Brenda Beck
இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: பிரெண்டா பெக்
Brenda Beck (Dr. Brenda E.F. Beck) (1940) is an anthropologist from Canada. She has done a research on the folk traditions of the Kongu region in Tamil Nadu. She has published the complete oral epic Annanmar Sami Kathai ( Elder Brothers' Story) with references. She has publised eight books and authored more than sixty research articles. Through these publications, she has introduced the basics of Tamil culture to the world. She is actively involved in the Tamil cultural activities of Canada.
Birth, Education
Brenda was born in Canada in the year 1940. Her father was employed in Beirut, Lebanon. When Brenda was 14 years old, her father took her on a tour to Syria, Lebanon, Turkey, Afganisthan, Pakistan and India. She got introduced to the Tamil culture on her travel from Trichy to Coimbatore. Brenda was a research scholar in Anthropology at Somerville College, Oxford. She visited Tamil Nadu in the year 1964 for her research work and stayed at Olapalayam village near Coimbatore. She learnt Tamil language, dressed herself in sarees and jewelleries and became a member of the village.
Annanmar Swamy Kathai
In the year 1965, Brenda heard two village bards, Ramasamy and Palanisamy, narrating the Annanmar Swamy Kathai, also known as Kunnudaiyar Kadhai or Ponnar Sankar Kathai. This oral epic used to be narrated continuously by many bards spanning over several days. Thought to be set in the 14th century, Annanmar Swamy Kathai is passed through generations in the form of songs, dance and street plays and is considered as an epic among the ancestral tales of the Kongu region.
Brenda recorded the Annanmar Swamy Kathai that lasted for 38 hours spanning through 18 nights. She said, "The experience was magical. I was recording in cassettes and when I ran out of blank cassettes, I erased the North American folk songs and continued with the recording". Brenda has also collected the folk tales of Kongu region that is about twenty thousand pages in writing.
Brenda is putting forth the Annanmar Kathai in varieties of ways. A. Muttulingam records Brenda's statement as " I think of the days that I spent in the small village 50 years ago. I cannot forget the love and support of those people. Their art has a tradition of 500 years. What did I do to them in turn was the guilty feel I had. Then I decided to take the Annanmar Kathai to the next generation.
🔏Being Created-en
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