Abstract:
This research aims to study the representation of Queen Suriyothai in Thai literary works written in the Rattanakosin period by focusing on representations of Queen Suriyothai, narrative techniques adopted for constructing and representing the representations and the conceptual or ideological factors related to the construction of the representations. It is found that "Queen Suriyothai" were constructed and represented in Thai literature by means of narrative techniques, resulting in various representations, depending on how her death in the battlefield was interpreted and defined. Some of the representations were correlated to some concepts and ideologies in the Thai society. The representations of Queen Suriyothai can be categorized into two main groups: (1) a perfect wife and (2) a heroine of Ayudhaya. Each group consists of different representations manifesting various dimensions of Queen Suriyothai. In each literary text, there can be more than one representation. However, usually there is only one main representation. The literary techniques adopted for constructing and representing the representations of Queen Suriyothai are using themes and plots, characterization, focalization, allusion, and lexical selection. The concepts or ideologies that have certain influence upon the construction of the representations of Queen Suriyothai include nationalistic ideology, royalist ideology and the ideology of desirable women.