Spatialities, Materialities and Communication in South India

The spatial and material dimensions of communication have changed dramatically over the past three millennia in South India. The historical and contemporary trajectories of these changes are revealed, explored, documented, critiqued and examined in this work. This book is comprehensive in its engagements with three locations―spatiality, materiality and communication, in the contexts of Tamil Nadu, South India. The book takes a multidisciplinary approach to communication and media studies. It leverages the multifaceted knowledge seeking spirit of the ancient philosophers of Tamil Nadu for understanding the contexts of spatialities, materialities and communication.

Across four sections on historical trajectories, everyday lives, public communication and media materialities, its 20 chapters on diverse topics offer unique engagements of the spatial journeys of people, rulers, philosophers, men, women, as well as their material objects, occupations and media during the past three millennia in South India, with a focus on Tamil Nadu.

Gopalan Ravindran received his PhD from the University of Madras. He is Dean of the School of Communication and Head of the Department of Media and Communication at the Central University of Tamil Nadu, India. He is the editor of Deleuzian and Guattarian Approaches to Contemporary Communication Cultures in India (2020).