READING OF THE RAMAYANA IN THE MODERN TAMIL CONTEXT A. GANGATHARAN Every society writes and rewrites its history for the benefit of its people in the light of the existing dominant world view. Literary traditions are defined and re-defined to maintain the social equilibrium. Since literature is the expression of the dominant hegemonic ideology, it undergoes a constant transformation to maintain the cultural hegemony. These literary traditions were largely used to disperse the vibrant social idea: ito society. In course of time these literary narrative traditions were generally redefined and modified to safeguard the existing power relations. They were the representatives of main stream culture.' Epic, a long literary piece, is generally passed on from generation to generation to safeguard certain social beliefs. It commands great respect in society for its cultural heritage and infallible sanctity. Ramayana, the great epic of India has been retold in various forms throughout the historical period to maintain certain cultural norms. It was told in different social locations under the impact of diverse social themes. Pointing out to its plurality Romila Thapar expresses, "The Ramayana does not belong to any one movement in history for it has its own history which lies embedded in many versions which were woven around the theme at different times and places."* Each rendering of Ramayana had its own crystallization to meet certain social requirements. These versions were appropriated by the societies according to their convenience. However, at a point of historical situation, the credibility of these versions were challenged by various social group. An epic is seen as an expression of a certain historical consciousness, even though the events it records may not be historically authenticated. The epic was in its origin, a part of oral meta-narrative tradition, which comes to gain currency as a literary genre at a date subsequent to that to the event described.> The epic as a chronotope, stemmed from certain literary and space time, constitute the social NO. 75 JUNE 200974 JOURNAL OF TAMIL STUDIES discourse of the period. Epic unlike other literary genres, commands a great respect from readers owing to its antiquity, sanctity and simultaneity of time.‘ As an authorial discourse it stemmed from a distant past and creates a mystified relationship between the readers, characters and author. The functions of the epic are manifold. It gives new meaning to religious beliefs and moral code of conduct, codifies cultural behaviour and ritual patterns and determines the social norms and discursive practices. The statement of the epic is part of an ongoing dialogue over time, based on its heteroglossia. The centripetal force of the epic plays a crucial role in homogenizing the society in its cultural configuration.‘ Epic, as a meta-narrative tradition represents the social behaviour and value system of high culture. While incorporating the grand themes like universal ethics, of battle between good and evil, it also emulates on the other hand, subsidiary ethical values relating to human relationships. At a wider level, it functions as a link between classic traditions and local culture - where it facilitates assimilation and inclusion of fresh episodes pertinent to the societal needs.* Epic is high literary genre, well developed in the early period and functions as a record of the absolute past with great national traditions. The absolute past, conclusiveness and closedness were the outstanding features of the epic narrative tradition. Moreover the epic is monochromic, valorized and hierarchical. As a long poem of the past, it lacks relative connectivity with the past. It is completely cut off from all chronic times in which the readers or listeners and the characters are located.” Its impervious nature to change, its impenetrability and its temporal and valorized structure isolates it from all contemporary influences. The epic discourse always enjoys celebrating and portraying the distant past by epitomizing it. As Baktin points out, "The epic incorporation of the contemporary hero into a world of, ancestors and founders is a specific phenomenon that developed out of an epic tradition long since completed and that therefore is as little able to explain the origin of the epic as is, say, the neo-classical ode. Whatever its origins, the epic as it as come down to us is an absolutely completed and finished generic form, whose constitutive feature is the transferal of the world it describes to an absolute past of national beginnings and peak times. The absolute past is a specifically evaluating , (hierarchical) category. In the epic world view, "beginning", "first", "founder", "ancestors", "that which occurred earlier" and so forth are not merely temporal NO. 75 JUNE 2009Reading of the Ramayana in the modern Tamil Context 15 categories but valorized temporal categories and valorized to an extreme degree". The epic world view always intends to give a rosy picture about the past. Anything good or worth preserving has come down to us from the past. Therefore, "the epic absolute past is the single source and the beginning of everything good, for all later times as well".? Thus the epic provides the ideological content for the construction of the cultural hegemony over society. The conflict in the modern period is the construction of the new identity by de-constructing or re- constructing the epic world view. In short, the modern discourse has had a head- on collision with the Hellenistic epic world view.” Ramayana, the long venerated and widely read and respected epic reflects diverse cultural traditions and religious practices. Historically, the interesting aspect of Ramayana is its multiplicity of versions which speaks volumes of people's perception about the role of the king and the citizens in matters of Dharma and justice. Each of the many versions views the social reality in its own cultural perspective and makes particular statements as an ongoing dialogue over time." Some versions contradict others in terms of content and approach. Some of them even subscribe to a diametrically opposed ideology. The function and style of the story in each of the versions is largely determined by heteroglossia or the primacy of literary space-time.'? The relatively similar stories are treated variously in terms of their own functional world view such as ethics, social and political norms, religious and cultural practices. Therefore, they cannot be considered as the sole property of a particular historical time. Even an overview of a single version provides us with a plethora of information about the historical happenings of a particular society. But they themselves do not constitute the kernel of the historical fact unless supported by other reliable sources. The variations and interpolations incorporated into the main-stream meta-narrative serve cultural and religious purposes." Therefore, it becomes necessary to differentiate the cultural idioms from the religious ones. The contradictions and deviations are valuable points to assess and examine the role of the epic as a cultural idiom in creating a particular functional world view in society."* The story of Rama initially was a narrative, preserved and protected against the ravages of time by the power of memory. In the course of time it succumbed to the corpus of interpolations, distortions and exaggerations. The Valmiki Ramayana, in its original form was never a sacred book. It was neither 'Itihasa' nor a treatise NO. 75 JUNE 2009