Classical vs. Modern

[N. Ganesan]

Let us hear from K. Zvelebil describing the Classic
nature of Tamil back in 1973 (The Smile of Murugan,
Leiden: E. J. Brill), p.50).

"First of all, the so-called Sangam Tamil poetry is
regarded by the Tamils themselves, by the professional
historiographers and critics, as well as by intellectual
readers, as classical in the same sense in which we regard
some parts of our national literatures as classical.
Second, it has been a finite, "frozen" corpus, a body
of texts which had not been expanded since it ceased to
be part of a live oral tradition. Since those times, it
has become a part of the classical heritage as it were.
Third, it is the expression of a linguistic, prosodic and
stylistic perfection; it is a finished, consummate
and inimitable literary expression of an entire culture,
and of the best in that culture; in this sense,
it is truly a classical product, a classical literature."
                                           - K. Zvelebil

Best regards,
N. Ganesan




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