தமிழ் இலக்கியத்தில் சுற்றுச்சூழலில் அழகியல் கோட்பாடு / Environmental Aesthetic Approach in Tamil Literature

Abstract

Aesthetic philosophers are interested only in art whereas environmental philosophers focus more on scientific thought towards the natural world. Some Western philosophers have turned their attention to the aesthetic dimension of our experiences of nature. Such environmental aesthetics have been explored by ancient aesthetics and philosophers in India. Nowadays, many researchers of "Environmental Aesthetics" are trying to enlighten the problems related to the natural environment, different from art, and related to our experiences. Aesthetics play an important role in valuing the environment. Aesthetic value is considered a utilitarian value. The thoughts about the natural aesthetic taste and aesthetic value of the ancient Tamil poets are revealed in the paper and the purpose of the study is to bring out the views and thoughts of the ancient, medieval and later Tamil poets about nature through their works. Other environmental values such as ecological value, social value, ethical value and cultural value are compared with aesthetic values. From the beginning to the present day, theoretical aesthetic studies in the West and the East have been developing systematically. Most of them have been discussed in many fields, starting from aesthetics in art. But nowadays, due to the environmental problems and their effects on the natural environment, cultural environment and artistic monuments personal attention is being paid to the aesthetic and scientific dimensions of the environment. Thus, the purpose of this article is to review the ecological concepts in the environment through western theories. Tamil poets have had a vision of connecting life with nature since the Sangam period. Tamil poets approached and interacted with their surrounding situations while composing songs. Focusing on ecology, they divided the lands into primary, thematic, and epithets according to five types of lands like Kurinji, Mullai, Marutham, Neithal, Palai and made them live in interaction with people and other creatures. Thus, the focus of the research paper is to explore the natural environment from an aesthetic point of view.

Keywords

• nature
• environment
• aesthetics
• tamil poets
• tamil literature.