Negotiations with the Past: Classical Tamil in Contemporary Tamil

Seminar Jointly Organized by the Indology Department, French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) and Tamil Chair, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies (SSEAS), University of California, Berkeley

Every culture has its own way of dealing with the past. Tamil is at a crucial juncture where it is evolving and adapting itself to the contemporary period (Tamil diaspora, Tamil on the net, Tamil on open source platform, etc.). At the same time, it is still discovering and exploring its classical and folk past. (Officially, Tamil is still struggling for its classical status within India). This seminar tries to bring in experts from different fields to show how contemporary Tamil relates to classical Tamil. Through the dialogues of the experts, the seminar will explore the continuities and discontinuities perceived in the relationship between contemporary and classical Tamil. The fields, which will be covered are: Archaeology, Epigraphy, Literature, Grammar, Lexicography, Sciences, Music and Performing Arts, and Cinema. Practically, we will have one expert from each field who will be presenting a paper. The interaction between the discussants of the different fields will result in a multi-disciplinary effort.

This seminar will highlight the holistic approach, which the IFP and the Tamil Chair, Department of SSEAS, U.C. Berkeley, has always taken towards Tamil-through their research program on classical Tamil, contemporary Tamil and Historical Geography. This seminar will also pinpoint the future course of research in Tamil.

The seminar will take place on Friday 30th July 2004 in the conference hall of the French Institute of Pondicherry. Eight to ten invited participants will be presenting their papers. The publication of the papers presented with a critical introduction will be considered as the output of the seminar (within 3 to 5 months).

Coordinators: Kannan M., IFP and Carlos Mena, Department of SSEAS, U.C. Berkeley

Contact information: Kannan M., French Institute of Pondicherry, 11 St. Louis street Pondicherry 605001 (Ph: 0413 2334168 ext: 135) kannan.m@ifpindia.org