The Transformation of Meanings of Ghosts in Thai Soap Operas

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Transformation of Meanings of Ghosts in Thai Soap Operas THE TRANSFORMATION OF MEANINGS OF GHOSTS IN THAI SOAP OPERAS Jithiwadee Wilailoy A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Communication Arts and Innovation) School of Communication Arts and Management Innovation National Institute of Development Administration 2015 ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation The Transformation of Meanings of Ghosts in Thai Soap Operas Author Miss Jithiwadee Wilailoy Degree Doctor of Philosophy (Communication Arts and Innovation) Year 2015 The main objective of the research “The Transformation of Meanings of Ghosts in Thai Soap Operas” is to study the construction of ghosts’ meaning and the transformation of ghosts in Thai soap opera through textual analysis according to narratology. The study focused on the soap operas related to ghost during 1987 – May 2014. Twelve soap operas in total were chosen to be studied in this research. The study revealed that the meanings’ transformation of ghosts in Thai soap opera is the effect of the kind of media called “TV soap opera” that constructs the ghosts’ meaning through the narrative compositions such as genre, narrative structure, character typology, theme and iconography. The ghosts’ meaning is transformed and divided into two parts. First is the convention where the transformation of ghosts is being broadcasted and reproduced which reflects that ghosts are scary, powerful, different from human (otherness) and binding to the law of karma. The second part is the invention where the ghosts’ meaning is constructed from the understanding of the differences of individuals and the reconstruction through variety of narrative compositions such as intertextuality, pastiche, nostalgia, discontinuity, reproduction, implosion of meaning, hyperreal and simulation. Consequently, the ghosts’ meaning that is repeatedly portrayed in Thai society has changed or been transformed. For example, ghosts are not powerful, ghosts exploits human for their own hidden agenda and ghosts are able to live with human. iv These changes also reflect the changes in human perspective towards ghosts. Ghosts have become the symbol of the different kind in the society. Moreover, the transformation of ghosts also weaken the ancient ideal and belief about ghosts in Thai society. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor, Assistant Professor Dr. Asawin Nedpogaeo, for his valuable advice, encouragement, motivation, enthusiasm and guidance in making this dissertation a successful one. I could not have imagined having a better advisor and mentor of my PhD study. Besides my advisor, I owe my deepest gratitude to the countless guidance of the members of the supervisory committee: Associate Professor Thiranan Anawajsiriwong and Associate Professor Dr. Kullatip Satararuji for their thoughtful comments and suggestions. My sincere thanks also dedicated to the “Rajabhat Phetchaburi University” and Faculty of Management Science for their sponsorship. And special thanks to the faculty members in the Graduated School of Communication Arts and Management Innovation, especially Ph.D. batch#1, for sharing their invaluable knowledge and all faculty staff for their cooperation. In addition, I would like to thank my beloved parents, for taking very good care of everything extremely. My completion of this dissertation could not have been accomplished without their support and understanding through the duration of my studies. Last, I also thanks all the ghosts everywhere. I know you are definitely out there. Jithiwadee Wilailoy October 2015 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT iii ACKNOWLEDMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vi LIST OF TABLES viii LIST OF FIGURES x CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Background and Significance of the Research 1 1.2 Research Questions 9 1.3 Objectives of the Study 