“Pran Boon”: Symbolic Beliefs of the Southern People in Contemporary Southern Country Songs

Abstract

This research article aims to present “Pran Boon” in contemporary southern country songs that appears as symbolic southern beliefs reflecting the lifestyle and local culture of the southern region. The objectives are to analyze the presentation of “Pran Boon” that appears in contemporary southern country songs and to analyze “Pran Boon” as a symbol of southern beliefs. The research employs several key conceptual frameworks, including Stith Thompson’s concept of Motif, Antti Aarne’s concept of Tale Type, and Clifford Geertz’s concept of Humans and Symbolism. The researcher collected information on contemporary southern country songs featuring “Pran Boon” from the Youtube channel published between January 2020 and August 2023, totaling 16 songs from 13 Youtube channels. The research results found that the presentation of “Pran Boon” has three characteristics: 1) “Sacred Ancestor” in the beliefs of Kru Mor Ta Yai Nora, 2) “Character” in the Phra Suthon Manohara story, and 3) “Joker” in the Nora performance. The most common characteristic is “Sacred Ancestor”. As for symbolic meanings, there are two main groups. The first group includes symbolic beliefs of Kru Mor Ta Yai Nora, classified into two forms: “Ancestor ghosts” and “Kru Mor ghosts”. The second group consists of symbolic beliefs from Nora performances, classified into two forms: “Joker” as symbols of performance and “Character” from the Phra Suthon Manohara story as symbols of southern literature.