The Mekong, Dark Jungle, Wild Woman and Gentle Man: Jao Mae Jamaree as an Imperialist Romance

Abstract

This article aimed to study Luang Vichit Vadakarn’s Jao Mae Jamaree as an Imperialist romance with a Postcolonial approach. It found that the novel is influenced by Western Imperialist romances in terms of fictional elements and Imperialist ideology. The author justifies symbolic procession over the Mekong region through a male protagonist who pioneers the lost city of Jamaree as a “virgin land” and socializes a female protagonist with Thainess. The decline of Jamaree at the end of the story implies the destruction of the otherness in the arena of the Thai empire. This concept subsequently became Luang Wichit Wathakan’s colonial discursive practice against neighboring countries during Phibulsongkhram’s regime. Ultimately, Jao Mae Jamaree reproduces discourses on the glory of the Thai empire throughout Imperialist logic tied with sexuality and subtle political connotations.