9 1.4 Definitions 10 1.5 Scope of Study 11 1.6 Benefits of the Study 11 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW AND APPROACHES 12 2.1 Beliefs of Ghosts in Thai Society 12 2.2 Narratology and Narration in Soap Opera 16 2.3 Narration in Soap Opera 19 2.4 Semiology and Semiology in Soap Opera 28 2.5 Social Construction of Reality 42 2.6 Post Structuralism and the Meaning Deconstruction 43 2.7 Related Research 49 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 55 3.1 Population and Sample Used in the Research 55 3.2 Data Collection Tools 58 3.3 Data Collection 60 3.4 Data Collecting Tools 60 vii 3.5 Data Analysis 60 3.6 Conceptual Framework 61 3.7 Data Presentation 61 CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS 63 4.1 The story in Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera 63 4.2 Narratives Structure / Features in Thai Ghosts Soap Opera 76 4.3 Character Typology in Thai Ghosts Soap Opera 109 4.4 Theme in Thai Ghosts Soap Opera 145 4.5 Iconography in Thai Ghosts Soap Opera 158 CHAPTER 5 RESEARCH RESULTS 191 5.1 The Construction of Ghosts’ meaning in Context and Structure 191 5.2 The Transformation of Ghosts in TV Soap Opera 206 through Discourse CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 213 6.1 Conclusion 213 6.2 Discussion 221 6.3 Recommendations 227 6.4 Implimentation 229 BIBILOGRAPHY 231 APPENDICES 238 Appendix A 239 BIOGRAPHY 261 LIST OF TABLES Tables Page 2.1 Propp’s Functions 24 2.2 The Narrative Structure Approach 25 2.3 Seven Dramatis Personae in Propp’s Scheme 26 2.4 The Levels of Encoding and Details 35 3.1 Genre of Thai TV Ghost Soap Operas from 1987 – May 2014 57 3.2 The Selected Sample of Twelve Ghost Soap Operas as for the Study 58 4.1 Exposition in Thai Soap Opera 76 4.2 Rising Action in Thai Soap Opera 87 4.3 Climax in Thai Soap Opera 95 4.4 Falling Action in Thai Soap Opera 99 4.5 Ending in Thai Soap Opera 104 5.1 The Combination of Genre in Ghost Soap Opera 193 5.2 The Construction of Ghosts’ Meaning from the Narratives in 204 Thai Soap Opera 5.3 The Transformation of Ghosts’ Meaning from the Narratives in 205 Thai Soap Opera 6.1 The Conclusion of Plot Exposition in Thai Soap Opera 213 6.2 The Conclusion of Racing Action in Thai Soap Opera 214 6.3 The Conclusion of Climax in Thai Soap Opera 214 6.4 The Conclusion of Falling Action in Thai Soap Opera 215 6.5 The Conclusion of Ending in Thai Soap Opera 215 6.6 Demographic Characteristic of Ghosts in Thai Soap Opera 216 6.7 Physical Characteristic of Ghosts in Thai Soap Opera 216 6.8 Background / Cause of Death of Ghosts in Thai Soap Opera 217 ix 6.9 Mental Characteristic of Ghosts in Thai Soap Opera 217 6.10 Subjugations’ Weapon of Ghosts in Thai Soap Opera 218 6.11 The Human Character in Thai Soap Opera 218 6.12 The Themes in Thai Soap Opera 219 6.13 Time and Place in Thai Soap Opera 219 6.14 Iconography in Thai Soap Opera 220 LIST OF FIGURES Figures Page 2.1 The Change of the Study upon Narration from Literature to 17 Mass Media 2.2 Saussure’s Elements of Meaning 29 2.3 Barthes’s Myths 30 2.4 Peirce’s Categories of Sign-Types 33 3.1 Genre of Thai Soap Opera 56 3.2 Conceptual Framework of the Meanings’ Transformation in Thai 61 soap opera 4.1 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Parp Arthun 64 4.2 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Tha Yard Asul 65 4.3 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Srisa Marn 66 4.4 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Gerd Tae Chard Pang Nhai 67 4.5 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Susarn Khon Pen 68 4.6 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Susarn Khon Pen 69 4.7 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Susarn Khon Pen 70 4.8 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Rong Ram Phi 71 4.9 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Jong Kol King Tien 72 4.10 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Rak Boon 73 4.11 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Ruen Kalong 74 4.12 