இரண்டாவது அனைத்துலகத்
திருக்குறள் மாநாடு
SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
THIRUKKURAL AS AN ETHICAL CORPUS OF UNIVERSAL APPEAL
THIRUKKURAL AS AN ETHICAL CORPUS OF UNIVERSAL APPEAL
Theme
ThirukkuRal beyond the
frontiers of Tamil India
venue
Andrew Walls Centre for the Study
of African and Asian Christianity
Liverpool
Hope University
Taggart Avenue
Liverpool L16 9JD
England
Jointly organized by
Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai, India
Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool,
England
International
Tamil Diaspora Association (INTAD), Mauritius
International
Institute of Tamil Culture and Civilization, Illinois, USA
Tamil League and Murugan Foundation, Mauritius
Christhava Tamilkoil, New York, USA.
To our dear Learned Friends,
We have great
pleasure in inviting you to the Second International Conference on Thirukkural to
be held at Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool,
England from 27th
to 29th June 2018.
THE QUINTESSENTIAL TAMIL ANALECTS
Thirukkural, composed
by Thiruvalluvar, some 2,000 years ago, in classical Tamil, has acquired over
the ages the status of scriptural authority as a canon informing the behaviour
of Tamils in their day-to- day interpersonal relations all over the world.
Every Tamil can recite from memory at least few Kural-couplets appropriate to his/her
situation. The Tamils do not dispute the pride of place Thiruvalluvar occupies
in their heart and esteem. Despite his humble origins, Thiruvalluvar reigns
supreme as the foremost poet and philosopher of the Tamils.
Thiruvalluvar’s
epigrammatic sayings relate a person’s social, political and domestic life and duties.
In this regard, it ranks equal to Confucius’ Analects or Seneca’s
Epistulae Morales. Thiruvalluvar
drew his insights on human behavior from the prevailing contexts of his
society. Today it represents the collective consciousness of the Tamil at that
time and, to a great extent, to our present day. Hence, it still occupies among
the didactic literature of the Tamils the most eminent place. It is rightfully
hailed as a universal book of wisdom par
excellence. It continues to offer ethical precepts for the development of
character of all Tamils. Therefore, it transcends claims by a particular religious
group (e.g., Jains, Buddhists, Saivites, Vaishnavites, Christians and the like)
and promotes peaceful co-existence.
THE IDEAL MAN: CĀṈṞŌṈ, JÜNZI,
L’ETRE SUPERIEUR
Scholars have
compared the nature and teachings of Thirukkural with the biblical book on
Proverbs, the ethical corpus of Greek traditions, the rich Confucian gnomic
heritage and the holy texts of Buddhism and Jainism. The Thirukkural is almost
in its entirety secular in nature, and it is not otherwise biased. It is
noteworthy that this monumental legacy of humankind does not name any god or
goddess. Nevertheless, its author Thiruvalluvar was religious in his own way. He
weaves his entire text around Cāṉṟōṉ, a conceptual realisation of an ideal
superman, who embodies five noble qualities such as love, truth, compassion,
good judgment and the upholding of character devoid of blame. The god or goddess
in the Thirukkural is the paragon of Virtue or Righteousness, popularly
designated by the Tamil term Aram. Aram is the presiding deity in this great work
and Cāṉṟōṉ the sought-after être, the Jünzi of the
classical Chinese Canon of Change. As
such, Thirukkural enjoys the reputation of being the only book on moral precepts
expressed in felicitous words. When quoted in Tamil, its euphonic cadences and
alliterative mnemonics stand out. Its tenets transcend ethnic, linguistic,
religious, and national boundaries, and radiate a global appeal.
STURCTURE AND LITERARY
CONVENTION
This enduring
Tamil classical writing comprises 1330 couplets that are divided into 133 themes,
each of which contains ten couplets and shows at least ten ways of elaborating
the same theme. This work treats three major topics: the Aratthuppal (On Virtue, 380 couplets), Porutpal (On Wealth Management in a Princely
State, 700 couplets), and Kamatthuppal
(On Pre-and-Post Marital Carnal Love, 250 couplets). Each couplet is composed
in strict agreement with the classical Tamil prosodical meter known as kuratpa.
