Teardrops of Time : Buddhist Aesthetics in the Poetry of Angkarn Kallayanapong

Any shortcomings in translation or analysis are my sole responsibility, but I thank Kong Rithdee for casting his sharp eye on my translations and Daniel McNaughton for carefully reviewing my manuscript and creating the book's index. I thank Raven Schwam-Curtis and Manasicha Akepiyapornchai for their contributions to the proofing process. Finally, I was fortunate to have in Christopher Ahn and James Peltz editors who shepherded this project with great enthusiasm, as did Diane Ganeles as project editor. I am grateful to the press also for enlisting the expertise of the sharp and engaged anonymous readers whose review improved my manuscript immeasurably. Chusak Pattarakulvanit is one of the press's reviewers who has allowed me to thank him by name. I would like to express my gratitude to Ajarn Chusak for his generous, insightful engagement with my work. I would like to extend the same heartfelt thanks to the second, anonymous reader, whose succinct review likewise allowed me to improve the book tremendously. I am very grateful to Renée Staal and Adele Tan of the National Gallery Singapore and to Ormkaew Kallayanapong for providing permission to use an image from Angkarn's Melting Men (1976) as the cover image of this book. A version of chapter 3 first appeared as "The Dream of a Contemporary Ayuthaya: Angkhan Kalayanaphong's Poetics of Dissent, Aesthetic Nationalism, and Thai Literary Modernity, " Oriens Extremus 48 (2009), to complete and submit the manuscript for this book. I thank him and my mother, Malve, for their humorous and unstinting support. • A note on romanization: In agreement with his daughter, Ormkaew Kallayanapong, I use the official transliteration into English of the poet's name, Angkarn Kallayanapong. Other scholars' transliterations vary throughout the text. ## Manifestos Closely connected to questions of temporality, subjectivity, and Angkarn's deployment of Buddhism is the discussion of modern poets' artistic credos. My discussion of manifestos in chapter 4 is inspired by Suchitra Chongstitvatana's work on the modern manifesto and its literary predecessors. In the 1980s and 1990s, Thai literary scholars pursued the question of an indigenous literary theory. Suchitra notes that there are few extant treatises on literary theory per se; therefore, scholars turn to the investigation of the literary theory inherent in treatises on versification and in thought about the role of literature expressed in the literary works themselves. In 1984 Suchitra pioneered this trend with an inquiry into the "formation of Thai poetical convention and Thai concepts of poets and poetry. " 18 In chapter 3, I pursue a similar historically grounded analysis with regard to the poetics and politics of the nirat genre. With respect to the modern period, scholars note the tendency of Thai poets to put forth manifestos declaring the aims of their work-as well as exhorting others to heed particular literary standards and ideological ideals. Investigating the predecessors of modern poets' manifestos, Suchitra asserts that statements of poetic purpose are not an entirely modern invention, but in some respects follow upon a tradition: "Thai poets in the Ayuthaya period demonstrated a 'convention' of expressing a high esteem for their own work and wishing it to remain forever. " 19 She provides three examples: "This 'convention' can be seen from the early poetical works like Lilit Yuan Phai, Thawathotsamat, and Lilit Phra Lo. " 20 Suchitra observes that modern poets follow in the traces of these classical dedications, but modify them to a great extent: "This 'convention' still survives in the works of modern poets like Angkhan and Naowarat. . . . Although these two modern poets seem to follow the 'convention' they extend it further to a deeper dimension of their own. " 21 Trisilpa Boonkhachorn relates modern poets' manifestos to the declining role of poets in society and considers the new relation to the social that modern poetry evinces: 1926 Born in the province of Nakhorn Sri Thammarat in Southern Thailand Contents Acknowledgments 1 Introduction Temporality Subjectivity Manifestos A Cultural History of the 1950s–1980s New Perspectives on Buddhism Translation, Transnationality, and Political Orientation Style and Composition of Translations Political Orientations Gender Chapters History of Publishing and Circulation 2 Ontology The Ontological Status of Time in Buddhism Time as Dimension and Destroyer The Individual in Time Buddhist Notions of Time, Consciousness, and Personhood “Dew Drops Are the Tears of Time” Conclusion 3 History The History and Development of Nirat Journeys of Identity Journeys of Emotion Contemporary Nirat Art for Life Poetics: Angkarn’s Contemporaries Poetics and the Nation “Sukhothai” as National Ideology and Style of Governance Angkarn’s Ayuthaya The Politics of Poetics: Prosody and the Past The Past in Present-Day Poetics Angkarn’s Poetics Bangkok Metrical Choices Poetic Extremes Conclusion 4 Subjectivity The Pledges The Religion of Aesthetics: Suchitra Chongstitvatana (Artistic) Subjectivity Fragmented Self, Heteroglossic Text Contemporary Poets’ Poetics (Panithan) Conflictual Senses of Self Heteroglossic Text From Panithan to Panithan / From Pledge to Testament 5 Language Angkarn Kallayanapong and Paul Celan An Idiom for the Losses of Modernity Heteroglossia and Dialogism Heterogeneous Temporalities A Nondoctrinal Religious Poetry Eco-Poetics Chinese Prose Poetry and the Translocality of Twentieth-Century Literature 6 Politics The Fact of Translation: The Encounter Tracking Ginsberg’s Journey to Southeast Asia Transnational Buddhist Poetic Ontologies Angkor Wat: A Political Journey Political Orientations Buddhisms 7 Conclusion Ontology History Subjectivity Language Appendix Kawiniphon (Poetry, 1986 [1964]) Panithan Khong Kawi (Pledge of the Poet, 1959) Laeng Wanakhadi (Devoid of Literature, 1964) Ayuthaya (1957) Sinlapa Ayuthaya (The Art of Ayuthaya, 1962) Ayuthaya Wipayok (The Perishing of Ayuthaya) Si Sachanalai (1961) Phi Phung Tai (Shooting Star) Kalajak (The Wheel of Time, 1960) Phlapphlueng (Lily, 1947) Sia Jao (Losing You, 1964) Om (1952) Ku Duang Jai (Redeeming the Heart, 1967) Lak Chai (The Grounds of Accomplishment, 1967) Jaruek Adid (Inscription from the Past, 1966) Lamnam Phu Kradueng (Kradueng Mountain Song, 1969) Wela Khue Chiwa (Time Is Life) Kala Khue Arai (What Is Time?) Su Krasae Chara (Against the Stream of Aging) Bangkok Kaeo Kamsuan rue Nirat Nakhon Si Thammarat (Lament for Beloved Bangkok / Nirat Nakhon Si Thammarat, 1978) Kroen (Foreword) Pakka Thip (The Divine Pen) Panithan Kawi (The Poet’s Testament, 1986) Phutharom (Buddhist Spirit) Panithan Kawi (The Poet’s Testament) Tuen Thoet Lok Manut (Awake, Humanity) Unnamed, p. 39 Jiaranai Kaeo Mani Haeng Chiwit (Cutting the Crystal Gems of Life) Unnamed, p. 75 Wiman Nam Khang (Celestial Mansion of Dew) Phiang Khru Nueng Ko Muai Samoe Fan (In One Instant Dead, Like in a Dream) Yad Nam Khang Khue Namta Khong Wela (Dew Drops Are the Tears of Time, 1987) Nimit Nai Sai Rung (Nimitta in the Rainbow) Yad Nam Khang Khue Namta Khong Wela (Dew Drops Are the Tears of Time) Kawi Sri Ayuthaya Sith Isara Seri Khong Puang Pracharat—Prakat Jetanarom 14 Tula Udomsith Isara (“The People’s Right to Freedom—Statement of Intention 14 October Rights and Freedom”) Notes Bibliography Index Focusing on one of the most significant poets of the twentieth century, Angkarn Kallayanapong (1926–2012), this book makes a unique contribution to understandings of non-Western literary modernity. Arnika Fuhrmann investigates how the Thai poet adapts Buddhist understandings of time to create a modern Asian aesthetic imaginary. While Angkarn's poetry conjures the image of an early modern Thai cosmopolitanism, it also pioneers a poetics reflective of present-day globalization. The result is an experiment in Buddhist cosmopolitan aesthetic modernity. Teardrops of Time contextualizes the poet's work in the literary history and cultural politics of his time, tracing the transformation of a modern Thai cultural and political imaginary through the political history of the country's authoritarian governance since the late 1950s and the exigencies of an increasingly globalized economy since the 1980s. As Angkarn's work aligns itself with contemporaneous global trends in poetry, the book reads it alongside the work of Paul Celan and Allen Ginsberg. Focusing on one of the most significant poets of the twentieth century, Angkhan Kalayanaphong (1926?2012), this book makes a unique contribution to understandings of non-Western literary modernity. Arnika Fuhrmann investigates how the Thai poet adapts Buddhist understandings of time to create a modern Asian aesthetic imaginary. While Angkhan?s poetry conjures the image of an early modern Thai cosmopolitanism, it also pioneers a poetics reflective of present-day globalization.The result is an experiment in Buddhist cosmopolitan aesthetic modernity. Teardrops of Time contextualizes the poet?s work in the literary history and cultural politics of his time, tracing the transformation of a modern Thai cultural and political imaginary through the political history of the country?s authoritarian governance since the late 1950s and the exigencies of an increasingly globalized economy since the 1980s. As Angkhan?s work aligns itself with contemporaneous global trends in poetry, the book reads it alongside the work of Paul Celan and Allen Ginsberg