TVU-p2024MN-E

This lesson describes the contribution of Christian writers to the development of Tamil prose. We are introduced to the novels, short stories and plays of Christian writers. They aided the growth of Tamil prose, through translation, dictionaries, grammar, printing, periodicals etc., This literature focused on Christian principles, social reform and individual’s duties.

The Christians wrote in simple Tamil which could be understood by everyone. They also regularised spoken Tamil into a written form. They adopted a style which was a via media between spoken and literary Tamil. Early Christian Tamil prose was religious. HENRIQUES wrote the first prose work entitled Thambiran Vanakkam in 1578. Robert de Nobili and Joseph Besche also known as Veeramamunivar were other pioneers. Seiganbalgu translated the Bible into Tamil in the 17th century. Bible translations raised two major issues in the 19th century . (1) Using spoken language the (2) mixing Sanskrit words. It was decided to adopt a middle level style between speech and writing. Sanskrit words had also to be avoided. This was a turning point in the history of Tamil Prose.

Christians paved the way for prose fiction in Tamil. Fiction deals with contemporary problems or historical facts. There were a number of writers of this genre. Justice Vedanayagam Pillai wrote Prathaba Mudaliar Charithiram. A women’s intelligence and administrative skills are brought out here. The exploitation of the poor by the rich is beautifully portrayed in the novel Kallaraikal of Isac Arumairajan and Malarum Carukum of D.Selvaraj. David Siddaiah highlights the evils of the caste system. The changing social attitudes are brought out in Hepzibah Jesudasan’s Putham veedu.

Christian writers have left their stamp on short stories as well. The parables in the Bible inspired them. There were three phases here. No. i). Religion (ii) Social hierarchy and individual change and lastly humane love. There are more than 600 short stories. One fifths of these deal with Christian principles and the shortcomings of the church. The major themes are : Qualities like Mercy, love, simplicity; social problems like poverty, caste and enslavement of women.

Christians have played a significant role in Tamil dramatic literature. Most plays are based on the life of Christ. Other plays are related to Biblical characters, saints, and Christian parables. Nalla Samarian by Arputha shows how love alone forms the basis of human relationship.

Tamil Prose, fiction, short stories and Drama owe a lot to Christian writers. They contributed to it in two ways: a) by enriching its content and b) by simplifying the language.