Malayalam Literature
The history of Malayalam literature may broadly be divided into three periods. The first is a period of receding Tamil dominance and advancing Sanskrit influence. elitist poets of the age were interested in introducing Sanskrit literary forms like Champu and Sandesa Kavya and in Sanskrit oriented linguistic and stylistic innovations. On the one hand, a shrinking into erotic themes and, on the other, an enlargement of the resources of language and style, could be seen. next period witnessed the birth of sage-poets for whom poetry was a highly serious endeavour with a lofty moral purpose. They consolidated formal achievements of the former age and turned to the Puranas for noble themes. Malayalam poetry reached its pinnacle of glory in this age, evidently influenced by bhakti renaissance, and joined mainstream of the national literature. The third period is marked by the impact of liberal-democratic spirit which came in the wake of the first encounter with the west and spread of modern education. It is also to be noted that new radical ideologies started exerting influence on writers. We see the origin and development of the art of prose, spread of journalism, birth of modern forms such as fiction, drama, lyric and literary criticism. In these decades of unprecedented curiosity and enthusiasm the vision widens and creativity seeks new pastures. Prose takes precedence over verse and becomes the vehicle for both imaginative creation and intellectual exploration. We also find systematic studies of growth and structure of the language as well as of modern literary genres.

In the thirties there was emergence of "progressive literature", in consonance with what was happening in other major languages of India. It was evidently an sentiment. Though the movement later fell into disarray, its impact is not yet exhausted. The formalist, disillusionist, existentialist and obscurantist onslaughts against it have not succeeded in annihilating the movement.

The Early Period
For centuries before the beginning of poetry written by individuals whose names are known, there was in existence a vast oral culture and a body of poems passed through generations by word of mouth only. This oral tradition consists of nursery rhymes, primitive story-poems, incantatory verses, folk songs, ritualistic songs, etc. These are associated with the various phases of life and varieties of labour as well as the seasonal cycle. In the course of centuries their texts have undergone changes or become corrupt. None of them can be heard in its original or pure forms, because generations of singers have added or deleted, or brought in unconscious innovations. Many of them might have acquired linguistic characteristics of later origin and changed in other respects as well since the loss of their original functions as a result of the inevitable alterations in mode of production, social organisation and style of life. Of course, they contain a good deal of social and political history, but it is rather risky to treat them as material for reconstruction of history. They cannot even be confidently accepted as evidence for a history of language and literature. We can only say in a very general manner that the corpus of oral poetry is the earliest source of later poetry. ( Contd...)