Page 110 - The lraternational Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand.indd

The International Journal of the Royal Society of Thailand
Volume XV-2023

Sanskrit. He also knew modern Western and Asian foreign languages as well as their
literature and history, so that he had a rich Euro-Asian background for his work with
Marxism. This gave his literary-critical writings and his literary contributions partic-
ular credibility for many contemporary literary critics as well as those from the young-
er generation.

Chit Bhumisak was accused of being a communist by the military government
of Field Marshall Sarit Thanarat. In May 1965, Chit went “into the woods” in order to

take part in the revolutionary fight of the farmers and workers together with the
Communist Party of Thailand. His sole resolution was to fight together with the
“people”. On 5 May 1966 he was shot dead in the woods in a province of north-eastern
Thailand.

With this the previously more literary socialist battle of the Thai people gained
a new realism and became for many a political reality.

4. Littérature engagée in Thailand in Revolutionary Years 1973-1976
I have given an overview of the preconditions of the littérature engagée in

Thailand before 1973. We have recognized that the genesis of the littérature engagée
in Thailand was not primarily the fate of the proletariat or the oppression of the
military dictator. It was more the inhuman and unjust treatment of farmers and people
upcountry by government officers. However, the political situation changed under the
regime of General Sarit Thanarat 1958-1963, and the intensification of the dictatorship
of General Thanom Kittikachon and Prapat Charusatien that prepared the path for the

student uprising in October 1973.

The social-political problems which could not be solved became part of a process
of literary creativity. This period was considered as “the age of chaos”, also “the age
in search for the meaning of life” as illustrated in a poem by Wittayakorn Chiengkul :
1
ฉัันเยาว์์ ฉัันเขลา ฉัันทึ่่�ง
ฉัันจึ่ง มาหา คว์ามหมาย
ฉัันหว์ัง เก็็บอะไร ไปมาก็มาย

สุุดทึ่้ายให้ก็ระดาษฉัันแผ่่นเดียว์
Wittayakorn Chiengkul, 1968

1 Actually, this stanza is a part of a 7-stanza-poem “เพลงเถื่่�อนแห่่งสถื่าบััน” (Vulgar-Song of University) by
Wittayakorn Chiengkul, at the time a third-year student of Thammasat University. The poem was first
published in the newspaper “Yung Thong”, 27 June 2511 B.E./1968, later in a book of short stories and
th
poem “Chan Jueng Maha Kwam Mai” (ฉัันจึึงมาห่าความห่มาย), 2514 B.E./1971, and was reprinted twelve times
between 2515-2542 B.E. Compare: http://dynamic.psu.ac.th/economics.psu.ac.th/mab/001_newslist_7.
html

102 “Littérature engagée” in Thailand in the Revolutionary Years from 1973 to 1976