Review by Choice Review
Shulman (humanistic studies, Hebrew Univ. of Jerusalem) is a widely respected Indologist, author and editor of more than 30 books on South Asia, and a frequent contributor to the New York Review of Books. In this study, he offers a comprehensive examination of the history and culture of Tamil, a language spoken by more than 80 million people. Shulman refers to his book as a biography of Tamil, especially its grammar and poetry, because he considers the language a living being: it is constantly changing--in terms of the ways it is used and spoken--and it is a means of knowing how to love and be civilized. Shulman criticizes the thesis surrounding the de-Sanskritization in Tamil, and he argues instead for a deep interpenetration of Sanskrit and Tamil throughout their co-existing histories. He writes of the inseparable bond between the inner domains of Tamil--the passionate feeling and the inscape screen or filter--and its outer impact and reflections. He concludes with an examination of changes in Tamil in relationship to a changing cultural ecology that is at once political, geographic, and ideological. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. --Bahram Tavakolian, Denison University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
