SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis explores the reinvention of Thainess (khwam pen Thai) or national Thai identity in Thai literature after 2006, the year of the coup which overthrew Thaksin Shinawatra and led to decades-long political and ideological clashes. At the same time, the impact of globalisation and new telecommunication technology have changed the Thai political and socio-cultural landscapes. Arguably, the monopoly from the state-constructed discourse of being Thai has been contested and negotiated. Signs of Thainess recreated in popular fiction exhibit cultural hybridisation beyond the national border. Accordingly, this thesis questions the ways in which reinventions of Thainess in Thai literature after 2006 are represented and hybridised in relation to political contestation and globalisation including the impact of the Internet. This thesis deploys the interdisciplinary framework of reinvention, hybridity, embodiment, and Thainess to conduct textual and contextual analyses. Primary data is selected from four signs of Thainess reinvented into four genres: (1) National history in the historical romance novel ;(2) The classical literature in Boys Love fanfiction ;(3) Folklore in the fantasy novel; and (4) Thai language in the dystopian novel. The findings reveal that the reinventions of Thainess present a notion of ‘hybridised Thainess.’ All texts showcase the hybridisation of traditional knowledge with new features from transnational flows. This hybridisation of narration reveals the hybridisation of the nation. These mixtures open up a ‘Third Space’ challenging the authenticity and authority of discursive Thainess and allowing playful voices to accept, contest, and negotiate with national culture influenced by both internal and international factors. For internal political conflict, the hybridity of Thainess resonates with political polarisation which demands that a ‘good person’ (khon di) calls for national unity (khwam samakkhi). These values are simultaneously challenged by the process of decentralisation and the empowerment of marginalised people in terms of gender, age, and ideology. For international factors, the strong ties of globalisation embedded as part of Thai culture are undeniable. The Internet and new media have disrupted the dissemination of literary works and created innovative forms and genres of Thai literature.