This thesis aims to investigate female authors’ ethnic romance novels expressing Chinese-Thai identities published between 1977 and 2016. This literary genre spans the romantic bond between heterosexual protagonists of different cultures. The study framework is mostly based on cultural politics of identity and conversations of the romance novel. It is shown that ethnic romance novels negotiate power in order to assert Chinese-Thai identities through the complexities of Chinese ethnicities in the Thai context. Ethnic romance novels transmit Thai state integration ideology by developing the “model Chinese” concept. On Chinese capitals, the genre demonstrates that Chinese capitals are not confined to economic capital; they also comprise cultural capital, symbolic capital, and social capital in respect to Chinese families and communities. Furthermore, the genre is to portray Chinese domestic spaces. Ethnic romance novels represent new homebuilding beyond families and the gongsi way of life. The protagonists are detached from the “homeland” in China. The novels differ from those published in the realistic genre in that the protagonists yearn for their Chinese homeland. The romance genre also opposes to the “from rags to riches” stereotype. The integration ideology, complexed Chinese capitals, and the household are perpetuated and contested in order to develop new identities ranging from "neither Chinese nor Thai" to Chinese-Thai identities. The findings of the thesis underline the interdependence of the cultural politics of romance novels and the cultural politics of Chinese-Thai identities. Female authors’ generic frame and creative vision enable ethnic romance novels to be “designated space” for representing Chinese individuals from different walks of life. They are more diverse than those in realistic novels and non-fiction writings. Aside from the “from rags to riches” grand narrative of overseas Chinese males in Thailand, class and gender are issues are likewise highlighted. This adds to the complexities of Thai-Chinese identities expressed in the Thai sociocultural context.
Here's the English version of the abstract: