Thai Classical Literature: A Postcolonial Revisit

Abstract

This article proposes a Postcolonial revisit to Thai classical literature. The texts used are Nirat and Khun Chang-Khun Phaen. The revisit is likely to unfold a power relation between the center and its periphery in Nirat, a Thai genre of travel writing. The poets construct the margin into an alien land conquered by the central power. In Khun Chang-Khun Phaen, the poets devalue Lao culture and utilize feminine weakness to represent “Laoness” whereas “Thainess” is depicted through masculine strength. The Postcolonial revisit of the selected texts could also illustrate the Thai conception of ‘otherness’ on ethnicity as well as the existence of power beneath the texts.