Exploration and Irony in Studies of Siam Over Forty Years - by Benedict R O'g Anderson (Paperback)

About the Book

Benedict R. O'G. Anderson is internationally known for his groundbreaking work on the politics and cultures of Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. This collection of essays gathers in one book his analyses of Siam (Thailand), its political institutions and bloody upheavals, its literature, authors, and contemporary cinema.

Book Synopsis

Benedict R. O'G. Anderson is internationally recognized for his groundbreaking work on the politics and cultures of Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. His early studies of Indonesia led to the publication of Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, a book that profoundly changed the way people understand modern states. Banned from returning to Indonesia after his interpretation of the 1965 coup was published, Anderson shifted his attention to Thailand. This collection of essays gathers in one book Anderson's iconoclastic analyses of Siam (Thailand), its political institutions and bloody upheavals, its literature, authors, and contemporary cinema. The volume begins with the challenging essay "Studies of the Thai State: The State of Thai Studies," followed by chapters that map shifts of power between the Left and Right in Thailand, the role of the monarchy, and the significance of the military. The final essays track Anderson's own evolution as a student of Siam and his growing, more playful interest in billboards, ephemera, and film. Together, these works demonstrate an extraordinary scholar's commitment to exploring Thailand.

Review Quotes

Combining bold ideas, unflinching critique, and irresistible narratives that weave together statistics, qualitative examples, and suggestive anecdotes, each of these essays demonstrates in quintessential Andersonian fashion the full power of the essay form for serious scholarly writing. Though originally published between the late 1970s and the early 1990s, they continue to resonate and, more importantly, remind one of the increasingly rare thrill that can be had reading academic writing.... Putting the Kingdom's cultural heritage under critical spotlight, as he does in [the] later pieces, Anderson hits where it hurts, perhaps moreso than with any political critique.

--Samoson Lim "Asian Studies Review"