Thai TV Ghost Soap Opera, Wieng Roi Dao 75 4.13 Exposition by Introducing Character / Places in Parp Arthan 78 4.14 Exposition by Introducing Character / Places in Jong Kol 79 King Tien 4.15 Exposition by Introducting Character / Places in Srisa Marn 79 4.16 Exposition by Introducing Conflict or a Clue in Rak Boon 80 xi 4.17 Exposition by Introducing Conflict or a Clue in Susarn Khon Pen 81 4.18 Exposition by Introducing Conflict or a Clue in Wieng Roi Dao 81 4.19 Exposition by Introducing Conflict or a Clue in Gerd Tae Chard 82 Pang Nai. 4.20 Exposition by Introducing the Dream of Oui in Tha Yard Asul 83 4.21 Exposition by Introducing the Inheritance Ritual 83 in Tha Yard Asul 4.22 Exposition by Introducing the Ritual in Rong Ram Phi 84 4.23 Exposition by Introducing Legendary in Phood Sao Proud Sanay 85 4.24 Human Turns into Good Ghost: Life After Death of Khun Nai 89 Lann Tom 4.25 Human Turns into Bad Ghost: Life After Death of Khun Nai 90 Laan Tom 4.26 Human Turns into Ghost: Life After Death of Kalong 91 4.27 Rising Action: Asul Khon’s Action is Planned due to 91 His Vengeance 4.28 Rising Action: Anon and Mutitha were Helping Each Other in 92 Gerd Tae Chard Pang Nai 4.29 Rising Action: Jetiya Helps all the Ghosts as They Wished 93 in Rak Boon 4.30 Rising Action: Meida Tried to Help Wieng Kaew Ghost in 94 Wieng Roi Dao 4.31 Love Triangle, Chedtha, Khun Prayong and Anonwadee in 97 Parp Arthan 4.32 Ghost’s Identity is Revealed in Srisa Marn 98 4.33 Asul Khon was Revenged by all the Souls that He Killed in 101 Tha Yard Asul 4.34 Kalong, Finally Let Go of the Blindness by Monk in Ruen Kalong 102 4.35 The Ghosts can Achieve Their Goal in Jongkol King Tien 104 4.36 Kalong Let Go of the Blindness and Left to Another World 106 4.37 Anon were Back to be a Man by Recarnation in Gerd Tae 107 Chard Pang Nai xii 4.38 Nisa were Back to be a Human by Recarnation in Phood Sao 107 Proud Sanay 4.39 The End which Leaves Curiosity in Srisa Marn 108 4.40 The Theptripatrasul Necklace was Once Again Found in 108 Susarn Phu Taesuan 4.41 Ghost Character: Khun Prayong in Parp Arthun 110 4.42 Ghost Character:
Recommended publications
  • Women As Hungry Ghost Figures and Kitchen God in Selected Amy Tan's
    International Journal of Business and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 15; August 2011 FOOD, FAMILY AND DESIRE:-WOMEN AS HUNGRY GHOST FIGURES AND KITCHEN GOD IN SELECTED AMY TAN’S NOVELS BELINDA MARIE BALRAJ Pusat PengajianUmum Dan Bahasa Universiti Pertahanan Nasional Malaysia Kem Sungai Besi, 57000 Kuala Lumpur Malaysia E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT This study focuses Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, and The Kitchen God’s Wife where communication within family members is accompanied by and sometimes enacted through food imagery. This study focuses specifically on hunger through imagery indicative of the Buddhist mythological figure known as the Hungry Ghost. However this study does not comply with the Zen Buddhism typical happy ending that promises ‘balance’ and ‘enlightenment’ but instead their stories coincide with Lacanian insights and describes the Chinese American experience as being more pessimistic, complex and less resolved. As the families in the novels eat and feed each other, they try to strive for balance but never quite reach their destination and are left unsatisfied. This study will then look at how women are depicted as Hungry Ghost through food imagery and dialogue in the selected novels. Keywords: women, representation, hungry ghost 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1THE THEORY OF LACAN One of the most glaring images found in Chinese literature is the representation of food and the role of the Hungry Ghost. According to Comiskey (1995), although the art of storytelling is a universal activity, much of its forms and contents depend on its cultural and historical contexts. Jacques Lacan insights can be applied in this study to further understand the depiction of food in the selected stories.
