Until the drama
A simple engraved text symbolizes just how closely related politics and literature are. An act of independence, the first trace of an alphabet and the story of the birth of a nation, the Ramkhamhaeng stele is all these things in one. It recalls how, in the 13thcentury , the Thais - who had arrived from China four centuries earlier - freed themselves from Khmer domination and seized Sukhothai, then a Mon possession. It evokes the memory of a sovereign, son of the first king, who composed his own writing system, inspired by the Khmer alphabet, itself derived from Devanagari, used in particular to transcribe Sanskrit. Finally, it recounts the emergence of a Thai dynasty - the first in Southeast Asia - as well as the harmony that reigned in the city and the place given to Buddhism. Ramkhamhaeng's grandson, Lü Thaï, who died around 1374, composed the Trai Phum Phra Ruang. In this cosmogonic treatise, he depicts "three worlds" - sensuality(kamaphum), pure form(rupaphum) and the intangible(arupaphum) - the beings that inhabit them and, at the end of the road, Nirvana. Beyond its religious significance, this text supports a political power that is about to waver. Ramathibodi I (born U Thong in 1314) founded his own kingdom in 1351, taking Ayutthaya as his capital and soon annexing Sukhothai. The Dharmashastra, a legislative code in force until the early 19th century, remains the legacy of this ruler.
This new empire, which we know as Siam, flourished and popularized two important texts whose written versions, however, only date from the 19th century: the Ramakien and the Khun Chang Khun Phaen. The first is the Thai version of the Ramayana, the founding myth of Hinduism. It was certainly via the Khmers, who themselves inherited it from Java, that the Thais learned of this epic, which they then transposed into their own culture and territory. The second is a legend, perhaps born in the 16th century, exploiting the themes of amorous rivalry and class struggle. Siam survives the destruction of Ayutthaya by the Burmese, and power shifts to Thonburi, now Bangkok. It was here that the Ramakien was transcribed in its definitive form during the reign of Rama I, who composed four episodes himself, and the Khun Chang Khun Phaen by the sovereign Rama II, with the support of the poet Sunthorn Phu, a true precursor of the literature to come. This new dynasty, made up of literati, was keen to rebuild a written literary heritage, as the sacking of Ayutthaya had left the country bereft of its religious, historical and legislative archives. This effervescence, along with intensifying contacts with the West, opened up the possibility of creation, in which a number of authors, some of whom we are now able to discover in our own language, rushed to the forefront.
Reconstruction and creation
Rama I (1737-1809) and Rama II (1767-1827) therefore invested a great deal of effort in the field of letters, but their efforts would not have been so fruitful had they not been accompanied by illustrious scholars. Thus, while the first king of the Chakri dynasty revised the Buddhist canon The Three Baskets(Tipitaka) and composed a new penal code(The Book of Three Seals), his Minister of Commerce, Chaophraya Phrakhlang, was busy translating. He made the Burmese chronicle Razadarit Ayedawbon and the Chinese historical novel The Three Kingdoms available in Thai. He also drew inspiration from oral tradition for more personal works, such as the poem Kaki Klon Suphap about the amorous turpitude of a woman of devastating beauty, or, again in verse, a version of the Vessantara Jātaka, "Buddha's past life". Sunthorn Phu, born in 1786, officiated at Rama II's side. His biography is sketchy, though rich in events. It is said that, at the age of 17 or 18, he had an affair with one of the court servants, which could have led to his death sentence had his father not intervened to get him out of this predicament. In gratitude, he visited his father's native village, where he composed his first nirat (poetry of departure, both geographical and amorous): Muang Klaeng. The nuptials eventually took place... but they were short-lived. Sunthorn Phu then fell into alcoholism, and even if his escapades didn't affect his career - he became Rama II's favorite poet - they did earn him a few enmities and prison sentences. It was here that he began his masterpiece, still studied today at school, Phra Aphai Mani, a long fantasy epic of almost 30,000 verses. His turbulent life led him to become a monk when his presence at the court of Rama III became undesirable, inspiring him to write new travel accounts, well-documented on the times and life in the countryside, but unfortunately unavailable in French. However, you can learn more about this whimsical man by visiting the museum dedicated to him in Bangkok.
