Rural Community and Conservatism in Thai short stories during 1987-1996

Abstract

Although scholars have attempted to explain that Thai literary works during 1987-1996  were a legacy of "literature for life," a significant portion of these works actually lean  conservative. This article explains the conservative characteristics in the selected short stories from this period. The article shows that these stories share similar attitudes and tones—namely, they represent modernization as unsafe, unsustainable, and even threatening - particularly to rural communities. As a result,  people’s lives, moral systems, and culture are devalued and, culture is sometimes commodified and turned into capital for profit-seeking. For this reason, Thai writers emphasize, in their literary works, revisiting historical, social, and cultural roots as essential elements of the identity of rural communities.