Extraordinary Child : : Poems from a South Indian Devotional Genre / / Paula Richman.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Asian Studies Archive (pre 2000) eBook Package
• VerfasserIn: Richman, Paula,
• Place / Publishing House: Honolulu : : University of Hawaii Press, , [1997]; ©1997
• Year of Publication: 1997
• Language: English
• Series: SHAPS Library of Translations
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (312 p.)

For hundreds of years Tamil poets have been composing devotional texts in which they adopt the voice of a mother and address praises to an extraordinary child. The poems, called pillaittamil (literally "Tamil for a child"), form a major genre of Tamil literature. Since the twelfth century, when the first known pillaittamil was written in honor of a Chola king, many of these poems have been composed in praise of Murugan and South Indian goddesses, as well as saints and venerated monastic abbots. In recent times pillaittamils have been dedicated to the Prophet Muhammad, the Virgin Mary, and Baby Jesus, as well as notable political figures and moviestars. Extraordinary Child provides a sampler of translations from, and analysis of, seven pillaittamils of particular religious, aesthetic, or political significance.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Illustrations and Tables -- Preface -- I. HOW TO READ A PILLAITTAMIL -- 1. Extraordinary Child -- 2. Asking for the Moon, Taming the Tiger -- II. PILLAITTAMILS FOR READING -- 3. The Florescence -- 4. A Temple and a Pillaittamil -- 5. The Hindu Monastic Milieu -- 6. A Pillaittamil to Muhammad -- 7. One Poet’s Baby Jesus -- 8. Poetry of Cultural Nationalism -- III. REFLECTIONS ON PILLAITTAMILS -- 9. The Fruits of Reading Pillaittamils -- Appendix: Descriptions of Pillaittamils in Texts about Poetics -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index