- The Divine Kura Tribe Kuravanci
and other Prabandhams
M. Muilwijk
1996 xvi, 288 pp. Paper: 90 6980 082 9
Series: Gonda Indological Studies, IV
Distributed in North
America by John Benjamins North America
US/Canada only: Price: $72.00
~ Contact:
[email protected]
Rest of the world contact: Egbert Forsten,
Publisher
PO Box 6148, 9702 HC Groningen, The Netherlands
Poetry and music have always been important parts of Tamil literature and
from early times, Tamil poetry has been sung. It is not surprising,
therefore, to find a number of operatic genres in Tamil literature.
One of these is 'kuravanci,' which was especially popular in the
seventeenth to nineteenth century. In kuravanci, poetry and music are
combined with dance to form highly entertaining works, in which serious
parts are interspersed with humorous ones. This study deals with this
fascinating opera-form. It gives an account of the stories told in these
operas and of the various embellishments used in telling them. There is a
large section on the poetical and musical forms used, explaining their
construction and analyzing their use. Several examples of verses and songs
are included. About two dozen kuravanci-works are discussed and a comparison
is made between kuravanci and genres dealing with related themes. As may be
expected, there has been much mutual influence.
Finally, there is a section on the large group of genres called
'prabandhams', of which kuravanci is one. These prabandhams form a varied
group, ranging from very short to very long works and from purely
descriptive to epic and operatic ones.
For further information please e-mail
Bernadette Keck:
[email protected]
