| Passions of the Tongue |
| Acknowledgments |
| Note on Transliteration |
 | Preface |
| 1. Introduction |
| 2. One Language, Many Imaginings |
 | 3. Feminizing Language |
| • | The Poetics and Politics of Praise |
| Tamil as Deity: Pietistics of Tamil Devotion |
| Tamil as Mother: Somatics of Tamil Devotion |
| • | Tamiḻttāy: Portrait of a Mother |
| • | The Violated Body of Tamiḻttāy |
| • | The Fertile Womb of Tamiḻttāy |
| • | The Nourishing Milk of Tamiḻttāy |
| • | The pitiful Tears of Tamiḻttāy |
| • | Profiling the Filial Devotee |
| • | The Ideology of Somatic Devotion |
| • | Tamil as Maiden: Erotics of Tamil Devotion |
| • | On the Feminization of Language |
| • | Visualizing Tamiḻttāy |
| • | Notes |
| 4. Laboring for Language |
| 5. To Die For |
| 6. Conclusion |
| Abbreviations |
| Plates |
| References |