From: sundar@indigo1.hsis.uci.edu (M. Sundaramoorthy)
Subject: A proposal for "Literature Society"
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil
Organization: University of California, Irvine
Date: 15 Sep 92 15:32:47 GMT

Dear Friends,

   	 Included in the charter for this newsgroup :

   	 IV . Tamil Literature Society.
         -------------------------------
     	 *  Translation of Tamil novels ,short stories and poem in English.
       	    (Contemporary literature) 1950 - present
    	 *  Translation of Tamil literature of 19 th century and early 20
            th Century. 1800- 1950
         *  Translation of Ancient Tamil Literature. 300 B.C to 1800 A.D.

	Though there were a number of postings of translations of short stories,
poems and some other literature related items since the inception of SCT,
the proportion seems to be less. Even those postings seem to get little
attention and this is particularly true when some 'hot' topics are discussed. 

	I make this formal proposal to form a "Tamil Literature Society" 
covering the first part and a part of the second of the above. That is a 
forum  within SCT to discuss 20th Century literature with the following 
objectives. 

	(1). Original works by the netters - like poetry, short stories etc.
	(2). Translations of poetry, short stories etc. by Tamil authors.
	(3). Reviews of Tamil novels, short story and poetry collections.
	(4). Critical essays - originals by netters and translations.
	(5). Perspectives on Modern Tamil Literature -  history, style, trend 
             etc.
	(6). Discussion on related subjects like theatre and other art forms.
	(7). News clips on literary meetings, awards etc. 
	(8). Interviews with writers and artists - conducted by the netters
             or taken from magazines.

	This is an attempt to popularise the modern Tamil literature and
bring out the literary talents of many netters. As such the SCT seems to
do very little in this direction and even few individuals' efforts seem to
go in vain. I believe an organised attempt will be more fruitful.

	A small editorial committee may be formed to collect the 
articles from the netters. The collected articles will be edited to present
them in a magazine format periodically( say, monthly, depending upon the 
response).
 
	This magazine may contain two sections, as far as language is
concerned: (1). Tamil for original (Tamil) articles and (2). English for 
translations and others. For time being, the Tamil articles will be in 
standard transliteration scheme. Eventully, we will try to switch over
to PostScript language with Tamil fonts.
	
	A discussion on this proposal will be very helpful to give a better
shape to the proposed society. Suggestions/criticisms of any form 
will be highly appreciated. Feel free to add to or change the 'objectives' of
the proposal and comment.

	Suggestions and helps from the experts to incorporate PostScript 
language with Tamil fonts are most welcome.
 
	I would like this discussion to go on for two weeks and I will summarise
the response from the netters. If the public opinion is favourable, I will
post a final draft of the proposal, based on this and the follow-up articles 
from the netters.

	The summary and the final proposal, if favoured, will be posted 
around October 1, 1992.

	I hope this proposal is within the scope of the SCT and doesn't
violate its charter in any manner.

M. Sundaramoorthy
sundar@indigo1.hsis.uci.edu
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil