How Performing and Musical Arts Create the Nation: Consent and Negotiation of Thainess under the Perspectives of Civil Servants in the Office of Performing Arts, Ministry of Culture

Abstract

This research used Antonio Gramsci’s notion of hegemony and Michel Foucault’s notion of power/discourse to analyze the process of domination of and contestation over the meaning of Thainess in the work, bodies and identity of civil servants in the Office of Performing Arts, Ministry of Culture. It used semi-structured interview to collect data from 19 civil servants of various ranks in the Office of Performing Arts. The interview data were analyzed thematically. The research found that civil servants in the Office of Performing Arts were performance artists. They perceived their official duty as to “conserve Thainess” by conducting “Thai” performances such as classical dances and classic masked play (“Khon”). They performed in the government’s theatres and state’s ceremonies inside and outside the country. They used the discourse of “customary Thai”, to define Thainess in their performances. This discourse gave the civil servants organizational identity as well as an uncontestable standard for what counts as “Thai”. The civil servants are socialized into this discourse through the culture of respecting the masters and the highly disciplined practicing schedules. With these practices, the customary Thai discourse used the bodies of civil servants as domains of hegemony. However, these bodies and performances were also sites of contestation as the civil servants negotiated state’s demands with various limitations and opportunities. For example, the colors of the costume and make-up were adjusted. New play writing was added into the original ones. With these negotiations, the meaning of Thainess became flexible, yet, more fixated as adjustments were closely sanctioned by the expert ‘masters’ and the conservative spectators.