A Historical Ethnography of Public Political Lives in Tamilnadu (1950-1970)
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
TamilThanmai: A Historical Ethnography Of Public Political Lives in Tamilnadu (1950-1970) by Ponni Arasu A thesis submitted in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto © Copyright by Ponni Arasu 2019 TamilThanmai: A Historical Ethnography of Public Political lives in Tamilnadu (1950-1970) Ponni Arasu Doctorate of Philosophy Department of History University of Toronto 2019 Abstract This dissertation is a historical ethnography of Sulur, a town in Coimbatore district of Tamilnadu, India. Through in-depth interviews and archives, both personal and public, of textual and visual sources, I have evolved an analytical framework from which to understand everyday public political lives. Using a spatial analysis, this dissertation has documented the lives of men in Sulur who were engaged in public politics. I have contextualized these life stories in a range of socio-economic and political histories of Tamilnadu during that time. The period between the 1950-70 is when the political parties that were to influence the landscape of electoral power and political discourse in the second half of the 20th C were forming their base in Tamilnadu. This period, before the consolidation of state power and political discourses, is an ideal time from which to understand the history of such political formations from the perspective of the everyday lives of its ordinary members, all of whom are men. Based on this narrative I have identified and explored elements of what I term TamilThanmai. TamilThanmai, I propose is a historically grounded analytical framework which simultaneously ii describes the essence of public political lives that provided a way of being and sense of self for all those who lived it. This dissertation is a history of and through TamilThanmai. In the dissertation themes of public political life has been explored through three main chapters. These include a focus on Dalit public political lives; the affective ties that hold together the non- Brahmin, non-Dalit men engaged in such lives; and the embodiment of such a politics through physical training culture. This three-pronged exploration is grounded in a critical spatial framework. Through this exploration of TamilThanmai I propose a theoretical framework from which to understand the persistence of caste-based thinking and masculinization of public political lives in Tamilnadu. iii 殿ன்னந்டப்பா뾿க்埁ம் தேힿக்埁ம்… சிவபாக்கிய믍 அவர்க쿁க்埁믍… For Sinnandappaayee and Devi… For Sivapaakkiyam… iv Acknowledgments I have no words to thank all the “uncles” of Sulur who have brought life to this dissertation. Without their time, energy, excitement, trust and openness about such deeply personal renditions of their entire adult lives, I would not have been able to do any of this. To the town of Sulur for opening its doors to me. To Sulur for being the wonder that it continues to be that inspired me and allowed me to write a history of it. The uncles cannot read this dissertation. This work will not be complete till I write it in our language – Tamil. All PhD processes have their own versions of drama. This one was no different. It truly takes a village! It is hard to imagine a Graduate student who may have received as much support as I did in this process. My committee has seen me through unimaginable turmoil in my life. They always heard me with regards how I can bring my focus back to the PhD and helped me in every way that they could. Jayeeta Sharma (Jo), Bhavani Raman (B), Francis Cody (Frank), Sean Mills, Srilata Raman have all served on my committee at various points. I must thank Bhavani, Srilata and Frank for giving me the support to think through the Tamil epistemological universe confidently. Their own work and their role as committee members enabled me to think freely and work through my thoughts rigorously. Sean, for opening up my world to theory emerging from various parts of the world that are grounded in the history of oppressed peoples and proposing theory that challenged the assumptions of Eurocentric linear theoretical and methodological approaches to history. v Anyone would be blessed to have Jo Sharma as their supervisor. She is the perfect combination of profound intellectual inspiration, deep grounded-ness in a politically sound approach to scholarship along with support with the everyday grind of completing a PhD. To get these kinds of support from a supervisor for seven years is not something to take lightly. Bhavani called the PhD process a marathon even before I began. I must thank her for reading so many drafts of so many pieces of writing over the years with utmost care and pushing me gently toward rigour. She took glee in watching my thinking grow and helped shape the directions of my thought. Her sustained detailed reading and comments over the years has helped tease out the details and has shaped my writing. Thank you to Frank for instilling confidence in my thoughts when the process was overwhelming. Other professors at the Department of History and at the Department of Historical Studies, Scarborough (UTSC) have assisted me immensely. To Franca Iacovetta and Donna Gabaccia for being my feminist foremothers in a faraway land. To Jacqui Alexander aka Prof. A for opening up new universes to me. To Melanie Newton for inviting me into the world of Caribbean Studies. Ian Radforth, Daniel Bender and Pia for opening their homes to me. Thank you to all of them for making the University of Toronto a supportive academic home to me. I would like to thank Vivian Hwang at the Department of History for her prompt support. To Urooj Khan, Monica Hretsina, Heather Seto, Minda Nessia, and Kamal Hassan at the University of Toronto Scarbourough for making my degree process, the PhD and teaching work as easy as possible. vi Thank you to all my students at UTSC for keeping me grounded in my disciplinary and political basics so I could never lose sight of why I am doing this work. Thank you to their kind words and trust in me as a teacher over the years without which I would not have made it through a gruelling life as a Graduate student in the Academic industrial complex of North America. To Sarah Hodges for being the first person to see potential in this project. To my brother Kathir for supporting me in any way he can. To Kannadasan and Devendran for scanning hundreds of pages and for being contemporaries and colleagues in the world of researching about and in Tamil. To my stellar copy editor Shreya Gopi. To Revathi for her poetry and for being a feminist comrade in the Tamil world. To Kalpana for her warmth, love and for being a feminist comrade in the Tamil world. To Koni Benson for never letting me feel alone as a ‘weird historian’. To Lata Mani for being my friend, mentor and teacher. To Geetha for doing the work on the history of Tamilnadu and for writing the two plays on the history of public politics in Tamilnadu from a feminist perspective. I could not have arrived at my research question if Geetha had not done all that she has done. Thank you to her for patiently talking me through this project and for unwavering trust as well as a firm voice of loving critique that urged me to do my work with depth and care. Thank you Geetha for your lifetime’s work and for trusting me with that legacy. I vii would not be who I am if you had not done what you have done before me. To Amma (A. Mangai) and Appa (V. Arasu) for giving me Tamil. To Amma for making it crystal clear that I must live just as I am, freely and honestly. To Appa for supporting her in that endeavour. To Sibi for being my little brother I am always proud of and for being a proud and gentle Tamil male person. To Anita for being awesome. To my people in Sri Lanka Harean, Melisha, Mirak, Zainab, Jay and Ananda for their homes, patience and love. To my people at home in Batticaloa Sitra, Mounaguru mama, Vijaya Akka, Suriya Cultural Group girls, Ilanges, Anu, Amara, Eva, Sorna, Pirapanjan, Philomena, Darshan and the one and only Marilyn for opening up their world to me; for being the inspiration to do this work and making sure I had a home in the Tamil world. To my dog Malli for being the best companion there can be. To the Toronto peeps for making our home – full of fun, joy and deep political rootedness and rigour without which this work would not have happened. Thank you Sharlene (Shar), Natalie (Nat), Salma, Coco and Athoo. To my little Tamil haven in cold Canada, Rathika and Preethy for the conversations on what it means to be who we are. To Meghana for her friendship and intellectual camaraderie. To Myrto and Kristina for their art and their friendship in Toronto. To the incredible artists and sound political thinkers of Toronto Nahed, Leila, Kole, Agata, Sajdeep, Amy, Leanne, Josh, Richard and Tim for being comrades in a foreign land. viii To my queer pod Gautam, Deepti, Pavi, Mario, Kaushiki, Andrew, Yuri and Veto for being my home. To Anusha for being my Tamil queer sister in arms. To Tashi for being a friend who understands all parts of me. To Laila and Lisa for raising incredible young women that inspire me to do this work. To the children, Kuts, Jemmu, Tooli, Aaliyah, Dunya, Alya, Arundhathi, Manoush, Arjumand and Kavya for existing. If not for them, I would not wake up in the morning.