Authors

Verita Sriratana²; Milada Polišenská¹;  ¹ Anglo-American University, Czech Republic;  ² Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand

Discussion

A joint paper by Associate Professor Verita Sriratana and Professor Milada Polišenská (Anglo-American University in Prague)
Abstract Though nationalism is perceived by some to be mutually excluded from Communism, the opposite is true. This research is a study and analysis of political witch hunt in the name of nationalism in the Thai and Czech contexts through the life and works of Chit Phumisak (1930-1966) and Václav Havel (1936-2011). The focus of this research is the contemporary reception, censorship and re(-)presentation of the two writers, who were also important thinkers and political activists in their countries, examined against the backdrop of both  general and specific historical contexts of their lives. This paper argues that both Chit Phumisak and Václav Havel shared similar oppressive plight of witch hunt though they seemed to be on opposite sides of the political spectrum and though their lives led to a  most contrasting outcome – to the death of an outlaw in a young age in backward areas in northeast of Thailand in one case,  and to the position of an iconic president of the republic with wide international recognition and popularity in the other case. The intersection between nationalism and Communism is prevalent in our understanding of Chit Phumisak and Václav Havel’s stories and legacies.