Introduction

Born Mark Lionel Prakash, the Tamil writer Tanjai Prakash (1943–2000) in his brief writing career published three novels, a collection of essays and short stories each, two biographies of an artist and a literary critic, and a compilation of folk stories from the Tanjavur district of Tamil Nadu. Not much is known about his life or the reception of his writings, which is partly because Prakash never published his own works in a disciplined fashion, being more keen on reading and promoting other writers. Most of his writings were posthumously published by his wife. The introduction to his collection of essays, written by his wife, suggests his knowledge of several Indian languages, art, and literature, initially through his father. He was impressed by the stories of his aunt and grandmothers, which later led him to publish an anthology of folk tales rich in history and culture of the Tanjavur district. Not having completed his education, Prakash was unable to find a stable job and spent his life in various parts of the then Madras Presidency. He was involved in many literary activities that included setting up a publishing house in Madurai and Tanjavur, editing a Tamil journal called Palam (Bridge), and organizing several literary meetings. He introduced many upcoming artists and writers to the Tamil literary world and even founded literary movements in the 1980s in Tanjavur that focused on the art of narrative and storytelling.

The Tanjavur and Kumbakonam districts had already produced some of the finest modern Tamil writers of sexuality. These included K. P. Rajagopalan (1902–1944), Mauni (1907–1985), T. Janakiraman (1921–1981), L. S. Ramamirutham (1919–2007), and Karichan Kunju (1919–1992). Most of their narratives betrayed a discomfort with marriage and were focalized through their male characters. A reading of these narratives yields two thematic possibilities – their male characters understood desire and love without marriage as sensual ideals that were not consummated in the sexual act or there was a perceived opposition between desire, love, and a male sense of domestic responsibility that was encoded in filial and religious devotion. In the latter case, desire and love had to be reoriented, albeit mostly unsuccessfully, in other forms of sensual activity like asexual friendships, social reformation, and spirituality, which sustained the male characters’ sense of self-estrangement.