Thai Essence And Western Utility:Study On The Development Of Thai Female Images In Literature

In modern times,Thailand advocated “Thai essence and Western utility”,which means to focus on Thainess while developing modern Western management and technology.It aimed to learn Western civilization on the premise of maintaining its national culture.This idea was also reflected in the creation of female images in modern novels.Women were expected to show “Thainess”,which means they must have traditional femininity which was mainly constructed by the social elites.Influenced by different cultures,the upper-class women and the civilian women in ancient Thailand were in different ethical environments,so their images in literature were quite different.First of all,the “Ougui” marriage custom widely existing in Thai folk inherited the culture of matriarchal society,in which the civilian women were independent,free and had relatively high family status and social status.In “Ougui” marriage,women were free in love,independent in marriage,and were not constrained by the concept of chastity.After getting married,the husband should move to live with his wife,and the wife would play a leading role in the family.Therefore,the power of civilian women was appreciated and that has been reflected in some folk literature,in which female images were shaped as bold and open with strong individual awareness and leadership abilities.However,since the compilation of ancient Thai literature history was mainly about the Royal Thai literature,the experience of civilian women throughout history was marginalized to some extent.What later generations knew about ancient Thai women was mainly based on the Royal Thai literature.Secondly,the upper class society was influenced by Brahmanism,which advocated the idea that men were superior to women.As a result,in the works of male authors who had the final say,female images in the Royal literature were often modeled as foil.An ideal woman should be beautiful,virtuous and loyal,while infidelity is regarded as the most unforgivable moral defect.As the boundary between social class became vaguer,the moral demands about the upper-class women gradually turned secularization.As the main writers and consumers of literature at that time,the bourgeoisie hoped that women would play their due roles while maintaining loyal and chaste.When social elites in modern and contemporary times publicized “Thainess” and preserved traditional ethics and rites,such perceptions of females were regarded as the traditional femininity of Thai women and continued to develop in modern novels.In the process of modernization,although mainstream advocated learning Western civilization,it must be achieved without damaging the "good things" of the nation-“Thainess”,so Western civilization was considered acceptable but threatening at the same time.Reflected in modern novels,the admired woman can be modern,but she must show the traditional female traits,the essential difference between Thai women and their Western counterparts.On the other hand,deviant and over-Western women were regarded as dangerous.