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A critical study of creative writing in Tamil in Singapore (1965-1990)
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Type
Thesis
Other titles
சிங்கப்பூர்த் தமிழ்ப் படைப்பிலக்கியம் : ஒரு திறனாய்வு (1965-1990)
Author
Sivakumaran, A. R. A.
Supervisor
Thinnappan, S. P.
Abstract
Singapore, represented by a tiny dot on the world map, became a Republic on 9 August 1965. It celebrated its silver jubilee in 1990. Within the short span of 25 years, Singapore has made tremendous social and economic progress. Similarly, it has also witnessed remarkable progress in the field of creative literature such as traditional poetry, songs for children, new poetry, novels and dramas. The objectives of this thesis are to provide a critical evaluation of these works in Tamil.
Tamil literature in Singapore has a history of around 112 years. The first literary work in Tamil was published in 1887. However, it was only after independence in 1965 that a great number of literary works were printed in book form.
My critical evaluation covers Tamil literature (excepting short stories) published in Singapore from 1965 to 1990. This research consists of seven chapters. The introduction consists of Tamil language in Singapore, creative literature, the beginning and development of creative Tamil literature in Singapore, the objectives of this thesis, the limitation of this research, primary and secondary resource materials and a review of the literature. Short stories have not been included as the scope of the research would have become too extensive and beyond the scope of thesis.
The chapter on Traditional Poetry is categorised into content, form and technique and covers 10,371 poems written in the traditional form listed under 1795 titles found in 38 books. The content section contains poems on various themes and poems in story form. The poems are subdivided into 17 sections covering topics such as Singapore and its History, Community and Devotion. The topic Love and devotion is dealt with in about one quarter of the poems. The poems on Singapore describe its beauty, its external perception and the pride of its people. The poetry on social issues does not wholly reflect Singapore society. The former Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew and G Sarangapany (a community leader who was the founder of the Tamil newspaper, Tamil Murasu) are featured prominently in the poems. The section on form deals with prosody, musical compositions, minor literary genre and sithrakavi or verse composition fitted into figures (such as chariots, mountains, etc.). The poems mostly deal with viruttham (a kind of metre in Tamil prosody) and sinthu-song of melodic type. Mr Ikkuyanam stands out as the only one to compose sithrakavi. The section on technique deals with imagination, similes and humour. Singaporean Tamil poets seem to have used very few techniques. The poems do not give much importance to these techniques.
The chapter on Songs for Children deals with 777 songs with different headings contained in 13 books written by eight poets. The chapter deals with classifications viz., content, form and technique. The songs for children can be divided into those for the very young and for the slightly older. The section on content deals with Singapore - the nation, relationships, sports and 15 other topics. The themes of the songs do not seem to reflect the children's point of view. The poets primarily seem bent on preaching and place the happiness of children last. The section on form deals with rhythm, commands over words and harmony. The songs conform to a certain rhythm; however, the form does not deal with the different stages of childhood. The section on technique covers imagination, simile, contention and graphics. However there seems to be a paucity of techniques that would attract the children.
The chapter on New Poetry looks at 320 new verses contained in nine books, which were written by 11 poets. The poems are examined under the headings, content, form and technique. The section on content is divided into 12 sub-divisions and contains headings such as Singapore - the nation, politics, society and family. There are very few songs, which contain Singapore as the theme. Elangovan dwells into social issues more than anyone else. He is the only one who has also composed poems on Singaporean politics. The section on form is subdivided into sound, graphic portrayal and usage of words in the local context. Only Elangovan has written lengthy and graphic poems. The section on technique deals with imagery, ambiguity, and obscurity and satire. Again Elangovan has dealt with poems that contain dramatic changes of events and stands out with significant features in the field of new poetry in Singapore.
The chapter on Novels deals with 20 novels written by eight authors. It has different sections such as story line, background, characters, subject matter, community, techniques and style. The section on story line explains the story and its theme. The section on background deals with the place, period and historical and social background. The two novels entitled Alaigal and Vaikaraipookkal have Singapore as their background. The stories Sumaithangi, Alaigal, Thuyarapathai, Inivavalae are set in the 1960-70s. The theme in the story Thuyarapathai discusses the social issues of the Malaysian Indians living in the rubber estates. Aspects of character are discussed in the section on character. Elankannan and K Perumal's characters are well thought out. The younger female characters are portrayed as those who do not pay attention to traditions whilst the older female characters seem to be concerned with traditions. The section on subject matter talks about the gist of the novels while the section on community discusses social issues. The Singaporean society, however, is not featured well in the stories. Techniques are also not well used. Except for A P Shanmugam, all other authors have used a clear and lucid style of writing.
The chapter on Dramas deals with 45 dramas written by 17 dramatists and is divided into dramas in prose form and dramas in poetry form. The section on dramas in prose form deals with the story and theme, and presentation, portrayal of characters and style of language. The dramas in prose form portray Singapore more than any other literary form. The themes seem to reflect the fact that society needs to be reformed or that the society should know of its foibles. The distinctive and self-opinionated A P Shanmugam's dramas lose their importance as they do not have a clear and lucid style. The section on dramas in poetry form deals with theme and dramatic structure, characters, techniques and prosody. Among the four dramas in poetry form, three are connected with the epic Mahabaratha and the other on a social theme.
