Publications by Sascha Ebeling
in: Annamalai, E. et al. (eds.). Book Culture in Tamil: Essays in Memory of CreA Ramakrishnan. Chennai: Cre-A, 2021. pp. 277–312, 2021
Since the nineteenth century, translation from other literatures and an increasing engagement wit... more Since the nineteenth century, translation from other literatures and an increasing engagement with other world literatures in general have contributed to an important enrichment in the history of modern Tamil literature and have led to the development of new literary genres, new styles and themes as well as an enriched lexicon. The purpose of this essay is to sketch a brief history of Tamil’s interaction with the literatures of the world through translation, proceeding chronologically from the nineteenth century to today.
in: Göttsche, Dirk, Rosa Mucignat and Robert Weninger (eds.). Landscapes of Realism (= Comparative History of Literatures in European Languages, CHLEL), vol. 1, Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 2021. pp. 89–99, 2021
During the second half of the nineteenth century, people across India began to write books they c... more During the second half of the nineteenth century, people across India began to write books they called "novels, " sometimes using traditional terms for 'story' or 'prose narrative' in their respective language, sometimes simply using the English term "novel. " Only recently critics have acknowledged that this 'emergence of the novel' in India was not simply the importation of a Western form or a borrowed genre, but rather a set of complex sociocultural processes that varied signi cantly from one linguistic region and literary tradition to another. is chapter examines the question of realism in the early novels written in Indian languages, i.e., the question of how precisely the earliest Indian novels related to the societies from which they originated.
in: Ganguly, Debjani (ed.). The Cambridge History of World Literature. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021, 2021
This chapter examines the unique case of the emergence of a new world literature (in the sense of... more This chapter examines the unique case of the emergence of a new world literature (in the sense of a literary system operating on a global scale), a case that has so far been absent from the recent project of rethinking world literature in the Anglo-American academy and beyond. This new world literature is what I will call "global Tamil literature." The Tamil language, the oldest member of the Dravidian family of languages historically located primarily in the South of India, is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world whose literary tradition reaches back over two millennia. 1 Until about the last decade of the twentieth century, "Tamil literature" was generally used to refer to literature produced by the Tamil people of India and Sri Lanka, as well as Tamil speakers in Singapore and Malaysia. Today, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, Tamil literature has transcended this earlier geography. When we consider the different places where Tamil literature is produced and circulated today, it becomes clear that we are no longer dealing with a South Indian or even Asian phenomenon.
in: Wilden, Eva and Suganya Anandakichenin (eds.), Colophons, Prefaces, Satellite Stanzas. Paratextual Elements and Their Role in the Transmission of Indian Texts. Hamburg: Department of Indian and Tibetan Studies, Hamburg University, 2020. pp. 139–180, 2020
Ebeling, Sascha and Margherita Trento. “From Jesuit Missionary to Tamil Pulavar: Costanzo Gioseff... more Ebeling, Sascha and Margherita Trento. “From Jesuit Missionary to Tamil Pulavar: Costanzo Gioseffo Beschi (1680-1747), the ‘Great Heroic Sage’.” In L’Inde et l’Italie. Rencontres intellectuelles, politiques et artistiques, Puruṣārtha 35, edited by Tiziana Leucci and Marie Fourcade, 53-90. Paris: Éditions de l'École des hautes études en sciences sociales, 2018.
Jesuit Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi (1680-1747) composed a number of literary works in Tamil that gained wide recognition and are nowadays included in the standard Tamil literary histories. How did Beschi become a canonical Tamil author? In this paper, we follow Beschi’s career from Italy to South India in order to understand Beschi’s journey from being a missionary to also becoming a scholar-cum-poet known in Tamil as pulavar. We believe that Beschi acquired recognition as a poet in two different phases. First, he consciously attempted to become part of the literary ecology of Nāyaka-period Tamil Nadu by composing works that would establish his reputation as a poet, among them his masterpiece, the epic poem Tēmpāvaṇi. The refined language of his works is in itself a testimony of this effort of being recognized as a “traditional” scholarly authority. Second, during the nineteenth century, colonial administrators, missionaries and Tamil Christian intellectuals in South India “rediscovered” Beschi, collected manuscripts of his poems and produced printed editions of most of Beschi’s works.