Thirukkural
deals with the typical internal and external (akam and puram) aspects
and modes of life in Tamil classical poetry, conventions especially en vigueur during the early Sangam
Period. The first section on aram
concerns itself with the lives and duties of the householder and the ascetic.
Its second section treats responsibilities of human beings in their societal
life, particularly in a princely kingdom. This realm belongs to the puram category. Its third section
engages with kamam and presents the emotional and/or sexual relationship
between a man and a woman during their premarital and wedded phases. This
section is an example for the akam
type.
INSTITUTE OF
ASIAN STUDIES
GLOBAL APPEAL
Mahatma
Gandhi described it as “a text book of indispensable authority on moral life…/…
the maxims of Valluvar have touched my soul. There is none who has given such a
treasure of wisdom like him”. Gandhiji, it might be worthwhile recalling, came
to know about Thirukkural from Leo Tolstoy, who had said that the concept of
“non-violence” was taken by him from a German version of the Kural. Monsieur
Ariel calls it “ a masterpiece of Tamil literature, one of the highest and
purest of expressions of human thought”. Subramaniya Bharathi, the gifted Tamil
poet of Indian Independence struggle repute, considered the Kural as the
foremost gift of the Tamil population to humanity at large.
OBJECTIVES of the CONFERENCE
With a view
to studying the Thirukkural from an unbiased international perspective and to
promoting rigorous academic research on this sacred opus majeur, we have decided to organize this Second International
Conference on Thirukkural with the participation of scholars from all over the
world. The first international conference held in Nagarkovil in 2017, and the
present international conference to be held in Liverpool in 2018 will form a
prelude to the global conference which we are planning to organize in Paris in
2020 with the collaboration of the UNESCO.
Tentative areas
of academic deliberation
The 50 general topics broached here, tentatively, are brought under
the following six broader headings or areas of studies. They form general
topics for all the intenational Thirukkural conferences planned by the
organizers.
I. Thirukkural
and the early corpus of Ethical Literature.
1.
Evolution of Didactic Literature with focus on Thirukkural.
2.
Thirukkural and Early Hebraic Literature.
3.
Thirukkural and Early Chinese Literature.
4.
Thirukkural and Hesiod’s Works and times.
5.
Is Thiruvalluvar comparable to Plato and Aristotle ?
6.
Thirukkural and Stoic philosophy.
7.
Thirukkural and early ethical works in Sanskrit.
8.
Thirukkural and Buddhist ethics.
9.
Thirukkural and Jain ethics.
10. Thirukkural
and the ethics of Ajivakam philosophy.
11. Thirukkural
and Christian ethics.
12. Thirukkural
and the ethics of Islam.
13. Thirukkural
and the ethics of the Sangam society.
14. Thirukkural
in the light of other ethical works in Tamil literature.
15. Thiruvalluvar
and Vemana (Telugu) – a Comparative study.
16. Thiruvalluvar
and the ethical corpus of Kannada Literature.
17. Thirukkural
as the scripture of the Tamils.
18. Love as the cardinal principle of the
universe from the
point
of view of Thirukkural.
II Thirukkural
in Translation
1. Thirukkural and the European
missionaries.
2.
Thirukkural in European Languages
3.
Thirukkural in Asian (non-Indian) Languages
4.
Thirukkural in Indian Languages.
5.
The problems in translating Thirukkural into other languages.
III Thirukkural and other
Disciplines
1.
Thirukkural and Commerce
2.
Thirukkural and Politics
3.
Thirukkural and Education
4.
Thirukkural and moral values
5.
Thirukkural and Medicine.
6.
Thirukkural and Leadership qualities.
VI
Thirukkural and Historical Studies
1.
Influence of Thirukkural on Medieval Tamil Literature.
2.
Influence of Thirukkural on Modern Tamil Literature.
3.
Influence of Thirukkural on World Literature.
4.
Thirukkural and Albert Schweitzer.
5.
Thirukkural and Mahatma Gandhi.
6.
Thirukkural and Indian Social Reformers.
7.
Thirukkural and Social Justice.
