Akat Damkeng (November 12, 1905 - May 18, 1932, Bangkok , Thailand ) is a Thai writer. Akat Damkeng is considered one of the founders of the realistic (neorealistic) trend in Thai literature that arose in the 40s. XX century. Akat Damkeng was born in Bangkok . He studied at the Faculty of Law in the UK , since 1924 he studied and worked in the United States [1] .
The central work in the work of Akat Damken is the novel “The Theater of Life” (published in 1928), which is considered an important milestone in the development of Thai literature. The novel is autobiographical. Akat Damkeng is the author of several collections of short stories: “Ruined Paradise”, “Cosmopolitan”. The main theme of the stories is the disappointment with capitalism and the dominance of the bourgeoisie in Western countries. Akat Damkeng believed that traditional Thai morality is the only right way to develop society. The novel "Yellow and White Skin", published in 1941 in Bangkok , also fully reflects the writer's worldview [2] .
Content
Theater of Life
The novel "Theater of Life" is considered the first biographical novel in Thai literature. The narrative is built in the form of a diary, conducted on behalf of a young woman who abandoned her lover for his career. The book consists of 24 chapters, each of which tells about a certain stage in a woman’s life: “Childhood”, “Accumulation of Merits”, “In the Governor’s House”, “Food Abroad”, “A New World Like Paradise”, “London”, “ New Life ”,“ Life in London ”,“ Theater of Life ”,“ What is happening on the stage of this “theater” ”, etc. From the diary we learn about the hopes and dreams of a young woman, about how Thai people perceived life and customs Europeans and Americans.
In the preface to the novel Theater of Life, Akat Damkeng writes: “I went to England to study law, but I did not pass exams and did not become a lawyer ... I returned to Thailand completely depressed and disappointed. I used to be a dreamer, a vain young man who did not believe that humiliation and suffering exist in human society ... The past will not return. I will never forget the "theater of life." A new story begins. I want her not to be as sad as the first ” [2] .
The novel often expresses the idea that the life of the West does not correspond to Thai ideals. This idea becomes the main one in many works of Akat Damken, in which he continues to develop his favorite theme of the “theater of life”. According to him, “life is like a theater ... The book will help us understand what is vulgar and noble in this life” [3] .
Yellow and White Skin
The novel "Yellow and White Skin" was released in 1941. Damkeng continues to develop the main idea of his first novel (“Theater of Life”): East and West will never understand each other. In the novel "Yellow and White Skin", the writer shows the life of the Thai intelligentsia, educated in European countries. In the Western world, the author mainly emphasizes selfishness, rudeness, inhumanity, contrasting them with the idealized moral qualities of Thai youth brought up on traditional religious morality [4] .
Ruined Paradise
In the novel "Ruined Paradise", which is considered the third part of the "Theater of Life", the author shows the reader the life of Thai youth. Young Thais who have traveled to the West are disappointed with life abroad and return to Thailand.
The problems raised in the novels of Akat Damken were further developed in the works of Luang Wichit Watakan (1898-1962), which in the 50s. XX century became a preacher of nationalist views in Thailand [5] .
Notes
- ↑ Surkov A.A. Brief Literary Encyclopedia: In 9 vols. - Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1962-1978.
- ↑ 1 2 Kornev V.I. Thai Literature. Short essay. - Moscow: Science, 1971.
- ↑ Thai Literature . Encyclopedia Round the world .
- ↑ Schweisguth P. Etude sur la littérature Siamoise. - Paris, 1951.
- ↑ Wenk K. Thai Literature: An Introduction .. - Bangkok: White Lotus, 1995.