Phi Krasue – How a Postmodern Ghostly Image Re-Presents the Abjection of 'Khmerness' in Thailand's Popular Culture

Benjamin Baumann (Humboldt University Berlin)

Starting from Pattana’s (2011: 202) suggestions that contemporary Thai ghost films contain “powerful ethnographic material”, “magic and ghosts are (re-)invented in modernity” and ghosts therefore represent “key modern social characters and cultural institutions”, I will argue that postmodern ghostly images are inextricably linked to “ethnic” and “religious” images of Thailand’s popular discourse and thus embody implicit knowledge of Thailand’s social structure. I will take Bin Banluerit’s (2002) film “Tamnan Krasue” as a case study and argue on the basis of Kristeva’s theory, that the postmodern ghostly image of Phi Krasue - as depicted (invented) by Banluerit - may be interpreted as re-presenting the continuous abjection of ‘Khmerness’ as part of Thai national identity. Though it may be argued that Kristeva’s (post-)structuralist theory rests on Eurocentric premises, I nevertheless think that her concept of abjection may help us to partly understand postmodern conceptions of ‘Khmerness’ and especially its inextricable association with malevolent magical practices in contemporary Thailand.

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