History of Malayalam Literature

314 Pages·1967·11.106 MB·English

by  Pi. Ke Paramēśvaran Nāyar

History of
Malayalam Literature
P. K. Parameswaran Nair
SAHITYA AKADEMI
NEW DELHI
This is a masterly survey, at once compact *
and comprehensive, scholarly and readable, '<*,
of the origin and development of the language
and literature of the people of Kerala. It
was originally written in Malayalam by P. K.
Parameswaran Nair and was published by
the Sahitya Akademi in 1958 under the title
Malay ala Sahitya Charitram. It has since been
reprinted twice. The present English tran¬
slation has been prepared by E. M. J.
Venniyoor, himself a scholar and writer of
distinction. __
The birth place of the Adi Sankaracharya,
Kerala has been a vital centre of the deve¬
lopment of Indian thought. Perhaps no
other region in India has witnessed such a
dynamic confluence of Dravidian and Sanskrit
traditions, made more dynamic by the over¬
flow of Christian influence from beyond the
seas. No less remarkable is the clash of
current ideologies and the super-abundance
of radical experimentation with thought and
form in the contemporary literary scene.
And yet very little of this old heritage or
present achievement is known to readers
in other Indian languages, particularly of
northern India. It is therefore hoped that v
this volume will help to fill this gap and
will prove of as much interest to the general
reader as to the student of comparative
literature.
This volume is part of a series of Standard
Histories of Indian Literature sponsored by
the Sahitya Akademi to enable readers all
over India to share in common the wealth
and variety of Indian literature written in
any language. For other volumes in the
Series, already published or in press, please
see the back flap.
Cloth bound Rs. IS.00
Paper bound Rs. 12.50
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Printed
201-6503 in USA
t. Joseph, E. M., 1927-
1. Malayalam literature—Hint & crlt
tr. n. Title. 450
S A 67-5449
PL4718.P3413
PL 4SO: I-E-8425
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2020 with funding from
Kahle/Austin Foundation
https://archive.org/details/historyofmalayalOOOOunse
HISTORY OF MALAYALAM LITERATURE

HISTORY OF
MALAYALAM LITERATURE
BY
P. K. PARAMESWARAN NAIR
Translated from the Malayalam by
E. M. J. VENNIYOOR
____
•W
SAHITYA AKADEMI
NEW DELHI
First Published 1967
(C) Sahitya Akademi 1967
SAHITYA AKADEMI
Rabindra Bhavan
35 Ferozeshah Road, New Delhi-1
SAHITYA AKADEMI REGIONAL OFFICE
Rabindra Stadium
Block VB, Calcutta-29
15 Cathedral Gardens Road
Madras-34
Printed by P. K. Ghosh at Eastend Printers,
3 Dr Suresh Sarkar Road, Calcutta-14
PREFACE
I deem it an honour that I have been asked by the Sahitya
Akademi to write this account of Malayalam Literature for
their series of short histories of the important Indian languages.
I must confess, however, that the actual writing of it has
proved a more difficult task than I thought it would
be. It is the need to be concise, and at the same time
comprehensive, that proved particularly challenging. A
history in some greater detail, I feel, could have made for a
smoother, a more spontaneous, piece of narration. It is a
vast subject, the history of Malayalam Literature from its
earliest days up to the present time, and when it has to be
presented in a volume of this size, even the most important
material has got to be condensed drastically. At the same
time, it is necessary to discuss even relatively unimportant
factors which went into its shaping. Every major poet and
author, and all the movements they enriched, have to be
presented in their proper sequence and perspective, and the
social circumstances of the times in which they flourished
interpreted and evaluated in terms of the present-day situation.
Needless to say, to synthesise and coordinate the various
factors has been no easy task, and the author had no models
to go by, either.
However, I have sought to make this work as comprehen¬
sive, within the framework of the series, as possible. It is the
idea of the Sahitya Akademi to bring out, through this series,
the correspondences and similarities among the various re¬
gional languages and the unity that underlies Indian Litera¬
ture as a whole. It is also their idea to translate the work into
other Indian languages. It has therefore become necessary
to conceive this work from a wider perspective and leave out
certain details which may not interest non-Malayali readers.
It has been my idea not to make the work a catalogue of
names. In fact there is no relevance in a work of this kind to
speak of authors whose works have no direct bearing on the
growth of literature. But this choice of names becomes a real
problem when we come to the modern period. While dis-
VI PREFACE
cussing a movement, many names may have to be mentioned,
but it is hardly possible to discuss them all. I can only say that
if some names are left out, the omission is in no way else deli¬
berate. I may also add that if a few well-known works, pub¬
lished since the preparation of the manuscript, have been
left out, that too was inevitable.
I acknowledge with thanks the very considerate assistance
rendered to me by the Malayalam Advisory Board of the
Sahitya Akademi in the preparation of this work. Sardar
K. M. Panikkar, President of the Board, Professor Joseph
Mundasseri, Sri Suranad Kunjan Pillai, Sri G. Sankara
Kurup, Dr. K. Bhaskaran Nair and Sri N. V. Krishnawarier
have all gone through the manuscript and helped me with their
valuable suggestions. The discussions I have had with Sri
Suranad Kunjan Pillai were particularly useful. I am also in¬
debted to Dr. K. M. George, Assistant Secretary of the Sahitya
Akademi. As a linguist and critic, he has been of even greater
help to me than as an official of the Akademi. We have had to
correspond with each other at great length, and his suggestions
have had much to do with giving the work its final shape.
Once again I thank these distinguished men of letters and the
Sahitya Akademi for their very kind help and guidance.
Trivandrum
7-2-1958 P. K. Parameswaran Nair