Editorship and History Making: On Historicizing Modern Editions of Tiruniḻalmāla

Abstract

In the following essay I am going to comment briefly on the intersection between literary and performative genres that originated in early modern Kerala and to some extent continue till date. More specifically, on their relationship with the rich tradition of representing the past through producing works that follow recognizable patterns of composition and conventions of presentation. This more general consideration shall appear here as a backdrop to a study on contemporary editions of an early Malayalam work named Tiruniḻalmāla. The editions follow the relatively recent discovery of the work in question and its subsequent reinstatement in the history of Malayalam literature. I shall argue that the specific ways this reinstatement was presented by the editors, including a particular place they claimed for this work within the formation processes of Malayalam literature, constitute competing acts of general history writing concerned with the ongoing debate on how should the cultural identity and regional history of Kerala be best represented.