The Place, the Power, and the Fall: The Fate of the Woman in Kanogpong Songsompuntu’s Short Stories “The Other Land”

Abstract

This article intends to study the use of the woman as representation
of the land in Kanokpong Songsompuntu’s anthology of short stories,
“Phaendin Uean” (The Other Land). The Concept of Representation is
applied in the study. The study finds that Kanokpong has related female
characters with the place, or the land. In portraying weak female characters
who suffer ill fates which vary in degree of seriousness, from being ignored
to being insulted, to being threatened, being forced, sexually harassed,
raped, and wounded to death, the author also portrays the land’s
weaknesses, injuries, and readiness to fall as caused by the government
policies. As the woman characters in Kanokphong’s stories are
representation to explain the effect of government policies on the land,
the woman’s fate is, therefore, the land’s fate.