Bound by Grammar: Loan Words, Linguistic Borders, and Vernacular Poetry in the Līlātilakam

Speaker: Dr. Sivan Goren-Arzony, Lecturer, Asian Studies Department, Bar-Ilan University, Israel
Chair: Dr Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director, IIC-International Research Division

The talk will explore the 14th century Līlātilakam, discussing the grammar and poetics of Manipravāḷam from Kerala. The speaker will focus on the ‘theory of semblance’ it offers, advocating the autonomous nature of Kerala’s bhāṣā.

Dr. Sivan Goren-Arzony is a lecturer in the Asian Studies Department at Bar-Ilan University. She specializes in premodern South Asian poetry, particularly Kerala’s Manipravāḷam tradition. She holds a PhD in Comparative Religion from Hebrew University and was a Harvard Society of Fellows member.

Fourteenth in a series of lectures organised by IIC-International Research Division with the support of the Ministry of External Affairs