Sam Krung, Political Critique : The Themes and Techniques of Presentaion.

Abstract

This study analyzes the themes and techniques of presentation in the literary work Sam Krung by H.H Prince Bidyalankarana, the Gem Poet of the Rattanakosin Period. The Prince began writing Sam Krung in 1942, shortly after leadership of Thai government brought the country into World War II as an ally of the Axis Powers, and be completed the work in 1944, a time when it was already evident that the end of the war and the defeat of the Axis were close at hand. It is remarkable that despite the fact that during the writing of Sam Krung, the Prince was not in good health, recovering, as he was, from cataract surgery, and that the state of war made the situation in the country very grave, the Prince maintained his resolve and brought the work to completion. Prince Bidyalankarana derived the matter of Sam Krung from chronicle sources extending from the reign of King Ekathassana of the end of the Ayutthaya Period to that of king Rama VIII of the Rattanakosin Perod and interpolated throughout both implicitly and explicitly his own opinions and criticisms of the events and personalities. To appreciate the themes and techniques of presentation of Sam Krung, the researcher believes that in addition to the text of the work itself, it is also necessary to study the conditions in Thailand during the time of its writing and the biography of the author. Thus, these two topics are treated in Chapter 2, following the introduction to the study, which constitutes the first chapter. Utilizing this historical and biographical information and an appendix of the test, the researcher, in Chapter 3, analyzes the text of Sam Krung, and identifies a number of themes, the most important of which or the main theme is that of the Leader. In Chapter 4, the researcher presents an analysis of the techniques of presentation used in Sam Krung. It is found that Prince Bidyalankarana supported his main-theme using techniques of presentation embodying high literary skill appropriate to the state country at the time of the work’s composition. Chapter 5 summarizes the analyses of the themes and techniques of presentation in Sam Krung from beginning to end.