ความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างมนุษย์กับธรรมชาติในละครโทรทัศน์ไทยของฉลอง ภักดีวิจิตร

Abstract

This research titled “The Relationship Between Human and Nature in Thai Television Dramas of Chalong Pakdeevijit aims (1) to analyze the relationship between human beings and nature in Thai television dramas directed by Chalong Pakdeevijit and (2) to analyze the meanings of ecological symbolism in Thai television dramas directed by Chalong Pakdeevijit. The study covers two series of the television drama Angkor, i.e., Angkor (2000) and Angkor (2005) and three television dramas including Lek Lai (2006), Sao 5 (2009) and Sao 5: The Siamese Ruby Episode (2011). The relationship between human beings and nature was analyzed through ecocriticism and ecofeminism. As for the analysis of ecological symbolism, Ferdinand de Saussure’s Semiotics was used as the theoretical framework. The study’s results are as follows: the relationship between human and nature is divided into three aspects, including anthropocentrism, ecocentrism, and nature vs. gender. As for anthropocentrism, all the television dramas studied reflect human beings’ belief that nature offers various resources for them to use. Therefore, the relationship between human beings and nature is seen as a binary opposition: Human vs. Nature. On the contrary, in the ecocentrism aspect, all the television dramas under study reveal that human beings are an integral part of nature. In this holistic view, every single entity on the earth is intricately interconnected. Every creature is essential and interdependent. As for the relationship between nature and gender, men and women are different when they have to interact with or stay close to nature. As for the meanings of ecological symbolism, it is found that symbols and their meaning are used in the context of human beings’ beliefs and their attempts to make value out of those beliefs which have been orally passed on from generations to the next. These timeless beliefs, which can also be transmitted from one’s experience to others, can make human beings scared of or feel great awe for certain ecological symbols, or even desire to possess them.