Sangangamsakun, Thirayut (2021) Trans-Victorian : rewriting Victorian fiction in Thailand. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Despite its claim to have never been officially colonized, Victorian England had a tremendous influence on Thailand — economically and culturally — especially after the signing of the Bowring Treaty in 1855. When the first generation of Thai royal scholars started to return home from England in the 1890s, they played an important role in conveying Victorian literature into the country. In the following decades the works of Marie Corelli, H. Rider Haggard, Arthur Conan Doyle, and William Le Queux, among others, enjoyed popularity in Thailand. As the book publishing industry rapidly expanded in the 1920s, the Thai literary sphere was flooded by translations, adaptations, and imitations of the Victorian novel. This flood ushered in a ‘chaos in Thai letters’, and it was not until 1929 that the Thai novel proper began to consolidate. This thesis focuses on recovering the direct links between Victorian Britain and Thailand in the production, consumption, and appropriation of Victorian fiction. Grappling with transgender studies, book history, translation studies, and the world-literary system, I dive into the chaos to scrutinize what I shall call the trans-Victorian: the makeover of modern Thai literature via textual manipulations and Victorian literary elements. Trans-Victorian, hyphenated, embodies the non-binary, ambiguity, and deception, and will open a new space for discussion on literary hybridity and serve to connect the different literary spheres. The thesis will tackle this complex category, providing a nuanced understanding of both Thai and Victorian literature in the evolving field of world literature.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman P Language and Literature > PL Languages and literatures of Eastern Asia, Africa, Oceania P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0080 Criticism P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Thailand -- Civilization -- English influences, English literature -- 19th century -- Translations into Thai -- History and criticism, English literature -- 19th century -- Adaptations, Transgender people in literature
Official Date:	April 2021
Dates:	Date Event April 2021 UNSPECIFIED
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Forman, Ross G.
Sponsors:	Mahāwitthayālai Chīang Mai
Format of File:	pdf
Extent:	184 leaves : illustrations
Language:	eng

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