DR HERMANN GUNDERT AND FOLK
LITERATURE
by
Albrecht Frenz
For a long time Hermann Gundert, the first Basel Missionary
in Malabar, was only known as a linguist, and as a great Malayalam
lexicographer and grammarian. Most of Gundert's Malayalam works
were unknown. But today we are glad that, through the publication
of Gundert's diary, the transliteration and computerizing of his
letters and the publication of the Malayalam manuscripts of the
Tuebingen University Library we have got a deeper insight into his
work and a better understanding of his personality. A great step
forward was the publication of the Hermann Gundert Series in 1991-
92. In the volumes 4-6 Gundert's Malayalam works are presented.
Each book of the series is provided with an academic introduction
by Professor Dr Scaria Zacharia. The Malayalam Series which are
now under print will bring out many new insights and create new
impulses for the language.
The more we study Gundert's ballads, songs, poems and folk
songs the more we recognize the comprehensiveness of his
thinking. From his very youth until his time in Malabar and finally
at Calw, Gundert was a genius Creating literature and transforming
works from one language into another-all his thoughts and nerves
became language. Luckily he could combine this with a scholarly
education. The most fascinating kind of literature produced by
Gundert is his folk literature. This fact was already expressed by
Professor Dr K K N Kurup and recently by Professor Dr Scaria
Zacharia. There is no doubt that the folk songs and ballads of North
Malabar were one of the most thrilling works of Malayalam literature
for Gundert, and they sank deep into his heart and mind.
Some years ago we got a certain hint from a note in the
introduction of L. Johannes Frohnmeyer's "A Progressive Grammar
of the Malayalam Language", first published at Mangalore in 1889,
that Gundert had very probably published Malayalam folk songs
