The term Malayalam literature refers to Literature written in Malayalam language. Malayalam is the language spoken by around 35 million people, mainly the inhabitants of the state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep Islands in India. Malayalam is a Dravidian language and thus has close association with the other Dravidian languages, especially Tamil. Historically, Kerala had been receptive to foreign influence and this has had effect on the Malayalam literature also, which has evolved over time.
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Early literaure
Even up to 500 years since the start of the Malayalam calendar, the Malayalam literature remained in preliminary stage. During this time, Malayalam literature consisted mainly of various genres of songs. The most prominet among them were songs praising the Goddesses of the land, ballads of brave warriors, songs related to the work of a particular caste and those which were used for entertainment. Bhardakali pattu, thottam pattu, mavaratham pattu, sasthanga pattu, nizhalkoothu pattu, sarpa pattu, sastham pattu, thiyyattu pattu, pulluvar pattu, mannar pattu, panar pattu, krishi pattu, thamburan pattu, pada pattu, villadichan pattu, onappttu, kummi and lullaby were some of the major subgenres. All these names were not used historically, but are used in modern times to describe the song genres of at that time.
Ramacharitham
Ramacharitham is a collection of poems written at the end of preliminary stage in Malayalam literaure's evolution. It is the oldest Malayalam book available. The collection has 1814 poems in it. Ramachritham mainly consists of sories from Yuddha Kanda of Ramayana. It is written by a poet named Cheeramakavi, who according to poet Ulloor S. Parameshwaya Aiyer was a Sree Veerarama Varman, a king of Travancore from AD 1195 to 1208.[1] Some other experts like Dr. K.M. George and P.V. Krishnan Nair claim that the origin of the book is in north Kerala citing the use of certain words in the book and also the fact that the manuscipt of the book was actually recovered from Neeleshwaram in north Kerala.[2] Some experts consider it as a Tamil literary piece. According to A. R. Rajaraja Varma who heavily contributed in the development of Malayalam grammar, is of the opinion that Malayalam originated from ancient Tamil. Ramacharitham is considered as a book written during the forming years of Malayalam. According to Rev. Dr. Hermann Gundert who compiled the first dictionary in Malayalam language, Ramacharitham shows the ancient of Malayalam language.[3]
Notable Malayalam writers
The field of Malayalam writers include the following people, from various disciplines and periods.
Art criticism
- Guru Māni Mādhava Chākyār, author of the Nātyakalpadrumam theatrical study
Poetry
- Manipravalam
- Champukkal
- Niranam poets
- Cherusseri Namboothiri
- Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan
- Arnos Paathiri (1681-1732)
- Unnayi Warrier
- Kunchan Nambiar (1705-1770)
- Irayimman Thampi
- Kerala Varma Valiya Koyithampuran
- Kattakayam Cherian Mappillai (1859-1936)
- K. C. Kesava Pillai (1868-1914)
- Kumaran Asan (1873-1924)
- Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer (1877-1949)
- Vallathol Narayana Menon (1878-1958)
Modern Romantics
- Edappalli Raghavan Pillai (1909-1936)
- Changampuzha Krishna Pillai (1911-1948)
- Balamani Amma
- Vennikkulam Gopala Kurup
- Pala Narayanan Nair
- M.P.Appan
- Bodheswaran
Other modern poets
- G. Sankara Kurup (1900-1978)
- Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon (1911-1985)
- Edasseri Govindan Nair
- N. V. Krishna Warrier
- Thirunalloor Karunakaran
- Vayalar Ramavarma
- O. N. V. Kurup
- Punaloor Balan
- Olappamanna Subramanian Namboothirippad
- Sugathakumari
- K. Ayyappa Panicker
- Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan
- Attoor Ravi Varma
- Satchidanandan
- Lalitha Lenin
- Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri
- D. Vinayachandran
- Balachandran Chullikkadu
- A. Ayyappan
- Nellikkal Muraleedharan
- V Madhusoodanan Nair
Post-modern poets
- Satyan Madakkara
- Anvar Ali
- Anitha Thampi
- A. C. Sreehari
- Manoj Kuroor
- Mohanakrishnan Kaladi
- M.S. Banesh
- P. Raman
- P. P. Ramachandran
- S. Joseph
- T. P. Rajeevan
- V. M. Girija
- Kavitha Balakrishnan
- Vinukrishnan
- Kattakada Murugan
- Abraham
Fiction
Nineteenth century
- O. Chandhu Menon (1847-1900)
- C. V. Raman Pillai (1858-1922)
- Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar
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Arabic literature |
Modern
- Karur Neelakanta Pillai (1898-1974)
- P. Kesava Dev (1904-1983)
- Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (1908-1994)
- Ponkunnam Varkey (1908-2004)
- S. K. Pottekkatt (1913-1982)
- Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (1914 -1999)
- Uroob (1915-1979)
- Lalithambika Antharjanam (1909-1987)
- Malayatoor Ramakrishnan (1927-1997)
- K. Saraswathi Amma (1919-1974)
- P. K. Balakrishnan (1926-1991)
- V. K. N. (1932-2004)
- O. V. Vijayan (1930-2005)
- Parappurath(K.E.Mathai)
- Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair
- Pattathuvila Karunakaran
- M. Mukundan
- P. Padmarajan (1945-1991)
- Zacharia
- M. T. Vasudevan Nair
- T. Padmanabhan
- Madhavikkutti (Kamala Das)
- Anand
- N. S. Madhavan
- N. P. Mohammed
- Kovilan
- M. P. Narayana Pillai
- George Onakkur
- E. Harikumar
- C. Radhakrishnan
Post-modern fiction
Children's literature
Literary criticism
- Joseph Mundasseri (1901–1977)
- Kesari Balakrishna Pillai (1889–1960)
- Kuttikrishna Marar (1900–1973)
- M. P. Paul (1904–1952)
- K.Damodaran
- S. Guptan Nair
- M. Krishnan Nair
- M. N. Vijayan
- K. M. Daniel
- K. Raghavan Pillai
- Sukumar Azhikode
- K. P. Appan
- Narendra Prasad
- K. Gopalakrishnan
- V. C. Sreejan
- Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar
Translation
Others
See also
References
- ^ S. Parameshwara Aiyer, Ulloor (1990), Kerala Sahithya Chrithram (History of literature of Kerala), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: University of Kerala
- ^ Leelavathi, Dr. M., Malayala Kavitha Sahithya Chrithram (History of Malayalam poetry)
- ^ Gundert, Rev. Dr. Hermann (1868)), Malayalabhasha Vyakaranam (Grammar of Malayalam language
External links
- http://www.harithakam.com Harithakam, Malayalam poetry site. Profile of Malayalam poets
- Information on Malayalam Literature at Department of Public Relations, Government of Kerala
- The first Malayalam literature based online web forum
- One Hundred Years of Malayalam Literature: A Brief Survey
- Puzha.com -The First Online Malayalam Literary Magazine
- A List of Malayalam Authors and their works
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References
- ^ S. Parameshwara Aiyer, Ulloor (1990), Kerala Sahithya Chrithram (History of literature of Kerala), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala: University of Kerala
- ^ Leelavathi, Dr. M., Malayala Kavitha Sahithya Chrithram (History of Malayalam poetry)
- ^ Gundert, Rev. Dr. Hermann (1868)), Malayalabhasha Vyakaranam (Grammar of Malayalam language
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