Narrative Techniques in the Novels and Short stories of Jadej Kamjorndet

Abstract

This article aims to examine the storytelling strategies employed in the novels and short stories of Jadej Kamjorndet, utilizing the conceptual framework of storytelling strategies. This study encompasses three short story collections—It Is Too Hot This Morning to Sit Sipping Coffee in the Sun, No Sea in Melaka, and That Night of the Year of the Tiger and Stories of Other Animal Stories—and five novels—The Used Man, Chinese Daughter-In-Law, Arkom, Sex Doll Goddess, and The Cat Never Waits for Anyone to Come Back. The study shows that Jadej Kamjorndet distinctively uses metafiction or story-within-story techniques in his novels and short stories. This non-conventional storytelling technique is a characteristic of postmodern stories that expresses rejection of literary categorization and questions the relationship between reality and fiction. By layering dimensions over one another, Jadej employs perspectives and the narrators’ points of view to blur the lines between fiction and reality. Jadej also mentions media from other disciplines and uses their formats to portray complexity and circumstance in our society, causing people confusion and uncertainty about their identities. In addition, four themes or concepts are present: humanity, alienation, nostalgia, and belief and faith.