Symbolism and cultural history in Nikom Rayawa's fiction

Abstract

This study is an analysis of the symbols in Nikom Rayawa’s novels and short stories and an attempt to explore how they form a system that describes post-World War II Thailand similarly or differently from the images of Thailand that appear in mass media, government policies, and economic and political studies and histories. Its focus is on the cultural history of the country (specifically, ideology, mentality, and emotional impact) as implied by the sets of images rather than the economic or political history (which usually focuses on physical changes or physical impact). Comparison of the narratives told by the symbols in Nikom Rayawa’s work and by those offered by the government and media reveals that Nikom’s narratives are more inclusive of the environment in its depictions of Thailand, more elaborative on city-country connections than divisions, and more attentive of the psychological dimensions of cultural history than the physical.