International Journal of Tamil Language and Literary Studies (Jun 2023)
அமைப்பியல் கோட்பாட்டு நோக்கில் பொன்னிறத்தாள் கதை / Ponnirathaal Kathai: A Structuralist Study in Folklore
Abstract
American folklorist Richard M. Dorson, in his book “Folklore and Folklife – An Introduction” has explained twelve research principles. D. Lourdu has translated these principles into Tamil and published the book “Nattar Vazhakkatriyal Kotpadugal”. One of these twelve theories is the Structuralist Theory. The Father of Structuralism in the field of Folklore is Vladimir Propp of Russia. Propp, who examined one hundred fairy tales compiled by Afanasyev, pointed out that only 31 functions are found recurrent in the stories. All these 31 functions cannot be found in the same story. He said that fairy tales were made up of many of these functions. Propp published his findings in 1928 in his book “Morphology of the Folk Tale” written in the Russian language. This book was translated into English in 1958. Alan Dundes started his research following Propp’s structural theory. He published the book “The Morphology of North American Indian Folktales” in 1964. Dundes removed Propp's term 'function' and adopted Kenneth Pike's term 'motifeme'. He explored in his structural analysis that there are two to six motifs found in these stories. In Tamil Literature, ‘Ponnirathaal Kathai’ is one of the ballads found in the Kanyakumari district. Ponnirathaal is worshipped as a sub-deity in Mutharamman temples at Dhammathukkonam and Puchivilagam in Agastheeswaram taluk of Kanyakumari district. The manuscripts say that Ulagudaiya Perumal Nadar is the author of “Ponnirathaal Kathai”. This story mentions that Ponnirathaal's husband Inasuran is the son of Thirumalai Nayakan. Ananja Perumal and Ponmari have seven sons. They wanted a girl child and got from penance and named ‘Ponnirathaal’. Ponniratthal and Inasuran got married. After two years, she became pregnant. In the seventh month, she came to her mother’s home as per the clan's custom. She saw many evil omens and while she was going for bathing with her friends, she was killed by thugs who looted the Kattalamman temple. By the boons from Lord Siva, she avenged them and became a deity. This article examines ‘Ponnirathaal Kathai’ according to the structural theories of Vladimir Propp and Alan Dundes.
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