The Thammasat University Libraries have acquired a biography of a writer whose creations have made an impact on Thai popular culture. Hans Christian Andersen: European Witness is by the cultural historian Paul Binding. Its title refers to the Danish author Andersen (1805-1875), famous as an author of stories for children, who was also important for adult readers and cultural figures of his time. Among the many people he met during his travels were the poet Heinrich Heine; composers Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, and Franz Liszt; the philosopher Søren Kierkegaard; and the novelist Charles Dickens. The TU Libraries own several books of works by and about this important writer whose works gained international popularity early on.
Thailand and Hans Christian Andersen
Even if Thai readers are not familiar with the original writings of Hans Christian Andersen, they often see them referred to by the media. Last year, The Nation offered a stock tip:
Swan at a duck’s prices BUY
Bangkok Ranch Plc (BR)
Investment Thesis
The Danish fairy tale of The Ugly Duckling tells of a little “duck” that is teased by those around him due to his appearance but surprises all when he eventually matures into a swan. We believe our duck stock BR will also have a happy ending and turn into a swan by 2018 at the latest due to its solid long-term core earnings growth profile. Its earnings will start to recover in 1Q16, due to the rise in duck consumption demand after the Chinese New Year festival, and then continue to show mild recovery in 2Q16, before a strong bounce in 2H16.
2015—the ugly duckling is an old story…
2016—time to join flock of swans…
2018—spreads its beautiful wings and takes flight.
Other signs that the tale of the ugly duckling, as invented by Andersen, has entered Thai culture is Ruk Na Ped Ngo (Ugly Duckling), a popular lakhon or soap opera from 2015 about Thai teenagers confronting challenges of modern life. In 2010, the Thai romantic comedy film Sing Lek Lek Thee Riak Wa … Ruk (สิ่งเล็กๆ ที่เรียกว่า…รัก; First Love) became a hit film. Its plot was described as the story of an awkward high-school girl who goes from ugly duckling to beauty queen. Even the world of football has been affected, as the sports pages of The Nation included the headline in 2015:
Football in a flutter over an ugly duckling.
The article was about the Argentine professional footballer Ángel Di María, who according to some sources, was not considered glamorous enough to play for the Real Madrid football club, so he is currently playing for French Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain. The familiarity of this same narrative made it natural to include it in 2015 in Story Chaser, an app developed by Publisto to improve reading skills of young students. The mobile word game available on iOS and Android includes the Ugly Duckling, among other classic tales. The theme that people should look for their own identity instead of expecting to be like everyone else, still resonates for readers of all ages today. On the official website of the Hans Christian Andersen Museum in Odense, the city in Denmark where he was born, it is noted that a translation into Thai language of the Ugly Duckling was published in 1951. A Thai version in Braille writing followed, for blind readers. The city authorities of Odense are hoping to make Andersen’s birthplace a tourist destination with the release later this year of My Best Friend Andersen, a film by the Chinese director Xu Zheng, whose comedy Lost in Thailand was a big hit in China in 2012, causing a boom in Chinese tourism to Chiang Mai. Just as celebrated is Andersen’s Little Mermaid, due to the 1989 American animated musical fantasy film released by Walt Disney Pictures that it inspired. Although there are many differences between the original story and the Disney version, Andersen described the young mermaid as willing to give up her life in the sea and her identity as a mermaid to gain a human soul. As a writer of the 1800s, Andersen often included tragic or moralizing content in his stories for children, which some later readers do not always find appropriate. P. L. Travers, who wrote the famous children’s book Mary Poppins, felt that the sad ending of the original Andersen Little Mermaid story
is more frightening than any other presented in the tale. The story descends into the Victorian moral tales written for children to scare them into good behavior… Andersen, this is blackmail.
In its Disney film adaptation, the story of the Little Mermaid is much more optimistic. From March 30 to April 2, Disney on Ice will present a show at Impact Arena, Muang Thong Thani, including among other beloved characters Ariel the Mermaid. As one recent viewer of the show in Hong Kong noted:
The fans were rooting for Ariel to realise her dream of becoming a human female and living above the waves.
Visitors to Phuket may be familiar with the H.C. Andersen – Family Restaurant on Kamala Beach Road, Kamala, Phuket. Founded by a Dane, it serves Scandinavian, international, and Thai dishes, focusing on seafood. Although appetizing dishes and Disney versions may be far from the original writer’s works, there have also been attempts to tell the story of Andersen closer to historical reality. In 2001, the exhibit Hans Christian Andersen: Life and Art, opened at the Siam Society in Bangkok. Perhaps to make up for his impoverished childhood and feelings of unease in society, Andersen traveled a lot, and went as far as Malta, Greece, and Turkey, even if he never got to Thailand. He might have done so, since contacts between The Kingdom of Siam and Denmark started in the 1600s, during the reign of His Majesty Songtham, King of Ayutthaya, when Danish merchants were first allowed to trade in Siam. Diplomatic ties between Thailand and Denmark began to be established around the year 1860, when Andersen was still alive. Continuing this tradition, as part of events associated with the Siam Society exhibit, a group from the Pantomime Theatre (Pantomimeteateret), an open-air theatre located in the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Denmark, performed a version of The Little Mermaid in Bangkok. The noted Thai television personality Khun Sansanee Sitapan Moller, from the travel documentary series Taam Pai Doo (Tagging Along to Watch) among other shows, recited another Andersen story, The Little Match Girl. This is one of Andersen’s saddest tales, about a little girl who freezes to death in the streets where she sells matches in wintertime. Despite the tragic nature of the tale, the Little Match Girl is featured in Efteling, a fantasy-themed amusement park in the Netherlands, celebrating myths, legends, and fairy tales. As Thai readers know, there are many ways to interpret the stories of Hans Christian Andersen.
(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).