LINGUISTIC STRATEGIES IN CONSTRUCTION OF SACRED SPACE IN MAGICAL REALISM “NANG PHYA ASORAPHIT”

Abstract

The objective of the academic article was to study the linguistic strategies in the construction of the sacred space in Tri Aphirum’s magical realism novel Nang Phya Asoraphit (Queen Snake),” based upon the concepts of sacred space, magical realism, and meaning construction. Tri Aphirum was a pseudonym or a pen name of Thep Chumsai Na Ayutthaya, honoured and praised as one of Thailand’s national artists in the field of literary art. The sacred space was studied through six linguistic strategies, namely, 1) realistic narration, 2) surrealistic narration, 3) emotional narration, 4) narration on offense and violence, 5) narration on political thoughts, and 6) borrowings from Pali and Sanskrit. The study revealed that the sacred space in Tri Aphirum’s magical realistic novel Nang Phya Asoraphit was constructed through the following linguistic strategies: 1. The realism was periodically inserted and described through the historical narratives at that time. 2. The surrealism was proclaimed through people’s beliefs in enigmatic mysteries, including a soul, with some questions on death and supernatural things. 3. The emotional narration was aimed at encouraging the readers to go along with the fiction and believe in the law of action (Karma). The offense and violence were differently narrated by imitating the social events in reality and exactly expanding them through the writer’s imagination in human life. 5. The narration of political thoughts at that time was communicated in the formations of political philosophical discussion and political struggle. 6. Pali and Sanskrit words, regarded as the high-class alternatives, were borrowed to communicate Buddhist teachings.