    [Show full text]
  • Umithesis Lye Feedingghosts.Pdf
    UMI Number: 3351397 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ______________________________________________________________ UMI Microform 3351397 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. _______________________________________________________________ ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vi INTRODUCTION The Yuqie yankou – Present and Past, Imagined and Performed 1 The Performed Yuqie yankou Rite 4 The Historical and Contemporary Contexts of the Yuqie yankou 7 The Yuqie yankou at Puti Cloister, Malaysia 11 Controlling the Present, Negotiating the Future 16 Textual and Ethnographical Research 19 Layout of Dissertation and Chapter Synopses 26 CHAPTER ONE Theory and Practice, Impressions and Realities 37 Literature Review: Contemporary Scholarly Treatments of the Yuqie yankou Rite 39 Western Impressions, Asian Realities 61 CHAPTER TWO Material Yuqie yankou – Its Cast, Vocals, Instrumentation
    [Show full text]
  • Modalities of Doing Religion and Ritual Polytropy: Evaluating the Religious
    This article was downloaded by: [University of Cambridge] On: 12 February 2012, At: 13:02 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Religion Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rrel20 Modalities of doing religion and ritual polytropy: evaluating the religious market model from the perspective of Chinese religious history Adam Yuet Chau a a Department of East Asian Studies, Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, University of Cambridge, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 9DA, United Kingdom Available online: 22 Dec 2011 To cite this article: Adam Yuet Chau (2011): Modalities of doing religion and ritual polytropy: evaluating the religious market model from the perspective of Chinese religious history, Religion, 41:4, 547-568 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0048721X.2011.624691 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Full terms and conditions of use: http://www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and- conditions This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The accuracy of any instructions, formulae, and drug doses should be independently verified with primary sources. The publisher shall not be liable for any loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand, or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.
    [Show full text]
  • Commentary on Je Tsong-Kha-Pa's Lam Rim Chen Mo by Venerable
    Commentary on Je Tsong-kha-pa’s Lam Rim Chen Mo By Venerable Jih-Chang English Commentary Book 4, ver 3.0 Chapter 5 The Meditation Session & Chapter 6 Refuting Misconceptions about Meditation Printed by BW Monastery, Singapore For use by students of the monastery only Purpose: This book (version 3) contains the translation of Master Jih-Chang’s commentary of the Lamrim Chapter 5 “The Meditation Session” and Chapter 6 “Refuting Misconceptions about Meditation”. It is for use by BW Monastery students only. It serves to facilitate students' understanding of the Lamrim as explained by Master Jih-Chang. Student Feedback: The translation of Master's commentary in this book is still a draft and will be improved. All students are welcome to provide your feedback to improve the translation. Kindly submit your feedback via the feedback form that is available in the BW Monastery web page, where this book can be downloaded from. References: Before each paragraph of the translated commentary, the following references are indicated to help students in learning the commentary: - Page number of the English Lamrim Book. An example of this is “Lamrim text book Vol 1, P93” - Track number of Master Jih-Chang’s audio recording. An example is “22B, 10.24” - Page and line number of the Chinese commentary book. An example of this is “Original Commentary Script Vol 3, P202, L12”. Translator’s Notes: Parts with red text are notes inserted by the Translation Team. Contents Chapter 5: The Meditation Session 3 ~ 188 Chapter 6: Refuting Misconceptions about 189 ~ 314 Meditation CHAPTER 5: THE MEDITATION SESSION 4 Lamrim Vol 1 Chapter 5 Chapter 5 Outline 2.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 Study Guide
