The Past as an Exponent of the Present in Modern Tamil Literature: Story-(re)-Telling and Telling History in Selected Works of Indira Parthasarathy

Abstract

Indira Parthasarathy is the author of many works that touch upon historical issues but are in fact reflections on contemporary India. Although the narrative of some of them takes place in the past, they cannot be called historical literature. While the author is not really interested in describing the past per se, as is also often the case with other contemporary Tamil writers, clear references to the past and history help him showcase contemporary issues, current problems, and life as it is here and now. The article briefly discusses two plays, whose protagonists are historical figures; a novel based on a contemporary event that has become an integral part of the history of Tamil Nadu; and two other works which came to be written on the basis of writer’s own life experience in Poland and are in a way related to the history of that country.