Researching The Reception Of "a Call To Arms" And "Wanderings" In Thailand

It was about a few decades after Lu Xun published all of his works, that "A Call to Arms" and "Wanderings", were formally introduced into Thailand in the form of Thai translation. It was precisely during the time when there was political conflict in Thailand, which is similar to the time that "A Call to Arms" and "Wanderings"were writen in China. Before researching influences of Lu Xun’works in Thailand, It is crucial to research into Lu Xun’works first. In China, his works have been listed among compulsory reading books for Chinese students, and also are representative works of the May 4th Movement of 1919. Most of Lu Xun’works aim at remoulding Chinese national character, with the ideology of anti-feudalism as their main themes. These themes are closely related to Chinese politics and society at that time. In China, researches on "A Call to Arms" and "Wanderings" are deeply conducted. Although it takes only a few hours to finish the books, but the characteristics of the writer and the concepts of the stories are well worth researching. The researches are not only in the fields of literature, history or politics, but also in other fields.The first part of this thesis discusses how Thai readers understand "A Call to Arms" and "Wanderings" by beginning the research from semiotics. The differences between Chinese and Thai cultural semiotics make the perceptions of Chinese readers and Thai readers different. "The True story of Ah Q" is Lu Xun’s first work that was translated into Thai Language. Although there is the gap between the time of translation and the time of publication by Lu Xun, this is not the main problem of the dissemination in Thailand. The main problem should be from Thailand’s internal politics. Once the Thai version of "The True story of Ah Q " was known in Thailand, it was banned by Thai government at that time, making it disappear from the market. Furthermore, other works of Lu Xun also experienced this problem, and Lu Xun’s image in Thailand became negative. However, Thai readers nowadays do not take the political issue in the past as seriously; many readers became interested in Lu Xun and his works again.In the second part of the thesis, the introduction into Thailand and the influence of "A Call to Arms" and "Wanderings" will be discussed. In Thailand, Chinese language is a foreign language. In recent years, however, Chinese language became more widespread than it was in the past. The quantity of Chinese works that have been translated into Thai has increased, but "A Call to Arms " and "Wanderings " have not been reprinted or re translated. The third part of this thesis examines the translations of these works and the factors that influence the products and discusses the situation in the future. About the reception of "A Call to Arms" and "Wanderings" in Thailand, the perspective towards the novels of Thai readers has changed over the years. This change might be related to the development of Thai-Chinese relationship.As a result of the "Chinese Fever" in Thailand, "A Call to Arms" and "Wanderings", the representatives of Chinese modern literature, became more popular than before. Thus, I expect to see the development of "A Call to Arms " and "Wanderings", including other Chinese modern literature in Thailand.