8. Thirukkural from the perspective of the poets
of Thiruvalluvamalai.
9.
Thirukkural and its commentators.
10. The
Birth place of Thiruvalluvar.
11. The
Age of Thiruvalluvar.
V Thirukkural
and Modern Society
1.
The Ideal Life envisaged in Thirukkural.
2.
Thirukkural and its relevance to modern society.
3.
The World vision or cosmovision of Thiruvalluvar.
4.
The possible impact of Thirukkural in coming ages.
5. The ideal man Cāṉṟōṉ as
visualized in Thirukkural- A
comparative
perspective
VI Literary
Merit
1. The Literary value
of Thirukkural.
2. Thirukkural and its
poetic style.
3. The prosody of the
couplets of Thirukkural.
4. Thirukkural and
God.
5. Thirukkural and the
corpus of poetry on sexual love.
The thrust area
of the Second International Conference
The main focus of the Second
International Conference is on the efforts of scholars of non-Tamil origin
living in various countries as well as the migrated Tamils to the Tamil
Diaspora countries, for the promotion of
Thirukkural studies as well as the promotion of Thirukkual knowledge. We will have
many papers about the contributions of missionaries and civil servants of
various countries as well as the Tamil
Diaspora who are taking good efforts to promote Thirukkural studies in their
countries of domicile. We will have papers which make systematic country wise survey of all these efforts and
review studies on them. A very tentative list of the areas is given below:
1.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies by the European Missionaries and civil servants
2.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies in other states of India- A survey.
3.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies by East Asian scholars
4.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies by South Asian scholars
5.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies by South East Asian scholars
6.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies in the Gulf countries
7.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies in North America
8.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies in the African countries
9.
Thirukkural Translation and
studies in other countries
10.
A review on the contributions of European
scholars to Thirukkural Studies
11.
A review on the contributions of Asian
scholars to Thirukkural Studies
12.
A review on the contributions of the scholars
of the Americas to Thirukkural Studies
13.
A review on the
contributions of the scholars of the African countries to Thirukkural Studies
Participation in
the Conference
We request
you to kindly participate in this momentous event either as paper presenters or
observers. Paper presenters need not confine their studies only to the general
topics listed above. They can also present papers on any other topic related to
Thirukkural with a focus on the thrust area of the present conference namely
Thirukkural beyond the frontiers of Tamil
India.
Paper
presenters are expected to submit the abstract of their papers before the middle
of January, 2018. Their full paper should reach the organizers before the end
of February 2018. The size of the research paper shall be from 10-15 pages
depending upon the availability of data and
their interpretation. Papers should be sent by both hard and soft
copies. The form for registration is enclosed herewith for your early action.
We look
forward to your active co-operation for the successful hosting of this
significant Conference.
A Note on Tamil
Language
Tamil is not
just the principal language spoken in Tamilnadu, nor is it a language confined
within the Indian sub-continent; it can lay claim to the fact of being an
international language enjoying official status in three different countries,
namely: (the Tamilnadu of) India, Singapore and Sri Lanka. It is spoken by more
than 25 million Tamil diaspora of Indian and Sri Lankan origin residing in more
than 65 different countries all over the world, in addition to being the
mother-tongue of a vast population of around 80 million people living both in
Tamilnadu and Sri Lanka.
About
the Venue of the Conference
Liverpool Hope University is a Christian foundation dedicated to train
women and men to jointly build a civil society. Its foundations go back to
1844. Its academic and research endeavour to instill the values of beauty,
goodness, justice and search for truth. Faculties of Arts and Humanities,
Sciences and Education comprise this University. The university is interested
in the total welfare and development of individual students. The Andrew Walls
Centre for the Study of African and Asian Christianity is one of its main
research Centres. It promotes critical analysis of Christianity along with its
reception and accommodation in Africa and Asia. It trains doctoral researchers
and offers excellent resource materials for researchers who seek to study the
socio-cultural and religious settings in Africa and Asia. It creates forum for
concerned academics and researchers who wish to engage in mutual dialogue on
any theme that will work towards a better future for all.
