LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:3 March 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

Celebrate India!
Unity in Diversity!!

HOME PAGE

Click Here for Back Issues of Language in India - From 2001

BOOKS FOR YOU TO READ AND DOWNLOAD FREE!

REFERENCE MATERIALS

BACK ISSUES

  • E-mail your articles and book-length reports in Microsoft Word to languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.

  • PLEASE READ THE GUIDELINES GIVEN IN HOME PAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE LIST OF CONTENTS.

  • Your articles and book-length reports should be written following the APA, MLA, LSA, or IJDL Stylesheet.

  • The Editorial Board has the right to accept, reject, or suggest modifications to the articles submitted for publication, and to make suitable stylistic adjustments. High quality, academic integrity, ethics and morals are expected from the authors and discussants.

Copyright © 2020
M. S. Thirumalai

Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
11249 Oregon Circle
Bloomington, MN 55438
USA
Custom Search

Su. Venkatesan: Tamil Valour in Kavalkottam

Dr. S. Sridevi

Kavalkottam
Courtesy: https://www.amazon.in/Kaaval-Kotam-S-Vengadesan/dp/B00JXG4576/ref=sr_1_9?dchild=1&keywords=kaval+kottam&qid=1616553914&s=books&sr=1-9

Abstract

This paper aims at studying Kavalkottam by Su. Venkatesan as an attempt to re-understand the Tamil past. It is viewed as a launch of Tamil valour and as a reinforcement of Tamils’ ideology of moral superiority which the writer achieves by projecting the land as a region of straightforward warriors. The paper attempts to study the other social commentaries made by the novelist through his epic portrayal of Tamil monarchic past that merges into the colonial past and later into democratic nation, narrated in a sumptuous, minutely descriptive and rich style. The Tamil community’s story of being guardians to the villages to becoming migrant workers in other lands is traced by Venkatesan with sensitivity and imagination.

Keywords: Venkatesan, Karupanan, Criminal Act 1871, Tamil Nadu, Gods

Introduction

The novel Kavalkottam traces the story of the people of central Tamil Nadu who have a rich history of being great warriors. Due to socio-political changes these people shift into different types of professionals and bring about new castes, losing their superior position in society as civic guardians in the course of time. The Tamil title Kavalkottam means ‘The stronghold of Guardians’ or ‘The Guardians’ Divisions’ roughly. The Tamil word ‘kaval’ means ‘guarding to protect.’ ‘Kottam’ can refer to a ‘regiment’ or ‘division’ or ‘stronghold.’

Karupanan in the novel symbolizes, or represents as depicted by Su. Venkatesan, the Tamil warrior race from the central part of Tamil Nadu, and it is he who begins the story as narrated in the omniscient voice of the novelist. He regains consciousness after the Northern men on horses devastate the village for which he is the guard. His wife Sadachi, a pregnant woman in advanced stage, gives him the lance and asks the fatally wounded Karupanan to run after the Northern men and continue his work as the guardian of the village, and he dies in the encounter after killing one such vandal.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Dr. S. Sridevi
Professor of English
Research Department of English
CTTE College for Women
Chennai 600011
sridevisaral@gmail.com
Custom Search
  • Click Here to Go to Creative Writing Section

  • Send your articles
    as an attachment
    to your e-mail to
    languageinindiaUSA@gmail.com.
  • Please ensure that your name, academic degrees, institutional affiliation and institutional address, and your e-mail address are all given in the first page of your article. Also include a declaration that your article or work submitted for publication in LANGUAGE IN INDIA is an original work by you and that you have duly acknowledged the work or works of others you used in writing your articles, etc. Remember that by maintaining academic integrity we not only do the right thing but also help the growth, development and recognition of Indian/South Asian scholarship.