    2018 Study Guide Ghost Month Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig Based on the classical Chinese drama The Injustice to Dou Yi That Moved Heaven and Earth by Guan Hanqing Hungry Ghost Ghost Month falls generally in the seventh lunar month (late summer), with the Ghost Festival (Zhongyuan Festival) usually occurring on the 15th day of the month. Don’ts of Ghost Month: • Do not stay out late at night • Do not travel by land, air, or sea • Do not step on or kick an offering made for the ancestors or ghosts by a road Guan Hanqing (ca.1245-ca. 1322) Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig • Do not move into a new house or get Guan Hanqing Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig new furniture • Do not curse or swear • He wrote the zaju (a form of • She was born in Philadelphia, • Do not place your child on the Chinese drama or opera) Pennsylvania, and raised in offering altar play Gan Tian Dong Di Dou Northern Virginia, Okinawa, • Do not whistle or sing at night E Yuan, translated to The Taipei, and Beijing. • Do not swim Injustice to Dou Yi That • Do not get married Moved Heaven and Earth, • She received an MFA in Writing or sometimes published as from the James A. Michener Common Traditions in Chinese Funerals Snow in Midsummer. Center for Writers at UT Austin, • Burn paper versions of items such as a BA in Sociology from Brown cars, electronic devices such as iPads, • Guan Hanqing was born in University, and a certificate in money, or food for the dead to receive the thirteenth century, Ensemble-Based Physical Theatre in the afterlife.
    [Show full text]
  • Proquest Dissertations
    Early Cinema and the Supernatural by Murray Leeder B.A. (Honours) English, University of Calgary, M.A. Film Studies, Carleton University A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Cultural Mediations © Murray Leeder September 2011 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington OttawaONK1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-83208-0 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-83208-0 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation.
    [Show full text]
  • Zerohack Zer0pwn Youranonnews Yevgeniy Anikin Yes Men
    Zerohack Zer0Pwn YourAnonNews Yevgeniy Anikin Yes Men YamaTough Xtreme x-Leader xenu xen0nymous www.oem.com.mx www.nytimes.com/pages/world/asia/index.html www.informador.com.mx www.futuregov.asia www.cronica.com.mx www.asiapacificsecuritymagazine.com Worm Wolfy Withdrawal* WillyFoReal Wikileaks IRC 88.80.16.13/9999 IRC Channel WikiLeaks WiiSpellWhy whitekidney Wells Fargo weed WallRoad w0rmware Vulnerability Vladislav Khorokhorin Visa Inc. Virus Virgin Islands "Viewpointe Archive Services, LLC" Versability Verizon Venezuela Vegas Vatican City USB US Trust US Bankcorp Uruguay Uran0n unusedcrayon United Kingdom UnicormCr3w unfittoprint unelected.org UndisclosedAnon Ukraine UGNazi ua_musti_1905 U.S. Bankcorp TYLER Turkey trosec113 Trojan Horse Trojan Trivette TriCk Tribalzer0 Transnistria transaction Traitor traffic court Tradecraft Trade Secrets "Total System Services, Inc." Topiary Top Secret Tom Stracener TibitXimer Thumb Drive Thomson Reuters TheWikiBoat thepeoplescause the_infecti0n The Unknowns The UnderTaker The Syrian electronic army The Jokerhack Thailand ThaCosmo th3j35t3r testeux1 TEST Telecomix TehWongZ Teddy Bigglesworth TeaMp0isoN TeamHav0k Team Ghost Shell Team Digi7al tdl4 taxes TARP tango down Tampa Tammy Shapiro Taiwan Tabu T0x1c t0wN T.A.R.P. Syrian Electronic Army syndiv Symantec Corporation Switzerland Swingers Club SWIFT Sweden Swan SwaggSec Swagg Security "SunGard Data Systems, Inc." Stuxnet Stringer Streamroller Stole* Sterlok SteelAnne st0rm SQLi Spyware Spying Spydevilz Spy Camera Sposed Spook Spoofing Splendide
