literature and History, University of Madras, Madras, 1936. In some parts, very much dated. The reader should also be cautious about its datings. Contains a number of citations.
Purnalingam Pillai, M. S., Primer of Tamil Literature, Tinnevelly, 1904. Very much dated. Must be read with extreme caution. Contains, however, a real wealth of traditional material, legends, anecdotes, citations. A revised version appeared under the title Tamil Literature in Tinnevelly, 1928. Highly interesting, but must be read with critical knowledge and extreme caution.
Casie Chitty, Simon, The Tamil Plutarch, Containing a Summary Account of the Lives of the Poets and Poetesses of Southern India and Ceylon with Select Specimens of their Compositions, Ripley and Strong, Jaffna, 1859. 2nd ed., with notes by T. P. Meenakshisundaran, Colombo,
Makes a charming reading. The dates and factual information should not be trusted, unless supplemented by T.P.M.’s notes in the 2nd ed. Contains a wealth of traditions, anecdotes and textual quotations with translations.
Seshagiri Sastri, M., Essay on Tamil Literature, S.P.C.K. Press, Madras, 1897. Antiquated.
Srinivasa Aiyangar, M., Tamil Studies, Guardian Press, Madras, 1914. Dated but interesting.
Chengalvaraya Pillai, V. S., History of Tamil Prose Literature, Tirunelveli S.I.S.S. Works Publishing Society, 1966 (1st ed., 1904). Deals mostly with the beginnings and early developments of Tamil prose (commentaries, etc.). Very brief, fragmentary and dated.
Zvelebil, Kamil, Introducing Tamil Literature, Madras, IATR, 1968. Pp. 28. Very brief outline, useful only for the very first and basic orientation. On pp. 22-28 contains a few controversial remarks on modern and contemporary writing.

Bibliographies and Catalogues

Thani Nayagam, Xavier S., A Reference Guide to Tamil Studies: Books. University of Malaya Press, Kuala Lumpur, 1966. Very good handbook, in spite of the misprints.
Barnett, L. D., A Supplementary Catalogue to the Tamil Books in the Library of the British Museum, British Museum, London, 1931.
Barnett, L. D. and Pope G. U., A Catalogue of the Tamil Books in the Library of the British Museum, British Museum, London, 1909.
Wilson, H. H., The Mackenzie Collection, 1st ed., Calcutta, 1828, 2nd. ed., Higginbotham and Co., Madras, 1882.

Anthologies of Translations from Tamil Poetry with Annotations

Somasundaram Pillai, J. M., Two Thousand Years of Tamil Literature: An Anthology with Studies and Translations. Madras, Tirunelveli S.I.S.S. Works Publishing Society, 1959. A compilation of a number of different older translations of classical Tamil poetry ranging from the of Paṟanāṉūṟu poems to Rāmaliṅka Cuvāmikal’s verses. The originals are mostly given along with the translations which are dated and bad in most cases. There are many footnotes and annotations. Though the translations are antiquated, and the notes should be read very cautiously, the anthology is useful as a first introduction to Tamil poetry.
Illavazhanar (ed.) and Balakrishna Mudaliar, A. (transl.), The Golden Anthology of Ancient Tamil Literature. 3 vols. Madras, Tirunelveli S.I.S.S. Works Publishing Society, 1959. Includes very unsatisfactory, inexact and wooden prosaic translations from the Tolkāppiyam, the “Ten Lays”, the “Eight Anthologies”, and the “Eighteen Shorter Works”, with the original texts.
Pattuppāṭṭu: Ten Tamil Idylls. Translated into English Verse with introduction and notes by J. V. Chelliah. Colombo, General Publishers, 1946. Valuable. The translations lack true poetic qualities, but are quite reliable (though not exactly precise); the introductory parts and notes contain much information which in most cases is quite sound.
Kingsbury, Francis, and Phillips, G. E., Hymns of the Tamil Saivite Saints, Oxford University Press, London, 1921. A valuable selection of the original texts and very readable translations from Appar, Campantar, Cuntarar and Māṇikkavācakar.

5 Hooper, J. S. M., Hymns of the Alvars, Association Press, Calcutta, 1929. A valuable anthology of the original texts and good translations of the songs of the Vaṣṇava bhakta poets of the 7th - 10th Cent. A.D.

Gover, Charles, E., The Folk Songs of Southern India, 2nd., Tirunelveli S.I.S.S. Works Publishing Society, Madras, 1959. Contains a number of Tamil, Kannada, Kodagu etc., folk-songs and poems by “popular” poets in English translation, with studies and notes which should be taken very cautiously. In many respects, though, a “classic” of its kind.

Studies of Classical Tamil Literature

Aiyar, V. V. S., Kamba Ramayana: A Study. Bombay, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1965. A thought-provoking and sharp study of Kampaṉ’s great epic. Has not lost its attraction even after 40 years (the present book is a reprint).
Duraiswami Pillai, A. S., An Introduction to the Study of Tiruvalluvar, Madurai, 1961.
Jesudasan, C., “Paranar”, Tamil Culture III, 3-4 (1954), 268-84.
id., “A Study of Kabilar”, Tamil Culture III, 1 (1954), 18-35.
id., Peaks of Sangam Poetry, Trivandrum, 1960. Solid and reliable.
Kailasapathy, K., Tamil Heroic Poetry, Oxford University Press, London, 1968, pp. 282 + xv. So far the best treatment of classical Tamil puṟam poems; against a historical and sociological background; exact, reliable, thought-provoking; richly documented; contains a wealth of data; Tamil poetry compared to Greek and Welsh heroic poetry. Lacks structural and aestetic evaluation of the poetry. Sociological bias. Written in excellent English. Indispensable for students of Tamil culture.
Kanakasabhai, V., The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago. 1st ed., Madras, Higginbotham and Co., 1904; 2nd ed., Tirunelveli S.I.S.S. Works Publishing Society, Madras, 1956. This classic, dated though it is in many respects, is still worth while reading; it includes a general discussion of ancient Tamil literature, and the summaries of the “twin epics”.
Keller, C. A., “A literary study of the Tirumurukarruppadai”, Proceed- ings of the I. International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Vol. II, Kuala Lumpur, 1969, 55-62.
Krishnaswami Aiyangar, S., Manimekhalai in its Historical Setting, London, Luzac and Co., 1928. An abridged prose translation of the epic is included.
Manickam, V. S. P., The Tamil Concept of Love, Madras, 1962. Deals with the akam genre of classical poetry and in particular with its psychological and social background.
Manuel, M., “The use of literary conventions in Tamil Classical Poetry”, Proceedings of the I. International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Vol. II, Kuala Lumpur, 1969, 63-69.
Marr, John Ralston, The Eight Tamil Anthologies with special reference to Paṟanāṉūṟu and Patiṟṟuppattu. Unpublished doctoral dissertation at the University of London, 1958. An excellent, critical treatment of all aspects of early Tamil classical poetry, including the prosody.
Meenakshisundaran, Pillai T. P., Collected Papers, Annamalainagar,
Natarajan, Avvai D., “An Introduction to the Traditional Doctrine of Love”, Proceedings of the I. International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Vol. II, Kuala Lumpur, 1969, 70-87.
Nau, Heinrich, Prolegomena zu Pattanattu Pillaiyars Padal, Zwickau,
Important for its detailed discussion of chronological problems of Tamil literature.
Navaratnam, Ratna, Tiruvachakam, the Hindu Testament of Love, Bombay, 1963. Translation and annotations.
Pattabiraman, P.Z.-Dessigane, R., La légende des jeux de Civa à Madurai (Tiruvilaiyata Rpuranam), Pondichéry, 1960, pp. 130.
Rajarigam, Devanesan, Christliche Literatur in der Tamil-Sprache, Berlin, 1961.
Schomerus, H. W., Caiva-Siddhanta, Leipzig, 1912, 444 PP.
Schomerus, H. W. Meister Eckehardt und Manikka-Vasagar, Guetersloh, 1936, 191 pp. Though both these works are destined rather for the comparative religionist, they are also important and interesting for the student of Tamil literature. The first is probably the best treatment of Saiva Siddhānta philosophy published so far.
Singaravelu, S. A., A Comparative Study of the Story of Rama in South India and Southeast Asia, Kuala Lumpur, 1966.
Srinivasa Iyengar, P. T., Pre-Aryan Tamil Culture, Madras, Univ. of Madras, 1930.
Subramania Aiyar, A. V., The Poetry and Philosophy of the Tamil Siddhars, Tirunelveli, 1957. So far as I know the only treatise on the subject in English. Therefore important, though unsatisfactory in itself. Too brief; rather critical.
Thani Nayagam, Xavier S., Nature in Ancient Tamil Poetry. Tuticorin,
To be recommended. Rather important.
Thani Nayagam, Xavier S., Indian Thought and Roman Stoicism (Inaugural lecture, University of Malaya), Kuala Lumpur, 1963. Very much thought-provoking.
Thani Nayagam, Xavier S., Landscape and Poetry. A Study of Nature in Classical Tamil Poetry, Asia Publishing House, Bombay, 1965. A revised version of No. 24. Highly recommended.
Varadarajan, M., “Tamil”, in Indian Literatures, Agra, 1959, 13.
Varadarajan, M., The Treatment of Nature in Sangam Literature, Madras, 1956. A solid collection of rich classified material. Highly recommended.
Varadarajan, M., “Literary Theories in Early Tamil-Eṭṭuttokai”, Proceedings of the I. International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, Vol. II, Kuala Lumpur, 1969, 45-54.
Vithiananthan, S., The Pattuppaṭṭu-a historical, social and linguistic study. Unpublished doctoral dissertation at the University of London, 1950.
Uwise, M. M., Muslim Contribution to Tamil Literature, Kandy, Tamil Manram, 1953.
Zvelebil, K., “Tamil Poetry 2000 Years Ago”, New Orient Bimonthly (1960), 6.
Zvelebil, K., “The Lay of the Anklet”, Mahfil 3-4 (1968) 5-12.

Translations from classical Tamil literature

Aiyar, V. V. S. (transl.), The Kuṟaḷ or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar, 3rd ed., V. V. S. Krishnamurti (ed.), Tiruccirappalli, 1952. One of the best English translations of the text, though rather free.
Balasubramaniam, T. V. K. (transl.), The Tiruvembavai in Tamil by Saint Manikkavachagar, Madras, 1954.
Balasubramaniam, T. V. K. (transl.), Tirukkuṟaḷ, Lakshmanan Mudaliar Endowments, Madras, 1962.
Daniélou, A.-Desikan, R. S. (transl.), Prince Ilangô Adigal, Le roman de l’anneau, Gallimard, Paris, 1961.
Daniélou, A. (transl.), The Shilappadikaram (The Ankle Bracelet), New York: New Directions Publ. Corp., 1965. The two books under 4 and 5 represent complete prosaic French and English versions of the epic. Good for reference (though unaccompanied by notes), but as an artistic translation leaves much to be desired. Frequently imprecise.
Dessigane, R. (transl.), Tirouppavai de Sainte Andal, Pondichéry, 1952.
Dessigane, R. (transl.), Hymnes tamouls a Çareçuvati, Pondichéry, 1959.
Dikshitar, V. R. Ramachandra (transl.), The Silappadikaram, Madras, Oxford University Press, 1939. A complete prosaic English version of the epic, with important notes and appendices. Though dated in many respects (particularly in the questions of dates), still very valuable.
Drew, W. H., Tirukkuṟaḷ, Tirunelveli S.I.S.S. Works Publ. Society, Madras, 1958 (repr.).
Ellis, F. W. (transl.), Tirukkuṟaḷ: Ellis’ Commentary, ed. by R. P. Sethu Pillai, Madras: University of Madras, 1955 (first published in 1819).
Gnanou Diagou (transl.), Kambarāmāyaṇam (1. part), Revue hist. de l’Inde franc., t. VIII (1952), 273-279.
Gros, François, Le paripāṭal, texte tamoul, introduction, traduction et notes, Pondichéry, Institut français d’indologie, 1968. An excellent work, highly recommended.
Karavelane (transl.), Karaikkalammaiyar, Oeuvres editées et traduites, Publications de l’Institut français d’indologie, No. 1, Pondichéry, 1965.
Langton, Maurice (transl.), The Story of King Nala and Princess Damayanti, A Narrative Poem from the Tamil of Puhalendi Pulavar. Madras, C.L.S. Indian Research Series, vol. IV, 1950.
Lehmann, A. (transl.), The Hymns of Tayumanavar, Guetersloh, 1935.
Nallaswami, Pillai J. M. (transl.), Umapathi Sivacharya, The Thiru- varutpayan, Dharmapuram: The Gnanasambandan Press, 1945.
Nallaswami, Pillai J. M. (transl.), Meykanda Devar, Sivagnana Botham, Dharmapuram: The Gnanasambandan Press, 1945.
Narayanan, N. (transl.), Tirumurugarruppadai, with Tamil Paraphrase and English Translation and Notes, Jaffna, Ardra Publ. No. 1, 1938.
Pope, G. U. (transl.), The “Sacred” Kurval of Tiruvalluva-Nayanâr, 1st ed., London, W. Allen, 1886. 2nd ed., Calcutta, Y.M.C.A. Publ. House,
Pope, G. U. (transl.), The Naladiyar, or Four Hundred Quatrains in Tamil, Introduction, translation, and notes critical, philological and explanatory. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1893.
Pope, G. U. (transl.) and (ed.), The Tiruvacagam or “Sacred Utter- ances” of the Tamil Poet, Saint and Sage Manikka-vacagar. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1900. Though naturally dated in language and style, Pope’s translations are immensely valuable, since they contain detailed introductions, meticulously prepared texts, a wealth of notes, and concordances, embodying the rigour and the attentiveness to detail characteristic of 19th Cent. philological scholarship.
Popley, H. A. (transl.), The Sacred Kuṟaḷ of Tiruvalluvar, selected and translated, with introduction and notes, Calcutta, 1931.
Rajagopalachari, C. R. (transl.), The Ayodhya Canto of the Ramayana as Told by Kamban, London: George Allen and Unwin, 1961.
Rajagopalachari, C. R. (transl.), Kuṟaḷ, the Great Book of Tiruvalluvar (Selections from Books I and II), Bombay, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1965.
Ramanujan, A. K. (transl.), The Interior Landscape: Love Poems from a classical Tamil anthology. Bloomington, Indiana University Press, 1967. The best translation into English of classical Tamil poetry published so far. Reflects faithfully the excellence of Tamil love-poetry. Contains a brief but brilliant exposé of classical Tamil rhetoric.
Robinson, Edward J. (transl.), Tales and Poems of South India. Ist ed. London, 1873, appeared under the title Tamil Wisdom: Traditions concerning Hindu sages, and Selections from their writings. With an Introduction by the late Rev. Elijah Hoole, D.D. 2nd end., Tirunelveli S.I.S.S. Works Publishing Society, Madras, 1957.
Schomerus, H. W. (transl.), Die Hymnen des Manikka-Vasaga, Jena,
Schomerus, H. W. (transl.), Schivaistische Heiligenlegenden (Periya Purāṇam), Jena, 1925. 306 pp. The second book is particularly valuable since it is a full and carefull translation of the standard Saivite hagiography with many notes.
Taylor, W. (transl.), Paraňcōti Muņivar, Tiruvilaiyātar Purāṇam, in Oriental Historical Manuscripts in the Tamil Language (2 vols., Madras, 1835), Vol. I, pp. 55-116. A lively and charming translation.

Tamil Folk Literature

Babington, B. G. (transl.), The Adventures of Gooroo Paramartan, by C. B. Beschi, Cleveland, The Clerk’s Press, 1916. Appeared also under the title The Strange, Surprising Adventures of the Venerable Gooroo Simple and His Five Disciples, London, 1961. Originally published in 1822, and republished in 1861, 1871 and 1915. Though written by the great C. G. Beschi (18th Cent.), the work is based on Indian, Greek, Italian and other folkmotives, and became a popular work of Tamil folk-literature.
Jensen, H., A Classified Collection of Tamil Proverbs, Engl. translation by A. C. Clayton, London, 1897. An excellent and very valuable collection of the original proverbs with translations (originally into German), classified according to topics.
Kingscote, G., Tales of the Sun, or Folklore of Southern India. Collected by Mrs Howard Kingscote and Pandit Natesa Sastri. London, 1890. Very valuable.
Lamairesse, E., Poésies populaires du Sud de l’Inde, Paris, 1867, 364 pp.
Lamairesse, E., Chants populaires du Sud de l’Inde, Paris, 1868, 334 pp.
Percival, Peter, Tiruttanta cańkirakam, or A Collection of Proverbs in Tamil with their Translation in English. Jaffna, Jaffna Book Society, American Mission Press, 1834. A valuable and copious collection of Tamil sayings and proverbs.

Modern and Contemporary Tamil Literature

Annamalai, E., “Changing Society and Modern Tamil Literature”, Mahfil 1968, 3-4, 21-36.
Asher, R. E., “The Tamil Renaissance and the Beginnings of the Tamil Novel”, Journ. of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1969, 13-28. Cf. also in The Novel in India (ed. T. W. Clark), 1970, pp. 179-204, an excellent study.
Balakrishnan, P., The Gold Bangle and other Stories, Bombay: Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1968.
Bharathi Tamil Sangam (ed.), Essays on Bharathi, 2 vols., Calcutta: Bharathi Tamil Sangam, 1958 and 1962.
Contemporary Indian Literature. Special Issue on Tamil Literature. Vol. V. No. 8 (August, 1965).
Gopalie, S., “New Bearings in Tamil Poetry”, The Overseas Hindustan Times, July 26, 1969.
Govinda Rajulu Chetty, T. V., Sri Chidambaram Ramalinga Svamiji: His Life, Mission and Studies. Madras, Central Cooperative Printing Works, 1935 (includes the Engl. version of some of the devotional songs of Ramalinga Svami).
Jesudasan, H., “The Achievements of Modern Tamil Literature”, in Religion and Society, Bangalore, 1965.
Kanakasabapathy, C., “A New Voice in Tamil Poetry”, in Books Abroad, special issue: Letters of India in Transition, Autumn, 1969, 526-29.
Lakshmanan Chettiar, L., “Trends in Modern Tamil Prose”, Tamil Culture II, 2 (April, 1953), 158-169.
Mahadevan, P., Subramania Bharati, Patriot and Poet: A Memoir. Madras, Atri Publishers, 1957. A good monograph on the poet.
Mahfil, A Quarterly of South Asian Literature, Tamil Issue, Vol. IV, Nos 3 and 4, Spring and Summer, 1968. Guest editors Kamil Zvelebil and Donald Nelson, Contains, apart from 3 papers, a select bibliography of books and articles on Tamil literature by S. Neild, two reviews, translations of 15 early classical poems, and of 11 modern Tamil short stories (translators A. K. Ramanujan, D. Nelson, E. Annamalai, H. Schiffman, F. Clothey, K. Zvelebil; authors N. Piccamūrtti, Puthumaippitthan, L. S. Ramamirtham, T. Janakiraman, S. Ramaswamy, Jeyakanthan and Vaiyavan).
Marais, F., “Vedanayagam Pillai”, Tamil Culture X, 2 (April-June, 1963), 31-41.
Meenakshisundaran, T. P., “Tamil Literature”, in Contemporary Indian Literature, A Symposium. Ed. by the Sahitya Akademi, 2nd ed., Delhi, 1959, 269-283.
Mutharasu, P., The Life of St. Ramalingar. Tirunelveli, Samarasa Sanmarga Sangam, 1961.
Nandakumar, Prema, Bharati in English Verse, Madras, Higginbotham and Co., 1958. A selection of very readable translations of Bharati’s poems.
Nandakumar, Prema, Subramania Bharati, National Biography Series, National Book Trust, Delhi, 1968. A good short monograph on the poet’s life and works.
Raghavan, T. S., Makers of Modern Tamil. Tirunelveli S.I.S.S. Works Publishing Society, Madras, 1965. Short biographies of Maraimalai Adigal, K. Subramania Pillai and Thiru. Vi. Kalyanasundaram.
Rajagopalachari, C. R., The Fatal Cart and Other Stories. Translated by his son. New Delhi, The Hindustan Times, 1946.
Santhanam, K., Eight Seers of Rice and Other Stories of Indian Life. Translated from the Tamil by the author, Madras, 1958.
Srinivasan, Thomas, “Beschi, the Tamil Scholar and Poet”, Tamil Culture III, 3-4 (Oct. 1954), 297-313.
Subramania Bharati, Bharati’s Poems: Kannan and Kuyil Pattu. 346 SELECT AND CRITICALLY ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Translated by A. Doraiswamy Pillai, Madras, New Century Book House,
Subramania Bharati, The Voice of a Poet: being English renderings from the Tamil originals of poems by Subramanya Bharati. 2nd ed., Calcutta,
Subramaniam, Ka. Naa, “What is wrong with Tamil novel”, The Sunday Standard, Nov. 20, 1966.
Subramaniam, Ka. Naa., “The Tamil novel: symptoms of a stalemate”, Quest, Bombay, III, 1, August-Sept. 1957, 33-7.
Subramaniam, Ka. Naa., “The first three novels in the Tamil language”, Quest, 30, 1961, 29-32.
Sundaram, P. M. Bharatiyar: His Life and Poetry. Madras, 1956. A good brief monograph.
Sundararajan, P. G., “The Short Story in Tamil”, Indian Writing Today, 1969, 4, 58-64.
Swaminathan, K. et al. (editores), The Plough and the Stars: Stories from Tamilnad. Bombay, Asia Publishing House, 1963. A collection of 26 modern short stories, in no way representative of the short story writing in the sixties. Out of the 26 stories, the best are those by Akilan, Alagirisami, Chellappa, Ch. Subramanyam, K. V. Jagannathan, T. Janakiraman, Jayakanthan, N. Parthasarathy, P. Thooran, N. Pitchamurthy, Rajam Krishnan and Shankar Ram. It does not include some of the best short story writers like Mauni, S. Ramaswamy and L. S. Ramamirtham.
Thani Nayagam, Xavier S., “Regional Nationalism in 20th Century Tamil Literature”, Tamil Culture, X, 1 (Jan.-March 1963), 1-23.
Thani Nayagam, Xavier S., “The novelist of the city of Madras”, Tamil Culture, X, 2 (April-June 1963), 1-18. Deals with the works of M. Varadarajan.
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