TEMA-TEMA POPULAR DALAM ANTOLOGI CERPEN TAMIL ‘PERAVAI KATHAIKAL’

This paper seeks to illustrate popular themes found in the Tamil short story anthology Peravai Kathaikal from the Tamil Language Society, University of Malaya written by local Tamil authors in Malaysia. These authors’ content is largely based on their own life experiences and their knowledge of the struggles of Malaysian Indians of the past. Across this broad range of writing styles, one striking commonality among these authors was the allusion made to the closely intertwined relationship between Malaysian Indians and the life in rural plantations. These authors also broached themes of love and marriage, poverty, education, sexual promiscuity and parent sacrifices in their literary work. As such, this allows for the study of the dynamics of Indian society as well as the background of its people. The research method adopted in this paper involved both mimetic theory, to mirror the external surroundings of the characters, and expressive theory to shed light on their internal musings, thoughts and emotions alike. Hence, this paper fundamentally addresses the themes discussed within this anthology of Tamil short stories via the depiction of the flow of thought and the circumstances of the Indian community in Malaysia from 1980 to 2000.