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Chapter 3: Isan Comes to the Center
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62 Isan Comes to the Center The year 1963 marked the beginning of a new era for Thai literature, and even though Bangkok remained the literary center of the country, Isan and Isan writers played a major role in this new era. FM Thanom Kittikachorn took power after Sarit’s death, and the so-called “dark age” began to lift. Intellectual activity gradually came out into the open again as economic growth fueled an expansion of the education system.1 Rapid social change and dislocation gave rise to new problems without easy or obvious solutions. Students and other young intellectuals questioned their society, and their own place in it,2 as well as the world in general. They sought ways of understanding, and then improving, what they saw around them. This combination of conditions prevailed in a time that came to be known as Yuk Sawaeng Ha, the Era of Search. Certain individuals, groups, and activities have become emblematic of the times. In 1963, Sulak Sivarak founded the journal Sangkhomsat Parithat (Social Science Review), and his wide-ranging commentary as well as his “defense of Thai political and cultural autonomy from excessive American influence won him a small, but increasingly influential, youthful intellectual following.”3 In addition, the journal’s coverage of issues and ideas related to poverty, agriculture, and development contributed to an interest in conditions in the Thai countryside. As time went on, this interest focused increasingly on Isan, a region hitherto largely ignored in Bangkok. CHAPTER 3 1 Benedict Anderson, “Introduction,” in In the Mirror, ed. Benedict Anderson and Ruchira Mendiones (Bangkok: Duang Kamol, 1985). 2 Manas Chitakasem, “The Development of Political and Social Consciousness in Thai Short Stories,” in The Short Story in South East Asia: Aspects of a Genre, ed. J.H.C.S. Davidson and H. Cordell (London: SOAS, 1982), pp. 87–8. 3 Anderson, “Introduction,” p. 26. 4 For further discussion of these groups, see ภิญโญ กองทอง, “จาก ‘พระจันทร์เ ยว,’ ‘หนุ่มเหน้าสาวสวย’ ถึง วรรณกรรมเพื่อชีวิต,” in กัณหา แสงรายา และ เจษฎา ทองรุ่งโรจน์, บ.ก. ปริทรรศน์วรรณกรรมไทยสมัยใหม่. กรุงเทพฯ: มูลนิธิสถาบันวิชาการ ๑๔ ตุลา, 2546. 5 Anderson, “Introduction”, p. 28. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid. 8 Surachai Janthimathorn, Interview, March 6, 2000, London. 9 วิทยากร เชียงกูล, “บันทึกของผู้เขียนในการพิมพ์ค งแรก,” in ฉันจึงมาหาความหมาย. นนทบุรี: พระจอมเกล้าวิทยาลัยเทคนิค, 2517, p. 39. 10 Surachai Janthimathorn, Interview, May 14, 1999, Bangkok. The general intellectual appetite characteristic of the Era of Search was both expressed and influenced by two groups of intellectual artists and writers.4 One of these, calling itself Num Nao Sao Suay (in Anderson’s rendering, “The Young and the Beautiful”),5 associated with Silapakorn University, was more artistically and culturally oriented and demonstrated a certain nationalistic, conservative, even radical conservative sensibility. As Anderson notes, the members of this group “strongly championed an echt ‘Old Siamese’ culture and literature.”6 Thus it is not surprising that no Isan writers were part of this group and that its relevance for Isan was minimal. However, the other well-known group, Phra Jan Siow (The Crescent Moon), was more eclectic in its interests and membership, and included at least three Isan writers: Surachai Janthimathorn, Prasert Jandam, and Tak Wongrath. Although Anderson describes the group as “young writers associated with Thammasat University” and “under the intellectual leadership of Suchart Sawatsi,”7 in fact there was no real head per se, and not all those involved had a connection to Thammasat.8 Phra Jan Siow concerned itself with a wide range of international intellectual movements and their relevance to literature, including surrealism, existentialism, symbolism, realism, and Marxism and other leftist politics. At the same time, the group also criticized the notion that all good things came from the West, objecting to “the old attitude that only Farang can do things well.”9 Questioning authority and the relationship of people to their society were popular themes. According to Surachai, those involved in the group were friends and, although of different ages, did not call one another by the kin terms that Thais normally use to acknowledge elders.10 A classic work of the period, written by Witthayakorn Chiengkun, one of the better-known members of the group, is Chan Jeung Ma Ha Khwammai (Thus I Come to Look for Meaning). This collection of poetry, short stories, and plays, many of which question the methods, purposes, and efficacy of the Thai university, The Next Generation 63 ส [3.239.57.87] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 14:17 GMT) 64 Isan Writers, Thai Literature was shocking at the time but also expressed feelings that were widely held among young intellectuals. This search for meaning and scrutiny of society and its institutions was for many initially a wide and unfocused pursuit. However, as time...