Research Catalog

Title

Extraordinary child : poems from a South Indian devotional genre / [compiled by] Paula Richman.

Publication

Honolulu, HI : University of Hawai'i Press, c1997.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Additional Authors

Richman, Paula

Description

xiii, 297 p. : ill.; 24 cm.

Summary

• For hundreds of years Tamil poets have been composing devotional texts in which they adopt the voice of a mother and address praises to an extraordinary child. The poems, called pillaittamil (literally "Tamil for a child"), form a major genre of Tamil literature. Since the twelfth century, when the first known pillaittamil was written in honor of a Chola king, many of these poems have been composed in praise of Murugan and South Indian goddesses, as well as saints and venerated monastic abbots.
• In recent times pillaittamils have been dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad, the Virgin Mary, and Baby Jesus, as well as notable political figures and moviestars. Extraordinary Child provides a sampler of translations, from, and analysis of, seven pillaittamils of particular religious, aesthetic, or political significance.
• Interspersed throughout the translations are essays on topics such as the virtuoso displays of poetic skill in poems addressed to the moon (a standard component of pillaittamil), the influence of pillaittamil on temple art, and the ways in which pillaittamil have been used for political purposes. An introduction initiates the reading into the pillaittamil tradition by explaining what a pillaittamil does and how contemporary Western audiences can learn to savor the subtleties of the poetry.

Series Statement

SHAPS library of translations

Uniform Title

• Project Muse UPCC books
• SHAPS library of translations.

Subject

• Piḷḷaittamiḻ
• Devotional poetry, Tamil > Translations into English
• Devotional poetry, Tamil > History and criticism
• Tamil language > Grammar

Genre/Form

• Criticism, interpretation, etc.
• Translations

Note

• "A publication of the School of Hawaiian Asian & Pacific Studies, University of Hawai'i"--P. preceding t.p.

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-279) and index.

Processing Action (note)

• committed to retain

Contents

pt. 1. How to Read a Pillaittamil. 1. Extraordinary Child. 2. Asking for the Moon, Taming the Tiger -- pt. 2. Pillaittamils for Reading. 3. The Florescence. 4. A Temple and a Pillaittamil. 5. The Hindu Monastic Milieu. 6. A Pillaittamil to Muhammad. 7. One Poet's Baby Jesus. 8. Poetry of Cultural Nationalism -- pt. 3. Reflections on Pillaittamils. 9. The Fruits of Reading Pillaittamils. Appendix. Descriptions of Pillaittamils in Texts about Poetics.

ISBN

0824810635 (pbk. : acid-free paper)

LCCN

^^^96040072^

OCLC

36074364

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library