    [Show full text]
  • Cinemeducation Movies Have Long Been Utilized to Highlight Varied
    Cinemeducation Movies have long been utilized to highlight varied areas in the field of psychiatry, including the role of the psychiatrist, issues in medical ethics, and the stigma toward people with mental illness. Furthermore, courses designed to teach psychopathology to trainees have traditionally used examples from art and literature to emphasize major teaching points. The integration of creative methods to teach psychiatry residents is essential as course directors are met with the challenge of captivating trainees with increasing demands on time and resources. Teachers must continue to strive to create learning environments that give residents opportunities to apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information (1). To reach this goal, the use of film for teaching may have advantages over traditional didactics. Films are efficient, as they present a controlled patient scenario that can be used repeatedly from year to year. Psychiatry residency curricula that have incorporated viewing contemporary films were found to be useful and enjoyable pertaining to the field of psychiatry in general (2) as well as specific issues within psychiatry, such as acculturation (3). The construction of a formal movie club has also been shown to be a novel way to teach psychiatry residents various aspects of psychiatry (4). Introducing REDRUMTM Building on Kalra et al. (4), we created REDRUMTM (Reviewing [Mental] Disorders with a Reverent Understanding of the Macabre), a Psychopathology curriculum for PGY-1 and -2 residents at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. REDRUMTM teaches topics in mental illnesses by use of the horror genre. We chose this genre in part because of its immense popularity; the tropes that are portrayed resonate with people at an unconscious level.
    [Show full text]
  • James Gleeson Interviews: Martin Sharp
    JAMES GLEESON INTERVIEWS: MARTIN SHARP 7 November 1979 JAMES GLEESON: Martin, youʼve become, I suppose, identified in the general mind as the one artist in Australia whoʼs given the pop movement a sort of local habitation and a name. Youʼve given it an Australian characteristic. How did you become interested in the pop movement, or pop art? Was it always there? MARTIN SHARP: Well, Iʼve always been interested in comics and things like that, I suppose. I learnt to read with comics. Perhaps the first thing I remember about a real figure appearing in a comic, Orson Wells made an appearance in a Superman comic, I think, doing his War of the Worlds broadcast or something like that. I was always rather puzzled. I can remember that one quite clearly from some time back, of the character, a real character appearing in—not that I really knew who Orson Wells was. JAMES GLEESON: This goes back a long time? MARTIN SHARP: Yes, yes. JAMES GLEESON: To your childhood. MARTIN SHARP: When I was, yes, learning to read. I really learnt to read with comics rather than books. JAMES GLEESON: Really? You were born here in Sydney? MARTIN SHARP: Yes. JAMES GLEESON: What date? MARTIN SHARP: Twenty-first of January 1942. JAMES GLEESON: Comics sort of taught you to read. MARTIN SHARP: Yes. JAMES GLEESON: As far as art training goes, I suppose, I assume you drew as soon as you could talk. MARTIN SHARP: Yes. I did sort of adventures with ants, I think, as pirates and lots of drawings like this.