The essay begins by discussing Beschi’s education in Italy. We then map the stages of his career in South India, showing how he developed his literary portfolio, by writing grammars, dictionaries, and sophisticated prabandhas. We further examine closely some stanzas from the Tēmpāvaṇi to show how he negotiated his double role as a missionary and as a pulavar through language and literature. The final section of the paper focuses on the nineteenth century and the rediscovery of Beschi’s works by British and French colonial administrators and orientalists, discussing in particular the manuscript copies of the Tēmpāvaṇi collected at that time.
in: En. Celvaraja, Ilattin tamik kavitaiyiyal. Oru nulviparapattiyal [Selvarajah, N. Tamil Poetical Works of Sri Lankan Tamils: An Annotated Bibliography], London: Ayothy Library Services, and Colombo: Kumaran Book House, 2018., 2018
The present volume of bibliographical information on Sri Lankan Tamil poetry is yet another preci... more The present volume of bibliographical information on Sri Lankan Tamil poetry is yet another precious gift to readers all over the world interested in Tamil literature from the hands of Mr. N. Selvarajah who has been compiling bibliographies on Sri Lankan Tamil books for over a decade and a half now. His series of bibliographies known as Nool thettam is known and admired all over the world. Where many countries have entire libraries dedicated to the task of documenting a nation's written heritage, such as the American Library of Congress or the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek of Germany, it is due to the untiring work of one man that Sri Lankan Tamil books are documented according to highest international bibliographical standards. How could one possibly thank Mr. Selvarajah for shouldering this Herculean task? Every new volume of Nool thettam is a historical moment, a valuable source of information for future generations, since it is only through volumes such as these that the true contribution of Sri Lankan Tamils to world literature can be gauged. This new volume, published in addition to the Nool thettam series, documents no fewer than 2,258 books of poetry published between 1755 and 2017. Every entry opens up a fascinating view into the literary and cultural history of Tamil and Tamilians in Sri Lanka and also of Sri Lankan Tamilians around the world. By doing so, it reminds us of books that we know and cherish or it alerts us to new questions for historical research. From the perspective of the literary historian, many vi of the books and authors listed here still await further study. We urgently need studies on and biographies of individual authors, overviews of of long-forgotten earlier works and reprints of rare books. In all these endeavours, this bibliography will be our guide. While this is not the place for a detailed history of Sri Lankan Tamil poetry, in what follows I would like to point to a few pivotal authors and historical moments that might help readers understand the importance of the present volume.
In: Cala Murta. Bolletí de la Fundació Rotger-Villalonga 39 (Octubre 2018): 18–21, 2018
In: Kalachuvadu May 2016, 2016
Essay on remembering Mullivaikkal
in: Schalk, Peter (ed.). 2011. The Tamils from the Past to the Present. Celebratory volume in honour of Professor Alvapillai Veluppillai at the occasion of his 75th birthday. Uppsala: Uppsala University, and Colombo: Kumaran Book House, 2011, pp. 57–104, 2011
in: Schalk, Peter et al. (Hg.). 2010. Geschichte und Geschichten. Historiographie und Hagiographie in der asiatischen Religionsgeschichte. (= Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Historia religionum 30). Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet. pp. 433–516, 2010
The famous South-Indian patriot-poet and social reformer Ci. Cuppiramaṇiya Pārati, better known a... more The famous South-Indian patriot-poet and social reformer Ci. Cuppiramaṇiya Pārati, better known as just Bharati (1882-1921), frequently mentions the medieval Tamil saint Nantaṉār in his essays and his poetry. For Bharati, Nantaṉār 4 was a symbol of subaltern 1 I would like to thank all participants of the 2007 AKAR Conference for their enthusiastic discussion and invaluable suggestions. Moreover, I am particularly indebted to E. Annamalai, Oliver Freiberger, Lakshmi Holmström, Meena Kandasamy, Leslie Orr and Uthaya Veluppillai for their careful scrutiny of earlier drafts of this essay and for their advice. I am also grateful to N. Ramaswamy of the École Française d'Extrême-Orient, Pondicherry, for kindly providing me with the photograph included below as Fig. 4.
