Evaluate given metadata to a python object, if possible

def try_eval_metadata(metadata, name):
    """Evaluate given metadata to a python object, if possible"""
    value = metadata[name]
    if not isinstance(value, (str, unicode)):
        return
    if (value.startswith('"') and value.endswith('"')) or (value.startswith("'") and value.endswith("'")):
        if name in ['active', 'magic_args', 'language']:
            metadata[name] = value[1:-1]
        return
    if value.startswith('c(') and value.endswith(')'):
        value = '[' + value[2:-1] + ']'
    elif value.startswith('list(') and value.endswith(')'):
        value = '[' + value[5:-1] + ']'
    try:
        metadata[name] = ast.literal_eval(value)
    except (SyntaxError, ValueError):
        return