The nearest airport is Manceser
International Airport (airport code: MAN). Trains, buses, and taxies are
available from this airport to Liverpool City Centre. For travel directions
from Liverpool City Centre to Hope Campus, please see the above mentioned map.
Virgin Trains ply between London Euston
Station and Liverpool Lime Street Station. Travel time is about two and half
hours. For details consult the Virgin Train website or https://www.thetrainline.com/. Tickets purchased
in advance are always cheaper.
For National Coach buses from London or
Manchester Airport, please see their website http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx.
John Lenon Airport (airport code: LPL) in Liverpool has direct
flight connections to many airports countries in continental Europe. For
details of flights, please consult EasyJet: https://www.easyjet.com/en or Ryanair: https://www.ryanair.com/gb/en/ or any other airlines.
International
Advisory Committee
Prof. R. E.
Asher Scotland
Dr. T. Alexis
Devaraj Marc France
Dr. Sunder
Devaprasad
United States of America
Dr. Francis S.
Muthu
United States of America
Dr. N.Ganesan
United States of America
Mr. Albert
Fernando
United States of America
Dr. Siva
Pillai London
Mr. Ken
Kangeyan
London
Tan Sri
Kumaran Malaysia
Datuk Dr. Dennison
Jayasooriya Malaysia
Mr. C.M Elanttamil
Maruthi Malaysia
Dr. S.S.
Sarma Singapore
Dr. Seethalakshmi
Singapore
Dr. Subramaniyan
Natesan Singapore
Dr. Gregory
James Hongkong
Ven. Dr. Young Ho Lee South
Korea
Mr. Yang,
GiMoon.
South Korea
Dr. Masakazu Kono Japan
Ms. Asami
Isamu Japan
Dr. Cyril Veliath
Japan
Mr.
Thajudeen Qatar
Mr. T. Thangamani Oman
Dr. Nares
Surasith
Thailand
Mr. Solai
Thiagarajan
Myanmar
Dr. A.
Sanmugadas Srilanka
Dr.
Nilamegame Reunion
Dr. Chanemougame Selvam
Reunion
Dr. Chandrika Subramaniyan Australia
Ms. Vijalakshmi
Masilamani Saudi Arabia
Dr. Gunasekharan
Dharmaraja South Africa
Dr. Ulrike Niklas Germany
Ms. Diana Motyovszki Hungary
Dr. Kumar Punithavel Canada
Dr. Nagarasa Iyer Subramaniam Canada
Prof. Brenda E. Beck Canada
Prof. Alexander Dubianski Russia
Mr. Slawomir Bubicz Poland
Mr. Kalayarasan Netherlands
Mr.
Kandasamy Parthipan
Switzerland
INTERNATIONAL CO-ORDINATORS
Prof. Armoogum
Parsuramen Dr. Daniel Jeyaraj Dr. John Samuel
President
Professor of
World Christianity Founder-Director,
International Tamil
Diaspora Liverpool
Hope University
Institute of Asian Studies
Association
(INTAD)
Liverpool
Chennai
Mauritius
England India
Members of the Organizing Committee
Dr. Francis S. Muthu
* Dr. Sunder Devaprasad * Dr.
Marudanayagam * Dr. Muhilai Rajapandian
Dr. V. Murugan * Dr. A. Chandra Babu * Dr. Gnanachandra
Johnson * Dr. Y. Dennyson
Mrs. Indra Samuel * Dr. Siva
Pillai * Mr. Ken Kangeyan * Mr.
Ponambalum
Mr. Samy * Mr. Sriskantha Rajah * Dr.
Rajeswari * Mr. K. Aryaratnam
Conference
Secretariat
Institute of Asian Studies Andrew
Walls Centre for the Study of
Chemmencherry
African and Asian Christianity
Sholinganallur P O
Liverpool Hope University
Chennai - 600 119 Taggart
Avenue
INDIA Liverpool
L 16 9 ID, ENGLAND
Telephone:
044 24501851, 044 24500831
Mobile: 9840526834
e mail: info@instituteofasianstudies.com
Website:www.instituteofasianstudies.com
Mobile: 9840526834
e mail: info@instituteofasianstudies.com
Website:www.instituteofasianstudies.com
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