in: Wilden, Eva (ed.). 2009. Between Preservation and Recreation. Tamil traditions of commentary. Proceedings of a workshop in honour of T.V. Gopal Iyer. Pondichéry: Institut Français de Pondichéry; École Française d’Extrême-Orient. pp. 281–312, 2009
in: Trautmann, Thomas R. (ed.). 2009. The Madras School of Orientalism. Producing Knowledge in Colonial South India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. pp. 233–260, 2009
in: Kindlers Literatur Lexikon, third edition, ed. by Heinz Ludwig Arnold, Stuttgart/Weimar: Verlag J. B. Metzler, 2009. vol. 4. pp. 249–251., 2009
Survey article in literary encyclopedia on a genre of Khmer moral treatises (Cambodia), in German... more Survey article in literary encyclopedia on a genre of Khmer moral treatises (Cambodia), in German; draws on the article by Solange Bernard-Thierry in the 2nd edition.
in: Vedanayagam Pillai, S. 2006. The History of Prathapa Mudaliar. A Tamil Novel. translated by Meenakshi Tyagarajan. New Delhi: Katha. pp. 239–268, 2005
in: Schalk, Peter et al. (Hg.). 2005. Im Dickicht der Gebote. (= Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Historia religionum 26). Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet. pp. 435–461. [Siva, Visnu, Buddha: Some Observations on Religion and State in Cambodia during the Angkor Period (9th – 14th c.), in German], 2005
in: Wilden, Eva (ed.). 2009. Between Preservation and Recreation. Tamil traditions of commentary. Proceedings of a workshop in honour of T.V. Gopal Iyer. Pondichéry: Institut Français de Pondichéry; École Française d’Extrême-Orient. pp. xi–xiv, 2009
Obituary for Pandit T.V. Gopal Iyer
in: Ein kleines Buch voll Liebe. Liebes-Erklärungen aus aller Welt. Stuttgart: Pons Verlag, 2009, 2009
Andri Peer's poem "Prüm disegn" translated from Vallader (Raeto-Romance/Romansh) into German. And... more Andri Peer's poem "Prüm disegn" translated from Vallader (Raeto-Romance/Romansh) into German. Andri Peers Gedicht "Prüm disegn" aus dem Unterengadinischen Rätoromanisch ins Deutsche übersetzt.
in: Ein kleines Buch voll Liebe. Liebes-Erklärungen aus aller Welt. Stuttgart: Pons Verlag, 2009, 2009
Poem "O tobě baseň" by František Branislav translated into German. Ein Gedicht František Branisla... more Poem "O tobě baseň" by František Branislav translated into German. Ein Gedicht František Branislavs in deutscher Übersetzung.
in: Ein kleines Buch voll Liebe. Liebes-Erklärungen aus aller Welt. Stuttgart: Pons Verlag, 2009, 2009
Stanza from the Old Javanese poem Krsnayana translated into German. Ein Vers aus dem altjavanisch... more Stanza from the Old Javanese poem Krsnayana translated into German. Ein Vers aus dem altjavanischen Krsnayana in deutscher Übersetzung.
in: Ein kleines Buch voll Liebe. Liebes-Erklärungen aus aller Welt. Stuttgart: Pons Verlag, 2009, 2009
Ancient Tamil Sangam poem Kuruntokai 41 translated into German. Übersetzung des Gedichts Kuruntok... more Ancient Tamil Sangam poem Kuruntokai 41 translated into German. Übersetzung des Gedichts Kuruntokai 41 aus dem Alttamil ins Deutsche.
