Representations of Prince Characters in Narong Chanpum’s Shadow Puppet Shows: A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

This research aimed at studying the representations of prince characters in Narong Chanpum’s shadow puppet video shows aired on the IQD Media Official channel on www.youtube.com during 2018-2022. It also examined linguistic strategies used for representing those characters, using Fairclough’s model (1989) of critical discourse analysis as a framework. The results revealed 10 representations of prince characters. Among these, the top three representations of princes are those who followed the Buddhist’s path; those who respected and honored other people, and those who were not snobbish; those who perfectly reached maturity and educational qualification, and also those who were responsible to learn and to solve the problems of his subordinates respectively. All of these characteristics were represented using several linguistic strategies, ranging from lexicon to discourse levels. They comprised the use of word choices, metaphors, references, interrogative sentences, negation sentences, and speech acts. These representations were influenced by three main socio-cultural factors, including Thai educational system, Thai media, and Buddhist moral principles.