² Compare the notion, based on the forgeries of Annius of Viterbo and current in 16th-century France, of the advanced civilization, with its great poets, musicians, and architects, flourishing under the ancient kings of Gaul as early as 3000 b.c. See Gillot, H., La Querelle des anciens et des modernes en France, Paris, 1914, 125–155Google Scholar.

³ Varadarajan, M., “Tamil”, in Indian literature [Short cultural surveys of 12 major Indian languages and literatures], ed. Dr.Nagendra, , Agra, 1959, 13.Google Scholar

⁴ E.g. Pillai, S. Vaiyapuri, History of Tamil language and literature (beginning to 1000 A.D.), Madras, 1956, 22.Google Scholar

⁵ There are numerous English translations. The best-known is Pope's, G. U.: The “sacred” Kurral of Tiruvaḷḷuva-nâyanâr, 1886.Google Scholar

⁶ Pillai, M. S. Purnalingam, Tamil literature (Revised edition), Munnirpallam, 1930.Google Scholar

⁷ See Besse, L., S.J., , Father Beschi of the Society of Jesus: his times and writings, Trichinopoly, 1918.Google Scholar

⁸ Tēmpāvaṇi. An abridged edition was published very recently: Beschi, C. G. E., Tēmpavāṇi curukkam, edited with commentary by Anthony, V. Mariya, Tuticorin, 1960.Google Scholar

⁹ Caldwell, Robert, A comparative grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian family of languages, 3rd ed., University of Madras, 1956 (Revised centenary edition).Google Scholar

¹⁰ See Hooper, J. S. M., The Bible in India, Oxford U.P., 1938, 46–55Google Scholar. A modest amount of printing in Tamil was done before this date, even as early as 1578: see Nayagam, Xavier S. Thani, “The first books printed in Tamil”, Tamil Culture, VII, 3, Madras, 07, 1958, 288–308.Google Scholar

¹¹ It is worthy of note that more than one publisher expressed the hope at the beginning of a novel that the work would be found suitable as a set text for an examination (as a number indeed were). See e.g. the introduction to Piḷḷai, T. M. Poṉṉucāmi, Vijayacuntaram, Madras, 1910, 10.Google Scholar

¹² Cilappatikāram, mentioned above, p. 14, is a rare exception in that with the verse are mingled passages of rhetorical prose.

¹³ Paramārtta kuruviṉ katai (“The story of the Guru Paramartta”). English (by B. G. Babington), French, and German versions were published during the 19th century. The Tamil text, based on a MS in Beschi's own hand in the library of the British Museum, was recently republished by Dr. Rama Subbiah, with a brief introduction on Beschi's orthography. See Tamil Oli: Journal of the Tamil Language Society, University of Malaya, No. 5, 1965–1966, 105–127.Google Scholar

¹⁴ There is a valuable list in Murdoch, John, Classified catalogue of Tamil printed books, Madras, 1865.Google Scholar

¹⁵ Moodelair, T. Vytheanatha (Vaityanāta Mutaliyār), The Looking-glass for the mind; … stories … from … L'Aim [sic] des Enfans. With analysis & close translation in Tamil, Madras, 1838Google Scholar. It appears to have been popular in other parts of India. See Raeside, I. M. P., “Early prose fiction in Marathi, 1828–1885”, JAS, XXVII, 4, 1968, 793–794.Google Scholar

¹⁶ Piratāpa Mutaliyār carittiram. The English title is that given by the author. A difficulty arises with the transcription of Tamil into roman, in that an exact transliteration is often a poor guide to the pronunciation. When books have an English title (as most of the early novels do), this title will be used in the body of the paper, and a transliteration of the Tamil title will be given in a footnote. A similar compromise will be adopted with the names of authors. Thus a transliteration of the name of this government official turned novelist would be Vētanāyakam Piḷḷai.

¹⁷ Seshaiyangar, D. V. (Cēṣaiyaṅkār), Athiyuravadhani, or the Self-made man. An original Tamil novel, delineating pictures modern Hindu life, Madras, 1875Google Scholar. (Ātiyūr avatāṉi caritam.)

