Chetana Nagavajara

Chetana Nagavajara was born in Bangkok, Thailand as the youngest of six children. Both his father and mother were school teachers.[6] His father, Thanom (Thai: ถนอม) or Khun Chamnikhabuansat (Thai: ขุนชำนิขบวนศาส์น) was a principal at Bophit Phimuk School and was instrumental in establishing a Thai classical band at Khurusapha and also a teacher of Western classical music.[7] Chetana and all of his male siblings attended Debsirin School. He graduated from the school in 1954 and secured the first place in the national matriculation examination for arts students. Nagavajara completed his first year at the Faculty of Arts, Chulalongkorn University and received a Thai Government Scholarship to pursue further studies in the UK. He spent three years in Manchester preparing for his university admission.[8] During the preparation, he studied two more languages which were German and Latin.

Nagavajara obtained a B.A. with Honours in Modern Languages from Cambridge University. He later moved to Germany in 1961 to study under the supervision of Kurt Wais. Nagavajara received his Dr.phil. (magna cum laude) in Comparative Literature from University of Tübingen in 1965.[9][10] Apart from his doctoral advisor, Kurt Wais, and long-term mentor, