Colonial authority and Tamil scholarship : a study of the first English translations

This book—an English translation of a key Tami? book of literary and cultural criticism—looks at the construction of Tami? scholarship through the colonial approach to Tami? literature as evidenced in the first translations into English. The Tami? original Atikaramum tami?p pulamaiyum: Tami?iliruntu mutal a?kila mo?ipeyarppuka? by N Govindarajan is a critique of the early attempts at the translations of Tami? literary texts by East India Company officials, specifically by N E Kindersley.

Kindersley, who was working as the Collector of South Arcot district in the late eighteenth century, was the first colonial officer to translate the Tami? classic Tirukku?a? and the story of King Na?a into English and to bring to the reading public in English the vibrant oral narrative tradition in Tami?.

F W Ellis in the nineteenth century brought in another dimension through his translation of the same classic.

The book, thus, focuses on the attempts to translate the Tami? literary works by the Company’s officials who emerged as the pioneering English Dravidianists and the impact of translations on the Tami? reading community. Theoretically grounded, the book makes use of contemporary perspectives to examine colonial interventions and the operation of power relations in the literary and socio-cultural spheres.

It combines both critical readings of past translations and intensive research work on Tami? scholarship to locate the practice of literary works in South Asia and its colonial history, which then enables a conversation between Indian literary cultures.

In this book, the author has not only explored all key scholarly sources as well as the commentaries that were used by the colonial officials, chiefly Kindersley, but also gives us an insightful critique of the Tami? works. The highlight of the discussion of Dravidian Orientalism in this book is the intralinguistic opposition of the “mainstream” Tami? literature in “correct/poetical” Tami? and the folk literature in “vacana” Tami?. This framework allows the translators to critically engage with the work. Annotated and with an Introduction and a Glossary, this translated work is a valuable addition to our reading of colonial South India.

The book will be of interest to researchers of Tami?

Studies, Orientalism and Indology, translation studies, oral literature, linguistics, South Asian Studies, Dravidian Studies and colonial history.