Understanding Regional Knowledge Systems - Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards defining key terms, historical concepts, and theoretical frameworks from Chapter 1 of the Knowledge Systems of Kerala course.

Kerala (as a Region)

A politically defined and delimited space of linguistic identity bound predominantly by the Malayalam language.

Malayalam (Etymology)

A term derived from 'mala' (meaning hill) and 'alam' (meaning the sea), referring to the land between the hills and the sea.

Cheralam

A term derived from 'cher' (meaning merge) and 'alam' (meaning the sea), referring to the land merging with the sea, from which the name Keralam is derived.

Nalikera

The Sanskrit word for coconut, to which the name Kerala is popularly but mistakenly linked.

Tenkai

The Dravidian word meaning 'fruit from the south,' from which the Malayalam word 'thenga' is derived.

Ethnic Groups

An anthropological category referring to people who share a common historical tradition, language, culture, physical features, and identity.

Community (Anthropological Sense)

Local people with a shared cultural identity, sense of belonging, and common customs, practices, and values.

Caste

Endogamous groups of people identified originally as jatis, linked to hereditary occupation groups.

Knowledge (in Ecosystem Landscapes)

The skills, understanding, and traditional wisdom which each generation inherits and passes on to meet everyday challenges and survive in a given environment.

Knowledge System

A structured framework of concepts, principles, methods, and practices through which individuals or communities organize, interpret, and apply knowledge within their specific social, cultural, and historical context.

Coexistence of Change and Continuity

The phenomenon in which tradition is a mix of past continuities and new elements, with each new generation recreating and reinventing its own version of tradition.

History (Academic Context)

The academic enterprise of investigating the past to understand it.

Academic Knowledge

Specialized knowledge that is systematic, explicit, codified, and ever-improving, abstracted out of logical generalizations based on evidence.

Research (Karl Popper)

The process of trying to refute existing knowledge through the discovery of fresh evidence or more refined logic, rather than merely repeating what is already known.

Embedded Knowledge

Uncodified knowledge that is not explicitly written down, but resides within material objects, tools, rock-art, crafts, and architecture.