Intercultural dimensions of teaching ecocritical literature in Thai higher education

Abstract

This research is designed as an ethnographic case study to examine Thai teacher’s and students’ responses to the representations of nature in Terry Tempest Williams’s Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place (1991), Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony (1977) and Amitav Ghosh’s The Hungry Tide (2004) in the Environmental Literature and Criticism module taught at a public university in Thailand. The study is based on the application of three theoretical frameworks: Claire Kramsch’s ‘third place’ (2011) which refers to a negotiation of meaning across different cultures, Karen Risager’s ‘transnational paradigm’ (2007) that is teaching foreign culture with an emphasis on cultural complexity, and Michael Byram’s ‘intercultural citizenship’ (2008) which refers to teaching foreign-language texts that respond to socio-political issues. Cultural and literary analysis is also adopted as part of the supportive framework for data analysis. A qualitative approach is used to interpret the data obtained from classroom observations, teacher and student interviews, documentary data and field notes. The participants, a teacher and three students, were observed for four months and interviewed at the end of the semester.
The findings reveal that Refuge, Ceremony, The Hungry Tide and teaching approach concern the struggle of the marginalised: women, ethnic minorities and postcolonial countries. The teacher’s presentation of the texts highlights the clashing views of nature held by different social groups and makes suggestions about how to reconcile these conflicts. Her explanation reflects an attempt to make the issues contained in the stories relevant to Thai students. The teacher compares similar ecological and socio-political problems in the texts and in Thailand. Her interpretation of the portrayals of nature reflects a circulation of values across different cultures in the texts and in the teaching context. The students’ responses suggest that the teacher’s explanation and the stories make them aware of the issues in the texts and in their own country. The students’ interpretations are according to their individual interests and socio-cultural backgrounds.

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