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Snapshots of Local Tamil Literary scene
• Literary circles organise competitions, events and support authors to publish their works.
• Until recently was dominated by senior writers who are naturalized citizens or by Permanent Residents.( Maalan Narayanan, 2016)
• Lack depth by just describing multi-racial society or places. Deeper understanding of social problems and inter-generational differences is needed.
• In the last three of four years Singapore writers are emerging and receiving recognition such as Golden Point, and finding places in anthologies.( Maalan Narayanan 2016)
• There have been young writers and directors in the theatre scene as youth join theatre groups such as Ravindran Drama Group and Avant.( E. g. Murasu)
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Efforts done to promote cultural creators
• Grants and programs from government agencies such as the National Arts Council
• Golden Point Award,
• Mentor Access Program for literary arts
•‘ Arts Fund’ for staging drama productions.
• Literary events organised by organisations such as the Association of Singapore Tamil Writers( ASTW)
• review writing for books
• events featuring guest speakers and workshops.
• Cultural programmes by University students such as NTU’ s Uthraa and NUS’ s Sangae Muzhangu.
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Reasons for shortage of cultural creators
• Events are not effective in attracting Tamil youths. Hence, less opportunity for them to evolve and be groomed into cultural creators.( Elakeyaa Selvaraji)
• Lack of awareness about these events amongst youths.
• Literary events need to be engineered to cater to specific audiences.( E. g. Events for literary enthusiasts vs general public)
• Lack of trend setters embracing new forms of literature: Mr. Elangovan’ s poetry collection Vizhijanalgalin Pinaalirinthu( 1979) was the first book containing modern poetry. Between 1965-99 out of 71 poetry collections only 7 were of modern genre.( Maalan Narayanan 2016).
• Very conservative approach and hesitancy amongst writers to experiment with new forms.
• Very few writers authentically project the voices of Singaporeans in their work as they feel there aren’ t many social problems here.
• But Singaporean English writers have been more critical. E. g. Ms. Catherine Lim has criticised the ruling political party’ s agenda on Straits Times( Maalan Narayanan, 2016).
• One of the exceptions is Mr. Elangovan whose plays are highly controversial and his style of writing is raw and unapologetic about discussing social and political issues in Singapore.( E. g. Talaq)
Encouraging Cultural Creators in the Singapore Tamil Literary Arts Scene
Author: Ms Harini V
Background:
• Poem, Short Story, Plays and Novels are considered Literary Arts.
Who are cultural creators?
• Refer to artists that are in the arts scene. They actively exhibit a culture or represent the life of people in their works.
• Cultural creators are also innovators of trends and interests.
• Their visions are sometimes unconventional o Reflects new narratives that have not been represented before and create groundbreaking content.( Cruz, 2010) o E. g. Tamil rappers creating a trend of infusing largely western hip hop music into Tamil mainstream music. o E. g. Literature that reflects political and social issues having a very original style or voice
The importance of the literary arts in promoting Tamil:
• Platform for Tamil speakers to be actively exposed and involved in Tamil after leaving school and joining the workforce.
• Constant exposure to Tamil local literature deepens our identity and understanding of being a Singaporean Tamil.
• Encourages readers to engage with Tamil intellectually.
• Improves general literacy and appreciation of Tamil amongst readers
• As such, the arts not only promote Tamil culture but by being engaged in the arts, one can understand his / her culture at a deeper level
How important is it for the society today to encourage cultural creators amongst youth?
• We as members of a multi-cultural and multi-lingual society have a responsibility to contribute to the vibrancy of the nation. Many experts believe that there is a worrying trend of youth losing interest in the arts scene.
• In order to have a local Tamil arts scene that is vibrant and original it is extremely important to cultivate an environment that nurtures artistes that are authentic and innovative.
• Appreciation and involvements in the arts � deepens bond with the Tamil language
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Reasons for shortage of cultural creators
• We need to hone Singaporean writers who have a distinct style from the Tamil Nadu counterparts to address what it means to be a Singaporean Tamil and the complexities of that identity.
• Mentor programs should be of two kinds: 1) Beginners to improve their exposure writing skills 2) Advance writers to toy with different forms( Maalan Narayanan, 2016)
• People are taught to respect and elevate traditional Tamil art forms. They should also be told to enjoy and relate to it on a personal level.
• There must be initiatives that 1) engage critically with literary elites 2) engage with emerging literary enthusiasts and the masses by being relatable and enjoyable.
• E. g. More casual events like Spoken word poetry events and initiatives like SingPoWriMo are well received by the youth