Post Independence, a compartmentalisation has taken place in Kerala society, largely on casteist and religious lines. This is a fact whether we like it or not. We see people of a particular religion tending to move with their community alone. This trend of compartmentalisation has gained strength since the 1970s, and coalition politics had strong links with it.
The trend, predictably, is reflected in the cultural realm also. But culture needs corridors, interactions, dialogues and discussions to flourish. That is where the problem of compartmentalisation emerges. If you observe closely, you can see the cinema field is very active. Perhaps, a film script commands much more remuneration than, say, a novel. So, the best output tends to be in cinema, not in the print media. The dominance of literature has slowly withered away. Of course, there is Sachidanandan or M Mukundan. But you also miss giants like G Sankara Kurup or Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. Malayalees are getting exposed to much more today. They are travelling more. More travelogues are getting published, which is good. Travel literature is active.But, on a whole, everything is looked at with a professional eye, and everything also has a commercial twist to it.
Historian