LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:7 July 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Locating the Tradition of Mappila Ramayana in a Context of Cultural Grafting

Kadeeja Dilfa N

According to Albert B Lord, Professor of Harvard University, Text and Context are inseparable and without a sympathetic knowledge of context, the text may be misunderstood. He adds that, it is not sufficient to study performance and contextuality without an understanding of the tradition underlying them (Lord, 468).

This paper is an attempt to locate the performing tradition of Mappila Ramayana prevalent in the Mappila Community of Malabar region in Kerala, in a context of a cultural grafting . Mappila Ramayana is a version of the Ramayana that narrates the story of Ramayana in the Mappila Malayalam language, a version of Malayalam widely used in the Malabar region of Kerala. It is an oral tradition of the region which is also called Muslim Ramayana or Islamic Ramayana and predominantly popularized in the Vadakara region, now included in the Calicut district of Kerala.

I think, the text of Mappila Ramayana is most relevant in a context, where the Mappila Community and tradition are identified as evolved from the reception of two foreign cultures, the Arabic and Islamic (These two are different since Islamic Culture is purely based on the Holy Quran and Hadith, the preaching of Prophet Mohammed while Arabian culture is the culture of the Middle-east before the advent of Islam) by the people of South India, precisely Malabar region. The Mappila Ramayana is always considered as a means of entertainment than a literary piece that deserves serious attention. I think, it is because it was separated from the context. It definitely has an independent existence, but, locating it in the proper context and understanding the underlying tradition will enrich the existing work and thus, contribute to the better understanding of the same. This paper is also an attempt to trace the modes of that reception and the resultant effects on these communities to form a unique Mappila culture.

Mappila Malayalam which is also called Arabi-malayalam is an innovative language which is a Malayalam with Arabic script. It dates back to those ages when Malayalam language lacked a proper script, and was depending on the primitive scripts like ‘vattezhuthu’ and ‘kolezhuthu’ . It has extra letters in the Arabic alphabet to suit the Malayalam sounds.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Kadeeja Dilfa N
M.A. in English Literature
Assistant Professor on Contract
Sullamussalam Arabic College
Areekode 673639, Malappuram Dist., Kerala
kadeejadilfa@gmail.com
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