000 | a | ||
---|---|---|---|
999 |
_c31989 _d31989 |
||
008 | 230419b xxu||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d | ||
020 | _a9788178246604 | ||
082 |
_a039.94811 _bVEN |
||
100 | _aVenkaṭachalapathy, A. R. | ||
245 | _aBrief history of a very big book : the making of the Tamil encyclopaedia | ||
260 |
_bPermanent Black in association with Ashoka University, _aRanikhet : _c2022 |
||
300 |
_axvii, 149 p. ; _bill., (b & w), _c21 cm |
||
365 |
_b595.00 _cINR _d01 |
||
504 | _aIncludes bibliographical references and index. | ||
520 | _aIn the age of Wikipedia, it has been forgotten how important the Encyclopaedia Britannica once was in the mind of the English-reading Indian. Seen as the supreme repository of knowledge, it was also a status symbol sought as bookshelf adornment. What most people do not know at all is how an intrepid band of Tamil intellectuals, inspired seventy-five years ago by the Britannica, decided to create an encyclopaedia in their own language. They felt a linguistic system as advanced as theirs, with a literary history stretching two millennia, needed to showcase its civilisational achievement: it was imperative that Tamil boast its own encyclopaedia. The odds against realising this ideal were impossible. And yet the project of compiling the Kalaikkalanjiyam – the Tamil Encyclopaedia – began and was soon unstoppable. This intriguing episode of Indian intellectual life is as forgotten as its narration here is compelling. Book history comes brilliantly alive in A.R. Venkatachalapathy’s vibrant chronicling – from the conception of an extravagant idea to its execution as a printed work. This story of lofty ideals and financial scandals, bruised egos and ideological conflicts reveals a fascinating world of cultural enterprise, political struggle, and regional nationalism. This is a book for every reader of history. | ||
650 | _aEncyclopedias and dictionaries | ||
650 | _aTamil India History | ||
650 | _aAvinashilingam | ||
650 | _aBrahmin-Non Brahmin conflict | ||
650 | _aChildren's encyclopaedia | ||
650 | _aDravidian movement | ||
650 | _a"Kalki" R. Krishnamurthy | ||
650 | _aLanguage development | ||
650 | _a Meenakshisundaram,T.P. | ||
650 | _aSambasivam Pillai | ||
650 | _aTamil academy | ||
650 | _aKalaikkalanjiyam | ||
942 |
_2ddc _cBK |