Journal of Letters

Editorial

2026-06-30T21:08:04+07:00

Understanding and Critiquing the Discourse of Gender Ideology

2025-05-02T15:36:20+07:00

This article analyzes and critiques the concept of gender ideology, using Colette Colfer’s Gender Ideology as a Religion as a case study, to examine and respond to critiques that portray gender ideology as a political religion, one that allegedly rejects scientific knowledge and opposes freedom of debate on gender issues. The article first explores the philosophical foundations of transgender thought and its distinctions from feminism and queer theory. It then introduces the origins of the gender ideology discourse with relevant examples to analyze the structure of these accusations. Alongside this, it presents the perspectives of transgender advocates, primarily drawing on the philosophical framework of Talia Bettcher. Finally, it compares these critiques with Elisabeth Young-Bruehl’s concept of the ideology of desire, demonstrating how critiques framed through the discourse of gender ideology often rely on a biased structure that conflates psychological and social anxieties from other domains with transgender issues, ultimately failing to advance genuine discussions on the topic.

Using Sounds for Propaganda in the Sarit–Thanom Government Era, 1960s

2025-12-22T09:29:53+07:00

This article proposes that since sounds are related to human perception, they can be tool of government for propaganda. In the context of Thai society, the use of sounds for propaganda in the Sarit–Thanom government era deserves attention because these sounds continue to circulate and be reproduced in the present day. A study of the history of sounds and propaganda under the Sarit–Thanom governments in the 1960s shows that advances in sound dissemination systems – which have developments from the previous decade - enabled the government to use sound effectively for leading people in the Cold War situation. Both Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat’s sound in radio broadcasts and the sounds in propaganda films. Moreover, sounds could be chosen and adapted to align with the government’s objectives, especially sounds in war, which had an impact on security. Ultimately, these sounds have remained embedded and continue to reverberate in the auditory nerve of Thai society.

Happiness Metaphors in Buddhist Monks’ Books:

2025-08-29T14:44:13+07:00

This research article aims to analyze the metaphors of happiness found in six books authored by Thai Buddhist monks, employing the frameworks of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and Metaphor Scenario. The findings reveal that monks conceptualize happiness through diverse metaphors with positive, neutral, and negative evaluative dimensions, with the most prominent being [HAPPINESS IS AN OBJECT], which is further elaborated into scenarios such as [TRUE HAPPINESS IS AN OBJECT: AN IDEAL ENTITY], [HAPPINESS IS AN OBJECT: A POSSESSION], and [HAPPINESS IS AN OBJECT: TRASH/UNWANTED/WORTHLESS MATTER]. Other metaphors include [HAPPINESS IS A VALUABLE ENTITY], [HAPPINESS IS A JOURNEY], [HAPPINESS IS A DANGEROUS ENTITY], and [HAPPINESS IS A PERSON]. These metaphorical uses reflect monks’ perspectives on happiness in Buddhist thought, emphasizing the distinction between worldly and spiritual happiness, corresponding to ordinary happiness and true happiness, while also suggesting that worldly happiness and suffering are inseparable, and that true happiness lies in detachment and the attainment of Nirvana. Overall, the study demonstrates that metaphors in monks’ writings are not only linguistic strategies to make abstract concepts more tangible but also essential tools for conveying Buddhist teachings, fostering profound understanding, and persuading readers to pursue the path leading to genuine and enduring happiness.

Behavioral Analysis of Dracula through the Dark Triad Personality Theory

2026-04-20T12:14:38+07:00

This research aims to analyze the behavioral pathology of the character Dracula through the framework of the Dark Triad personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, and psychopathy. Using a qualitative approach, the study employs interpretive content analysis of Bram Stoker's Dracula, a novel published in 1897. The findings reveal that Dracula’s psychological structure aligns comprehensively with deviant human behaviors, characterized by emotional coldness as its core. In terms of narcissism, Dracula exhibits grandiosity and a sense of entitlement rooted in his ancestral pride. Machiavellianism is evident through his strategic planning, the use of fear to manipulate victims, and a “disposable asset strategy” once his objectives are met. Lastly, psychopathy is reflected in his extreme callousness and a profound lack of remorse, particularly in scenes involving the cold-blooded killing of the innocent.

This study transitions the image of Dracula from a supernatural monster to a behavioral model, facilitating an understanding of the “red flags” associated with “social predators” in contemporary contexts. Furthermore, the study suggests expanding future research into the Dark Tetrad by incorporating sadism to further elucidate the character’s cruelty.

