CHENNAI: A day after writer and researcher Perumal Murugan was conferred with TNIE’s Ramnath Goenka Sahithya Samman for Literary Excellence Award at the Odisha Literary Festival, the auteur has been commended by writers and intellectuals for his contribution to Indian literature.
With ground-breaking works like One Part Woman, Pyre, and Resolve, among others, breaking the glass ceiling has always been Murugan’s style. As his long-time friend and professor G Palani testifies, “I was privy to his works right from his days as a researcher. His writings always had a social perspective. He shattered the myth that fictional writers always romanticise their work. He explored the areas that were considered undesirable due to being classified as customs and brought them into the mainstream.”
Senior Journalist Kavitha Muralidharan, who recently translated short stories of Murugan into English calls him ‘a strong writer of Kongu literature’, whose strength lies in ‘understanding social intricacies and presenting them in a simple, yet subtle way.’ “Murugan’s works are regional yet universal in appeal because of the myriad emotions they carry. Even through fiction, he reflects the negative and positive aspects of society.”
According to writer and professor Stalin Rajangam, Murugan’s diversion from research to fiction writing is what makes him an exception in Tamil academia, Rajangam said. “He is one of the few who has succeeded in both,” he adds.
“He is a realistic writer who has brought relationships and irony of the communities to the fore. Apart from literature and fictional writing, he is an important researcher, who has worked extensively on topics that were once considered taboo. His book ‘Ketta Vaarththai Pesuvom’ (roughly translated as “Let’s Speak Bad Words”), which talks about the usage of slurs in literature, is an illustrative example,” he adds.
For the man of the hour, however, it is the translation of regional works that truly holds the key to recognition. “This award is a testament to the fact that if the works of Tamil writers are properly translated, it can get global recognition. This is just the beginning,” he tells TNIE.