The conclusion of the thesis and recommendations for future research are given under the heading conclusion. There does not seem to be enough evidence of a distinctive Singaporean Tamilness in the creative literary scene. Creative writers must strive more to do so. There are opportunities for future research to pursue research on short stories, which are featured over the media.
Tamil literature in Singapore has a history of around 112 years. The first literary work in Tamil was published in 1887. However, it was only after independence in 1965 that a great number of literary works were printed in book form.
My critical evaluation covers Tamil literature (excepting short stories) published in Singapore from 1965 to 1990. This research consists of seven chapters. The introduction consists of Tamil language in Singapore, creative literature, the beginning and development of creative Tamil literature in Singapore, the objectives of this thesis, the limitation of this research, primary and secondary resource materials and a review of the literature. Short stories have not been included as the scope of the research would have become too extensive and beyond the scope of thesis.
The chapter on Traditional Poetry is categorised into content, form and technique and covers 10,371 poems written in the traditional form listed under 1795 titles found in 38 books. The content section contains poems on various themes and poems in story form. The poems are subdivided into 17 sections covering topics such as Singapore and its History, Community and Devotion. The topic Love and devotion is dealt with in about one quarter of the poems. The poems on Singapore describe its beauty, its external perception and the pride of its people. The poetry on social issues does not wholly reflect Singapore society. The former Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew and G Sarangapany (a community leader who was the founder of the Tamil newspaper, Tamil Murasu) are featured prominently in the poems. The section on form deals with prosody, musical compositions, minor literary genre and sithrakavi or verse composition fitted into figures (such as chariots, mountains, etc.). The poems mostly deal with viruttham (a kind of metre in Tamil prosody) and sinthu-song of melodic type. Mr Ikkuyanam stands out as the only one to compose sithrakavi. The section on technique deals with imagination, similes and humour. Singaporean Tamil poets seem to have used very few techniques. The poems do not give much importance to these techniques.
The chapter on Songs for Children deals with 777 songs with different headings contained in 13 books written by eight poets. The chapter deals with classifications viz., content, form and technique. The songs for children can be divided into those for the very young and for the slightly older. The section on content deals with Singapore - the nation, relationships, sports and 15 other topics. The themes of the songs do not seem to reflect the children's point of view. The poets primarily seem bent on preaching and place the happiness of children last. The section on form deals with rhythm, commands over words and harmony. The songs conform to a certain rhythm; however, the form does not deal with the different stages of childhood. The section on technique covers imagination, simile, contention and graphics. However there seems to be a paucity of techniques that would attract the children.
The chapter on New Poetry looks at 320 new verses contained in nine books, which were written by 11 poets. The poems are examined under the headings, content, form and technique. The section on content is divided into 12 sub-divisions and contains headings such as Singapore - the nation, politics, society and family. There are very few songs, which contain Singapore as the theme. Elangovan dwells into social issues more than anyone else. He is the only one who has also composed poems on Singaporean politics. The section on form is subdivided into sound, graphic portrayal and usage of words in the local context. Only Elangovan has written lengthy and graphic poems. The section on technique deals with imagery, ambiguity, and obscurity and satire. Again Elangovan has dealt with poems that contain dramatic changes of events and stands out with significant features in the field of new poetry in Singapore.
The chapter on Novels deals with 20 novels written by eight authors. It has different sections such as story line, background, characters, subject matter, community, techniques and style. The section on story line explains the story and its theme. The section on background deals with the place, period and historical and social background. The two novels entitled Alaigal and Vaikaraipookkal have Singapore as their background. The stories Sumaithangi, Alaigal, Thuyarapathai, Inivavalae are set in the 1960-70s. The theme in the story Thuyarapathai discusses the social issues of the Malaysian Indians living in the rubber estates. Aspects of character are discussed in the section on character. Elankannan and K Perumal's characters are well thought out. The younger female characters are portrayed as those who do not pay attention to traditions whilst the older female characters seem to be concerned with traditions. The section on subject matter talks about the gist of the novels while the section on community discusses social issues. The Singaporean society, however, is not featured well in the stories. Techniques are also not well used. Except for A P Shanmugam, all other authors have used a clear and lucid style of writing.
The chapter on Dramas deals with 45 dramas written by 17 dramatists and is divided into dramas in prose form and dramas in poetry form. The section on dramas in prose form deals with the story and theme, and presentation, portrayal of characters and style of language. The dramas in prose form portray Singapore more than any other literary form. The themes seem to reflect the fact that society needs to be reformed or that the society should know of its foibles. The distinctive and self-opinionated A P Shanmugam's dramas lose their importance as they do not have a clear and lucid style. The section on dramas in poetry form deals with theme and dramatic structure, characters, techniques and prosody. Among the four dramas in poetry form, three are connected with the epic Mahabaratha and the other on a social theme.
The conclusion of the thesis and recommendations for future research are given under the heading conclusion. There does not seem to be enough evidence of a distinctive Singaporean Tamilness in the creative literary scene. Creative writers must strive more to do so. There are opportunities for future research to pursue research on short stories, which are featured over the media.
Date Issued
1999
Call Number
PL4758 Siv
Date Submitted
1999