The Radiance of Tamil: Politics, Language, Media

Tamil is one of the longest continuous written traditions of any language in the world. It is also very much a language of the modern world—an official language in three countries, and a recognised minority language in several others that is used across a variety of domains, from education to media to religious practice, literature, everyday talk, and beyond. To engage with Tamil and its culture, in all their dimensions is, therefore, to grapple with social, political, religious, literary, and performative traditions of remarkable depth, nuance and complexity. The Chicago Tamil Forum, an annual workshop at the University of Chicago that brings together international scholars of Tamil language, culture, and history, began in 2014 to advance exciting new approaches to understanding Tamil and the Tamil-speaking world.