When Personal and National Grief Unite: The Unique Case of the Death of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand

Abstract

The study aims to present the unique case of national grief following the death of the Thai King who is perceived as the father of the nation. Twenty faculty members and students at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, reflected on their feelings and future concerns through narratives and drawings. Phenomenological analysis yielded that the national grieving melted into personal loss. Analysis of the drawings revealed two artistic themes: boundaries around the main image of the picture, and the minimalistic use of symbols and colors. The narratives and drawings were found to validate each other concerning the personal versus the national grief.

Keywords:

• Grief
• bereavement
• national
• personal
• Thailand

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bussakorn Binson

Bussakorn Binson is a Music Professor and currently a Dean at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Fine and Applied Art, Thailand. Also she is a Director of Center of Excellence for Thai Music and Culture Research. Her interest includes urban culture, traditional music healing as well as music and art therapy research. She received SAGE’s best paper award in 2012.

Pornprapit Phoasavadi

Pornprapit Phoasavadi is currently teaching ethnomusicology at Chulalongkorn University. She coauthored From Bangkok and Beyond: Thai Children’s Songs, Games, and Customs (2003) with World Music Press. In 2018, She published a book Music of Nan Province, which was funded by Chulalongkorn University’s academic fund for the centennial anniversary celebration. She has been principal reviewers for articles published in the journals Mekong-Salwin Civilization Studies Journal, MANUSAYA: Journal of Humanities, and Journal of Urban Culture Research.

Rachel Lev-Wiesel

Rachel Lev-Wiesel, PhD and professor is the head of the Emili Sagol Research Center for Creative Arts Therapies & the Sagol Lab for Children at Risk, at the University of Haifa. Her main research interests are: trauma and growth, child abuse, Use of drawings for assessment and therapeutic purposes, and group therapy. On these issues she has published about 170 scientific papers and chapters and 7 books.