CREMATION VOLUMES AND THE CHANGES IN THE THAI SOUTHERNERS’ EMOTIONS AND DREAMS OF HOPE, 1910S - 2010S

Abstract

The objective of this research was to study and analyze the cremation or funeral books of the Southern region from 1910s – 2010s, using a study based on the historical approach.

The results showed that the cremation books of the southern local societies from 1910s-2010s, were neither about presenting biographical information of the deceased nor providing historical evidence. But it was important in terms of the area of ​​​​thinking, emotions, feelings and dreams of hope which was related to the social, economic, political, and cultural context. Therefore, the cremation books of the southern local societies revealed the variation of emotions and dreams of the people in the south, which can be divided into 4 phases. the first period from 1917 to early 1947, the cremation volumes in southern societies reveal economic, social, and political changes connected directly with the modern state. The southerners importantly adapted to be knowledgeable and skillful in becoming “mechanisms of modern bureaucracy.” This adaptation penetrated deeply into the value system and the meaning of life for local people, linking their identity to the modern Thai state. The second period from the mid-1947 to 1967 was an era of making a “pattern” of pride in personal success and economic status. It represented the position of a progressive and successful life as a model for the next generation to follow. The third period from 1977 to 1987 presents the life-path highlighting the background of “country folk – rural people” but ones who could serve under the crown or attend to the modern production system. The last period started in 1997 and continues to the present. Here the cremation books are not only a meaningful space of the deceased, but they also become a space for the expression of honor, dignity, and positioning of those yet “living.”