¹⁸ For a rather more detailed account of his life and his other writings see Morais, Francis, “Vedanayagam Pillai”, Tamil Culture, Madras, X, 2, 04–06 1963, 30–41.Google Scholar

¹⁹ The purpose of this section is explained in the Preface: “By a fortuitous combination of circumstances over which she has no control, Gnanambal rises to sovereign power in the disguise of a man, and administers the Government with great wisdom and ability. She is raised to the highest pinnacle of human greatness, with a view to meet the taste of the Hindu readers, who are very fond of kings and queens.”

²⁰ Piratāpa Mutaliyār, 160–1. (Reference will be made to the 1952 edition published in Madras by the South India Saiva Siddhanta Works Publishing Society.)

²¹ Ibid., 77–8.

²² An interesting study of those current in various parts of Great Britain is contained in Iona, and Opie, Peter, The lore and language of schoolchildren, Oxford, 1959.Google Scholar

²³ Piratāpa Mutaliyār, 10.

²⁴ Cukaṇacuntari carittiram, Madras, 1887.Google Scholar

²⁵ He was also the main contributor, using a large number of pseudonyms. The bulk of these writings were reproduced in book form as Rambles in Vedanta, Madras, 1905Google Scholar. This contains a brief sketch of his life (pp. xxxii–xxxix). The only biography appears to be Kastūriraṅka Ayyar, A. S., Rājam Ayyar caritai, Madras, 1909.Google Scholar

²⁶ True greatness, or Vasudeva Sastri (in Rambles in Vedanta, 617–734).

²⁷ Ayyar, B. R. Irājam, Āpattukkiṭamāṉa apavātam, allatu Kamalāmpāḷ carittiram, 7th ed., ed. Iyer, C. V. Swaminatha, Madras, 1947Google Scholar. The first reprint in book form came out in 1896.

²⁸ A free translation. The Tamil has, “If he began to sing yamakam and tiripu”. Yamakam is “Repetition, in a stanza, with changes of meaning sometimes effected by changes in the division of words”. Tiripu is a “Stanza whose initial letters excepting the first are identical in each line” (Tamil lexicon, University of Madras, 1924–1939).Google Scholar

²⁹ Kamalāmpāl, 48–9.

³⁰ There is a wide difference, as regards the phonetic and grammatical structure, between “spoken” Tamil (as used in conversation) and “written” Tamil (which is also the standard style for public speaking and broadcasting), and it is difficult to give an accurate representation of the colloquial in terms of the Tamil script. A number of writers have attempted it (e.g. P. Sambanda Mudaliyar in his farce Sabapathy and other plays), but most still give up the task as hopeless—just as Shaw did the representation of Cockney in Pygmalion.

³¹ Kamalāmpāl, 1947, 309.

³² A. Mātavaiyā (1874–1926).

³³ Preface to Patmāvati carittiram, oru tamil nūṭṭuk katai (Padmavati charitram. A story of the Tamil country), 2 vols., Palghat, 1898–1900. (7th ed., Madras, 1958Google Scholar.)

³⁴ Thillai Govindan: a posthumous autobiography, London, 1903Google Scholar. Using the pen-name “Kusika”, Madhaviah also wrote a number of short stories in English with a reformist bias. Collections appeared in book form in Madras in 1916 and 1924.

³⁵ Vijayamārttāṇṭam, 2nd ed., Madras, 1922Google Scholar. (1st ed. 1902?)

³⁶ Muttumīṉakṣi, oru pirāmaṇappeṇ cuvacaritai, Madras, 1903.Google Scholar

³⁷ Muthumeenakshi. The autobiography of a Brahmin girl, Madras, 1915, 3–4Google Scholar. First published in the Social Reform Advocate. A Telugu version appeared soon afterwards, first in the Hindu Sundari in the course of 1915 and then in book form (Kākināḍa, 1916).

³⁸ Muthumeenakshi, 104–6.

³⁹ “Savitri. An autobiographical sketch (Cāvittiri carittiram)”, Viveka Chintamani, Madras, I, Nos. 2–7, 07–11. 1892.Google Scholar

⁴⁰ Patmāvati, Madras, 1958, 42.Google Scholar

⁴¹ “Cāvittiri”, Viveka Chintamani, I, No. 2, p. 54.Google Scholar

⁴² The plots of many South Indian novels are still woven round this question of woman's place in society. In the neighbouring Malabar (now Kerala) it was the theme of the first significant novel to be written in Malayalam, Menon's, O. ChanduIndulēkha (1889. English tr. by Dumergue, W., Madras, 1890).Google Scholar

⁴³ C. M. Naṭēca Cāstiri (1859–1906).

⁴⁴ Tiṉatayāḷu, 2nd ed.Madras, 1902Google Scholar. Introduction. The pun inherent in the word appealed to Vētanāyakam Piḷḷai too; “I crave the indulgence of the public for any shortcomings I might have been guilty of in a novel attempt of this kind” (Preface to 1st ed. of Piratāpa Mutaliyār).

⁴⁵ The second edition of Tiṉatayāḷu and the first editions of five others came out in the space of two years. Kōmalam kumariyāṉatu, Madras, 1902Google Scholar; Tikkaṟṟa iru kulantaikaḷ (The two orphans), 1902; Matikeṭṭa maṉaivi (A wife condoned), 1903; Śri māmi koluvirukkai (The mother-in-law in council), 1903; Talaiyaṇai mantirōpatēcam, 1903.

⁴⁶ First published 1903; 3rd ed., 1907. English title: Curtain lectures.

⁴⁷ Tāṉavaṉ eṉra pōlīsnipuṇan kaṇṭupiṭitta atputa kuṟṟaṅkaḷ, Madras, 1894; 2nd ed., 1914.Google Scholar

⁴⁸ There are at least six: Kamalākṣi, Madras, 1903Google Scholar; Vijacuntaram, Madras, 1910Google Scholar; Ñāṉacampantam, 1913; Ñāṉāmpikai, 1913; Ñāṉappirakācam, 1920; Civañāṉam, 1920.

⁴⁹ Rajam Aiyar, Madhaviah, and Natesa Sastri had all made occasional use of this way of presenting dialogue, in order to surmount the difficulty caused by the fact that the normal position of a verb of saying in Tamil is after what is said; but they used it sparingly.

⁵⁰ Kamalākṣi, 2nd ed., Madras, 1910, 7.Google Scholar

⁵¹ Ibid., 11.

⁵² By way of exception the plot of Ñāṉāmpikai is relatively simple.

⁵³ Most of the novels of Reynolds (1814–1879), a prolific writer, were first published in the 1840's and 1850's. A number of translations into Tamil have appeared over the last 70 years, including one adaptation by N. Nacciyappan in 1959. A translation of Leila into Malayalam by C. Mādhavan Piḷḷa was published in 1960. It is not easy for the modern English reader to understand why anyone should still want to read his works in any language.

⁵⁴ Thillai Govindan, 16.

⁵⁵ R. Kriṣṇamūrtti (1899–1954).

⁵⁶ For a discussion of the reasons for a similar “fallow period” in the history of the English novel, see Allen, Walter, The English novel, Penguin Books, 1958, 80–81Google Scholar. Cf. also Watt, Ian, The rise of the novel, Penguin Books, 1963, 302.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ See his article “The Tamil novel: symptoms of a stalemate”, Quest, Bombay, III, 1, 08–09 1957, 33–37Google Scholar. Since the first draft of the present paper was written, K. N. Subramanyam has also published a short study of “The first three novels in the Tamil language” (Prathapa Mudaliar, Kamalambal, and Padmavati charitram). See Quest, 30, 1961, 29–32.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Some of the tendencies in the writing of those successfully continuing this work of consolidation since Indian independence are discussed in an account of the novels of Professor M. Varadarajan, justifiably admired both as a scholar and a writer. See Nayagam, Xavier S. Thani, “The novelist of the city of Madras”, Tamil Culture, Madras, X, 2, 04–06 1963, 1–18.Google Scholar