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Publications by Sascha Ebeling
Jesuit Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi (1680-1747) composed a number of literary works in Tamil that gained wide recognition and are nowadays included in the standard Tamil literary histories. How did Beschi become a canonical Tamil author? In this paper, we follow Beschi’s career from Italy to South India in order to understand Beschi’s journey from being a missionary to also becoming a scholar-cum-poet known in Tamil as pulavar. We believe that Beschi acquired recognition as a poet in two different phases. First, he consciously attempted to become part of the literary ecology of Nāyaka-period Tamil Nadu by composing works that would establish his reputation as a poet, among them his masterpiece, the epic poem Tēmpāvaṇi. The refined language of his works is in itself a testimony of this effort of being recognized as a “traditional” scholarly authority. Second, during the nineteenth century, colonial administrators, missionaries and Tamil Christian intellectuals in South India “rediscovered” Beschi, collected manuscripts of his poems and produced printed editions of most of Beschi’s works.
The essay begins by discussing Beschi’s education in Italy. We then map the stages of his career in South India, showing how he developed his literary portfolio, by writing grammars, dictionaries, and sophisticated prabandhas. We further examine closely some stanzas from the Tēmpāvaṇi to show how he negotiated his double role as a missionary and as a pulavar through language and literature. The final section of the paper focuses on the nineteenth century and the rediscovery of Beschi’s works by British and French colonial administrators and orientalists, discussing in particular the manuscript copies of the Tēmpāvaṇi collected at that time.
Jesuit Costanzo Giuseppe Beschi (1680-1747) composed a number of literary works in Tamil that gained wide recognition and are nowadays included in the standard Tamil literary histories. How did Beschi become a canonical Tamil author? In this paper, we follow Beschi’s career from Italy to South India in order to understand Beschi’s journey from being a missionary to also becoming a scholar-cum-poet known in Tamil as pulavar. We believe that Beschi acquired recognition as a poet in two different phases. First, he consciously attempted to become part of the literary ecology of Nāyaka-period Tamil Nadu by composing works that would establish his reputation as a poet, among them his masterpiece, the epic poem Tēmpāvaṇi. The refined language of his works is in itself a testimony of this effort of being recognized as a “traditional” scholarly authority. Second, during the nineteenth century, colonial administrators, missionaries and Tamil Christian intellectuals in South India “rediscovered” Beschi, collected manuscripts of his poems and produced printed editions of most of Beschi’s works.
The essay begins by discussing Beschi’s education in Italy. We then map the stages of his career in South India, showing how he developed his literary portfolio, by writing grammars, dictionaries, and sophisticated prabandhas. We further examine closely some stanzas from the Tēmpāvaṇi to show how he negotiated his double role as a missionary and as a pulavar through language and literature. The final section of the paper focuses on the nineteenth century and the rediscovery of Beschi’s works by British and French colonial administrators and orientalists, discussing in particular the manuscript copies of the Tēmpāvaṇi collected at that time.
A true tour de force, this book documents the transformation of one Indian literature, Tamil, under the impact of colonialism and Western modernity. While Tamil is a living language, it is also India’s second oldest classical language next to Sanskrit, and has a literary history that goes back over two thousand years. On the basis of extensive archival research, Sascha Ebeling tackles a host of issues pertinent to Tamil elite literary production and consumption during the nineteenth century. These include the functioning and decline of traditional systems in which poet-scholars were patronized by religious institutions, landowners, and local kings; the anatomy of changes in textual practices, genres, styles, poetics, themes, tastes, and audiences; and the role of literature in the politics of social reform, gender, and incipient nationalism. The work concludes with a discussion of the most striking literary development of the time—the emergence of the Tamil novel.