Primary tabs
-
LESSON - 3
P10213 - Prose of Barathiyar
This lesson discusses the literary merits of Bharathiyar’s prose. Like his poetry, Bharathiyar’s prose also occupies an important place in Tamil literature. Bharathiyar served as the editor of several newspapers such as ‘Vivekabanu’, ‘Sudesamitran’, Chakravarthy’, and ‘India.’ He wrote essays on variety of themes. His essays addressed the socio-political concerns of his time. Written in a simple, straight -forward style, his essays were inspiring and thought-provoking. They are noted for their clarity of thought and style.
The freedom struggle, women’s empowerment, equality, caste prejudices, philosophy, social justice and arts were some of the issues that he wrote passionately about.
Among his prose works, ‘Gnanaratham’ is noteworthy for its unique style and philosophy. This lesson briefly discusses the merits of ‘Gnanaratham.’
Another work that merits attention is ‘Tharasu.’ ‘Tharasu’ explores a plethora of issues ranging from the social, political, and literary to the philosophical. This work testifies to the fact that Barathiyar was a great thinker who was objective and impartial in his approach.
The uniqueness of Bharathiyar’s prose style is also evident in his short stories. ‘Kathai Kothu’ is an important anthology of his short stories. The lesson discusses 2 stories- namely ‘Aaril Oru Pangu’ and ‘Irul’- from this collection. The beauty and vigour of Bharathiyar’s prose style can also be seen in his ‘vasana kavithaigal’ or free verse and his letters. Bharathiyar was skilled at handling a variety of prose forms such as the argumentative, descriptive, narrative, dramatic and satiric. This lesson discusses all of the styles employed by Bharathiyar with suitable examples from his works.