Memorial choreography and the politics of war commemoration in Thailand
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 5701394 |
|---|---|
| Authors | John Lee Candelaria (0000-0001-9815-1410, Hiroshima University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue | 6 |
| Pages | 814-834 |
| Publication date | 2025-06-03 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Heritage Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1352-7258 • E-ISSN: 1470-3610 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/13527258.2025.2496879 |
| OpenAlex | W4409725035 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 26 |
This article examines how Thailand’s twentieth-century war memorials function as dynamic stages where competing political and cultural demands are negotiated through a process I term ‘memorial choreography’. Through analysis of the Volunteer Soldiers’ Monument, the Victory Monument, and various royal monuments, I demonstrate how Thai leaders strategically designed, transformed, and activated these commemorative spaces to legitimise their authority while managing difficult historical memories. I argue that memorial choreography operates through multiple dimensions: the physical design and placement of monuments, their transformation over time, their activation through ceremonies, and their use in balancing military and monarchical legitimacy. The analysis reveals how these sites enabled Thailand to perform sovereignty while navigating competing demands: between military and monarchical power, between traditional Thai and modern Western forms, and between asserting national identity and demonstrating ‘civilisation’ to international audiences. Particularly significant is how these spaces facilitated selective memorialisation regarding Thailand’s complex position during the Second World War, where certain narratives were amplified while others were deliberately obscured. This study contributes to our understanding of how non-Western societies adapt and reinterpret Western memorial practices while illuminating how states use material culture to maintain political legitimacy through changing historical circumstances
Art · Choreography · Dance · Political science · Politics · Visual arts · Cambodian History and Society · History · Law · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies · Vietnamese History and Culture Studies
A History of Thailand
How Societies Remember
Memory in Culture
Uses of Heritage
Matters of Conflict
On Collective Memory
From Victory to Democracy
National Identity and the Geo‐Soul
Mnemonic hegemony, spatial hierarchy and Thailand’s official commemoration of the Second World War
Siam becomes Thailand
Pibulsongkram's Thai Nation-Building Programme during the Japanese Military Presence, 1941–1945
Imagined communities
The Lost Territories
Aerial Nationalism
Bending with the Wind
Between Memory and History
The Thai "Čhêdî" and the Problem of Stūpa Interpretation
The temporality of the landscape
The Restoration of Thailand Under Rama I, 1782-1809
Chaiyo! King Vajiravudh and the Development of Thai Nationalism
Collective Memory
The Politics of Asia-Pacific War Memorialization in Thailand's Victory Monument and the Philippines' Shrine of Valor
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |