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When one reads the akam poems of the Sangam anthologies, a strategy shared by almost all the poems becomes apparent. This involves structuring the material in blocks, each of which is independent of the other blocks, and each of which presents a tableau or situation. Let me begin by analyzing two Kuṟuntokai poems. The first, Kuṟuntokai 11, is uttered by a woman who wishes to join her distant lover: I feel my bright bangles cut from conch grow loose,I suffer alone, my eyes never closing as the...

This volume, a tribute to François Gros and a celebration of the field of Tamil studies, demonstrates the international nature of this area and its wide range of topics. The contributors stem from sixteen different countries. They are literary historians and critics, philologists, linguists, cultural anthropologists, political and social historians, archaeologists, epigraphists, numismatists, art and architecture historians, some of them assuming two of these guises, and some having an interest in related languages: Irula, Kannada, Malayalam and Telugu. However there is much linkage and this "connexité dans la diversité" binds the different contributions together. François Gros has been the principal standard-bearer for Tamil studies in France. He has also devoted himself to the re-establishment of the École Française d’Extrême-Orient in countries of Southeast Asia. Among his other responsibilities has been the directorship for Tamil studies at the Institut Français in Pondicherry. Ce volume, hommage à François Gros et célébration du champ des études tamoules, montre la nature internationale de ce domaine et sa largeur. Les participants proviennent de 16 pays. Les disciplines concernées sont : histoire et critique littéraire, philologie, linguistique, anthropologie culturelle, histoire politique et sociale, archéologie, épigraphie, numismatique, histoire de l’art et de l’architecture. Certaines des contributions sont à cheval entre elles, et certaines concernent des langues voisines : Irula, Kannada, Malayalam et Telugu, tandis qu’une “connexité dans la diversité” fait l’unité du volume. François Gros a été le principal représentant des études tamoules en France. Il s’est également consacré, comme directeur, à la réinstallation de l’École Française d’Extrême-Orient dans les pays d’Asie du Sud-Est. Il a aussi été responsable scientifique de la section de tamoul à l’Institut Français de Pondichéry.