    [Show full text]
  • Literariness.Org-Michael-Cook-Auth
    Crime Files Series General Editor: Clive Bloom Since its invention in the nineteenth century, detective fiction has never been more popular. In novels, short stories, films, radio, television and now in computer games, private detectives and psychopaths, prim poisoners and overworked cops, tommy gun gangsters and cocaine criminals are the very stuff of modern imagination, and their creators one mainstay of popular consciousness. Crime Files is a ground-breaking series offering scholars, students and discerning readers a comprehensive set of guides to the world of crime and detective fiction. Every aspect of crime writing, detective fiction, gangster movie, true-crime exposé, police procedural and post-colonial inves- tigation is explored through clear and informative texts offering comprehen- sive coverage and theoretical sophistication. Published titles include : Maurizio Ascari A COUNTER-HISTORY OF CRIME FICTION Supernatural, Gothic, Sensational Pamela Bedore DIME NOVELS AND THE ROOTS OF AMERICAN DETECTIVE FICTION Hans Bertens and Theo D’haen CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN CRIME FICTION Anita Biressi CRIME, FEAR AND THE LAW IN TRUE CRIME STORIES Ed Christian ( editor ) THE POST-COLONIAL DETECTIVE Paul Cobley THE AMERICAN THRILLER Generic Innovation and Social Change in the 1970s Michael Cook NARRATIVES OF ENCLOSURE IN DETECTIVE FICTION The Locked Room Mystery Michael Cook DETECTIVE FICTION AND THE GHOST STORY The Haunted Text Barry Forshaw DEATH IN A COLD CLIMATE A Guide to Scandinavian Crime Fiction Barry Forshaw BRITISH CRIME FILM Subverting
    [Show full text]
  • THE GHOSTWAY for Margaret Mary
    TONY HILLERMAN THE GHOSTWAY For Margaret Mary With special thanks to Sam Bingham and those students at Rock Point Community School who took time to help me understand how Navajos deal with the chindis of Dine’ Bike’yah in 1984. Contents HarperCollins e-book exclusive extras: Leaphorn, Chee, and the Navajo Way The Novels, As Annotated by T.H. Tony Hillerman on. Skinwalkers Becomes a MYSTERY! Profile of the Navajo Nation Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 About the Author Books by Tony Hillerman Credits Copyright About the Publisher >1< HOSTEEN JOSEPH JOE remembered it like this. He’d noticed the green car just as he came out of the Shiprock Economy Wash-O-Mat. The red light of sundown reflected from its windshield. Above the line of yellow cottonwoods along the San Juan River the shape of Shiprock was blue-black and ragged against the glow. The car looked brand new and it was rolling slowly across the gravel, the driver leaning out the window just a little. The driver had yelled at Joseph Joe. “Hey!” he’d yelled. “Come here a minute.” Joseph Joe remembered that very clearly. The driver looked like a Navajo, but yelling at him like that was not a Navajo thing to do because Joseph Joe was eighty-one years old, and the people around Shiprock and up in the Chuska Mountains called him Hosteen, which means “old man” and is a term of great respect.
    [Show full text]
  • Haunting Modernity Tanuki, Trains, and Transformation in Japan
    Michael Dylan Foster Indiana University Haunting Modernity Tanuki, Trains, and Transformation in Japan This article explores a cycle of legends popular in Japan from the late nine- teenth to the early twentieth century. Featuring a deadly confrontation between a tanuki (“raccoon dog”) and a steam train, these narratives enact a conflict between a traditional animal of Japanese folk belief and a new tech- nology that was rapidly transforming the countryside; they articulate anxiety about, and resistance to, the burgeoning infrastructure of modernity and the changes it would bring to the natural and cultural environments. Further- more, as narratives of haunting, in which restless memories of the past disturb the easy flow of the present, these tales allow us to productively consider the relationship between time and place while also gesturing to the way tales of haunting can assume not only an affective quality, but political and ideological shades as well. keywords: tanuki—legends—modernity—yōkai—haunting Asian Ethnology Volume 71, Number 1 • 2012, 3–29 © Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture n front of restaurants, bars, and saké shops throughout Japan, one often finds I a ceramic statuette of a wide-eyed, cheerful beast known as a tanuki 狸. Standing upright and adorned with a straw hat, the tanuki is portrayed as a jovial hedonist; he has a rotund belly, a jug of saké in one hand, and is particularly distinguished—if you look carefully—by an enormous scrotum. On the streets of a modern city, the tanuki radiates a sense of good-natured camaraderie and traditional welcome.1 But the ubiquitous, lighthearted image of the tanuki is only one manifestation of this particular yōkai 妖怪, or supernatural creature; the tanuki also has a long history as a common character in folktales, legends, local beliefs, and more recently, all sorts of commercial iconography.
    [Show full text]