Transforming Sangthong Literature into Popular Cultural Media

Abstract

This academic article aims to study the transformation of Sangthong literature into popular culture media. The result shows that the transformation of Sangthong literature has resulted in the development of the format from a Jataka tale, poetry plays and foreign dramas, to the literature in the textbook. Nowadays, there are five forms of popular culture in the media; 1) novels 2) cartoons 3) contemporary songs 4) drama soundtracks, and 5) Line Stickers. In terms of the content, there is a transformation into 1) novel: the characters and stories from Sangthong literature and other literature are mixed together, creatinga novel in the form of fan fiction of Thai literature; 2) Cartoon: some episodes and the entire story have been made into cartoons; 3) Contemporary songs: the distinctive characteristics of some characters and stories have been made into lyrics, and the composers have expressed their views in some songs; 4) The drama's soundtrack has two formats: presenting a mother's love for her child and reinterpreting the story of Sangthong according to the composer's point of view; 5) Line Stickers: characters have been transformed into cartoons with words or short messages representing feelings, including images, animations, and animations with sound. In summary, the transformation of literature is a process of inheriting and creating literature to endure forever.