Diasporic Resonance In Malayalam Literature: Letter Songs -The ‘Sandesakavya’ Of The Expatriates

Abstract

Expatriation has so many phases as far as the Malappuram diaspora is concerned. Begun after 1960s, the First Generation Migrants (FGMs) faced so many barriers in the way of transportation and communication. Due to the absence of electronic communication media they relayed letters to communicate with their family and other relatives in the host countries. The departed agonies and worries of the migrants and their legal life partners were communicated only through letters. So a rare type of literature aroused in Kerala, especially in Malabar region called Letter Songs. Pulikkottil Haider and SA Jameel, the Mappila poets are the main exponents of these types of songs which were musicalized and released all over Kerala as a part of Mappila Songs.