LESSON - 4

p20344 Prose - An Introduction

This lesson offers a brief introduction to Tamil prose. It
traces the origin and history of Tamil prose. It is generally
believed that prose grew from poetry. Although Poetry has the
distinction of being the most ancient literary form, prose has
gained enormous importance in today’s world. Prose and poetry
are diagonally opposite literary forms. Many of the ancient
texts were written in poetic form. As these were unintelligible
to the layman, the tradition of writing ‘commentaries’ or ‘urai’
to these texts came into practice. The origin of prose can be
traced to these commentaries. There are different types of
prose. They are expository, descriptive, illustrative,
argumentative, dramatic and analytic.

In Tamil the earliest references to prose or ‘urai’ date back
to the ancient grammar text ‘Tholkappiam’. The post sangam
epic ‘Silapathigaaram’ also makes a mention of the term ‘urai’.
From these we learn that poetry was not the only literary
form in those days. ‘Irayanaar Kalaviyal Urai’ published in the
7th or 8th century occupies a special place in the history of
Tamil prose. This text along with ‘Baratha Venba’ gave a
definite identity to Tamil prose. The period between the 10th
and the 17th centuries is regarded as the Age of
Commentators or ‘Uraiaasiriyars’. These commentators
endeavoured to simplify ancient literary texts in order to
make them accessible to the common man. Their efforts led
to the growth of prose as an important and indispensable
form. Their commentaries on ancient texts bequeathed a
literary status to prose. Stone inscriptions during the Pallava
period were largely written in prose. The impact of other
languages on Tamil gave rise to a new prose style called
‘Manipiravala Nadai’. This style is characterized by the use
of words borrowed from other languages.

The beginning of the 20th century witnessed a significant
growth in Tamil prose. The impact of western education, the
influence of European literature and the advent of printing led
to a great renaissance in Tamil prose. Today Tamil prose is
classified into its written and spoken forms.