Rama I and Rama II, father and son, were also theater enthusiasts, particularly in the lakhon nok (comedy) and lakhon nai ("indoor", performed exclusively by women) genres, which their successor, Rama III, had banned. Rama III did, however, promote literature, commissioning classical texts to be engraved on the walls of Wat Pho, one of Bangkok's largest temples, and commissioning his uncle, the religious Paramanuchitchinorot, to write translations and poems, including the famous Lilit Taleng Phai. Rama IV (1804-1868) returned to the theater, democratizing liké, a popular opera with plenty of room for improvisation that is still popular today. Under his reign, the pace quickened: printing was introduced in 1835, and the first publication in Thai characters was printed in a print run of 1,000 the following year. While these eight pages were intended to propagate Christian doctrine - missionaries were involved - this technique foreshadowed the development of the press.
At the same time, cultural links with the West were strengthening: Mom Rachothay, interpreter for the Siamese embassy, was sent to Queen Victoria's court in 1857; she returned with a Travel Diary of London(Nirat London). Young people began to travel abroad for their studies, bringing back new ideas that they shared in the ever-growing number of newspapers. King Rama V (1853-1910) continued to modernize the country, while respecting its traditions. He founded the National Museum in Bangkok, followed by the Wachirayan Library, and embarked on a number of journeys that took him as far as France in 1907, from where he wrote famous letters to his daughter. Under the reign of Rama VI, the opening-up of the literary scene continued: European authors were translated into Thai, and the novel made its appearance with two stories of thwarted love - Luk Phu Chai by Si Burapha and Sattru Khong Chao Lon by Dok Mai Sot - and a more autobiographical account in 1929: Lakon Haeng Chiwit(Life is a Theater) by Prince Akat Damkoeng. In it, he points out that the marriage between East and West is complicated, if not impossible. The colonists were at the Empire's doorstep, and despite cultural openness, political pressure was constant..
The opening
The fact remains that literature transcended the barriers erected around the royal court and began to reach all strata of the population. An evolution that has continued ever since, with writers themselves now coming from all social classes. They also crossed an even more difficult frontier: that of translation. The twentiethcentury has thus finally given us the chance to access Thai books, and while these can still be counted on the fingers of one hand, they may well multiply on the shelves of our bookshops in the near future. For the time being, Kulap Saipradit (1905-1974), better known by his pen name Siburapha, has already established himself as a classic with Sur le mont Mitaké, brilliantly published by Zoé. This short love story set in Japan offers a brief glimpse into the work of a man who was also a publisher, journalist and peace activist, which earned him a brush with the dictatorship. It was he who gave a chance to the prolix Chote Praepan (1907-1956), whose eight-volume historical novel Phu Chana Sib Thit has yet to be translated. Like him, Kukrit Pramoj (1911-1995) was of royal blood, but it was in politics that he made his career, abandoning journalism for the post of Prime Minister, which he held three times. Highly esteemed in his homeland, he wrote short stories, plays and novels, but only Plusieurs vies (published by L'Asiathèque) is available to us.
They were followed by two authors with the distinction of writing in English: Pira Sudham, born in 1942 in the north-east of the country but educated in Bangkok and then New Zealand, and S. P. Somtow, ten years his junior, who excelled in both classical music and literature. The former's Terre de mousson has been reprinted by Swiss publisher Olizane, the latter's science fiction books(La Trilogie de Timmy Valentine on Folio SF, Chroniques de l'inquisition by Denoël) and a semi-autobiographical novel, Galant de nuit, reprinted by Gope. Chart Korbjitti has twice won the Southeast Asian Writers' Prize, for La Chute de Fak in 1981 and Sonne l'heure in 1994, both available from Gope. He shares this distinction with Saneh Sangsuk, who was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 2014, having finally found success in our country after unsuccessful attempts in his own. He blends tradition and modernity, drawing inspiration from folk tales in a very contemporary style, never forgetting his rural origins, which he shares with Kanokphong Songsomphan(Priya: short stories, published by Gope), who died prematurely at the age of 40, in 2006. The new generation confirms the universal reach of Thai writers. Pitchaya Sudbanthad and Rattawut Lapcharoensap, born respectively in 1976 in Bangkok and 1979 in Chicago, have traveled extensively and write in English, even though their books evoke their homeland(Bangkok déluge for one, Café lovely for the other).