The Portrayal of Single Mother Characters in Contemporary Malay Short Films:

2025-11-21T09:21:38+07:00

This article examines the portrayal of single mothers in the short films StigMa Lea and Kabut Semalam through feminist textual analysis, framed by third-wave feminism and Islamic feminism, to analyze the “agency” exercised by Malay Muslim women in contrasting contexts. In StigMa Lea, Lea, clearly situated within Singapore’s urban setting, reconstructs her identity as a “single mom” while rejecting the label “janda” (divorced woman), thereby challenging patriarchal norms. In contrast, In Kabut Semalam, Mastura, a widow residing in rural Malaysia, employs silence and faith as strategies to negotiate social stigma. Both characters illustrate that motherhood does not require a marital partnership but constitutes a form of leadership grounded in love, responsibility, and the dignified upbringing of children. This analysis argues that contemporary Malay films are reshaping the image of single mothers from women who need to be “completed” to women who possess inherent power and self-worth.

Lexical Translation Strategies in Institutional and Cultural Discourses:

2026-04-20T15:26:48+07:00

This study examines lexical translation strategies from Chinese into Thai within institutional and cultural discourse. The data comprise 91 bilingual articles from the CATTI Thai public account, covering topics such as politics, international cooperation, economy, education, technology, environment, and culture. The analysis is based on Newmark’s (1988) translation theory, together with the classification of translation strategies, methods, and techniques proposed by Venuti (1995) and Xiong (2014). A mixed-methods approach was employed, combining qualitative analysis with descriptive statistics. The results indicate that the most frequently used strategies are literal translation, hybrid translation and the use of established terminology, particularly in institutional texts containing policy-related vocabulary. Free translation plays an important role in conveying abstract concepts, while transliteration is mainly applied to proper nouns and internationally recognized terms. Cultural equivalence is found primarily in festival- and culture-related content. The findings also reveal a clear relationship between the level of formality and the choice of translation strategies: institutional discourse emphasizes accuracy, formality, and alignment with policy-oriented language, whereas cultural discourse allows more adaptive strategies to enhance clarity and contextual understanding. These findings reflect the professional nature of translation in the CATTI examination context, which requires a balance between terminological accuracy, formal register, and communicative appropriateness, and offer useful implications for exam preparation, Chinese–Thai translation pedagogy, and future research

Aware but Unchanged:

2026-02-03T10:06:28+07:00

This study examines how Indonesian audiences perceive LGBTQIA+ representations in GMMTV Boys' Love series and to what extent such exposure produces attitudinal change toward LGBTQIA+ communities. A quantitative descriptive survey of 333 respondents, analyzed through Finnemore and Sikkink's (1998) norm diffusion theory, Acharya's (2004) localization framework, and Hall's (1980) encoding/decoding model, reveals a consistent pattern of reception-level acceptance alongside limited internalization. At the reception stage, large majorities acknowledge that GMMTV BL series influence their general perspective (78.0%), endorse the quality of its LGBTQIA+ representations (77.8%), and credit it with enhancing their understanding of LGBTQIA+ issues (67.5%). However, far fewer report meaningful attitudinal change toward LGBTQIA+ communities at the individual level (22.8%) or attribute tolerance-building capacity to BL at the societal level (31.5%). This sharp divergence between reception-level acceptance and internalization-level change constitutes the study's principal finding: Indonesian audiences are broadly receptive to LGBTQIA+ representations in GMMTV BL series but do not translate that receptivity into substantive normative revision. The findings contribute empirical evidence that media exposure and norm internalization operate as separable processes in transnational popular culture reception, consistent with localization dynamics in conservative cultural contexts.

A Study of Lotus Images in Chinese Classical Poetry

2025-06-20T09:59:28+07:00

Although there has been some research on images of lotus flowers in specific pieces of Chinese poetry in the past, no studies have explored the use of lotus imagery in Chinese poetry comprehensively. This research thus aims to study images of the lotus in Chinese classical poetry throughout its history and explore what these images are meant to convey. Poems featuring lotus flowers, appearing in various Chinese poems from the “Chinese Text Project”, an online database of the People’s Republic of China comprising collections of anthologies of Chinese poetry, were collected and analyzed. The results show that the construction of lotus imagery may be divided into three major groups: lotus imagery related to people, lotus imagery related to the description of natural landscapes, and lotus imagery conveying emotions and feelings. We also find that analogy, metaphor, and simile are the literary devices frequently used in the construction of such imagery. This study finds that even though the use of lotus imagery may vary depending on different perspectives of each individual poet, the construction of such lotus imagery divided into the three major groups listed above remains consistent throughout the history of Chinese classical poetry.