Beyond East Asian Landscapes: A Survey of Ecocriticism in Thai Literary Studies

Abstract

Ecocriticism is the study of the representation of the environment and ecological issues in works of literature, film, and popular culture. Recent developments in East Asian ecocriticism have begun to focus on literature in Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan. This paper asks the research question: What is the status of ecocriticism, as a scholarly field, in Thai literary studies? The objective of the study was three-fold: (1) to understand the academic position and development of ecocriticism in Thai literary studies; (2) to identify literary works (selecting from poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction) that have received critical attention; and (3) to outline potential directions for ecocriticism in Thailand, considering the unique natural environments of the country and the literary and/or activist traditions of Thai writers.