Kissa Tota Myna

[Peter J. Claus]

Each of the folk traditions Ganesan mentions also has its equivalent in
Telugu and Kannada (and no doubt other Indian languages). Again, however,
I don't think there are any translations of the considerable work on these
traditions Indian scholars have done over the past several decades. The
Kuravanji-type traditions (but so, too are the others, from my limited
experience) are amazingly clever and entertaining.  It's a shame they have
never been described in Western languages. It's another example of how our
neglect of folk traditions has hampered our overall research and
understanding of SA traditions.


On Sat, 21 Dec 1996, Ganesan wrote:

> Date: Sat, 21 Dec 1996 14:59:43 GMT
> From: Ganesan <nas_ng at lms420.jsc.nasa.gov>
> Reply-To: indology at liverpool.ac.uk
> To: Members of the list <indology at liverpool.ac.uk>
> Subject: Re: Kissa Tota Myna
> 
>   
>  Tobias asked about MadanakAmarAjan's story. It is available in translation.
>  I don't recall that  it is about which gender is better. But there are 
>  lot more debates in Tamil folk settings.
> 
> eg.,
> 
> thAy makaL Ecal - Mother teasing her daughter(D) about D's new love affair;
> 
> kuRavanji -  quarrels/debates amongst a couple (Singan & Singi)
> 
> paLLu - debates on various themes (like Saiva & Vaishnava - which is 
>          better) between two wives of `paLLan` (agricultural servant)
> 
> No book length studies have appeared in any Western language.
> 
> N. Ganesan
> 
> > Two Tamil folktales : The story of King Matanakama, The story of Peacock 
> > Ravana / translated from the Tamil by Kamil V. Zvelebil.  1st ed.  Delhi :
> > Motilal Banarsidass ; Paris : Unesco, 1987.  lvii, 236 p. ; 23 cm.
> 
>  SUBJECTS:
> >   Folk literature, Tamil--Translations into English.
> >  
> > OTHER NAMES:
> >   Zvelebil, Kamil.
> >  
> > OTHER TITLES:
> >   Matanakamarajankatai. English. 1987.
> >   Mayiliravanan katai. English. 1987.
> >  
>    UNESCO collection of representative works. Indian series
> 
>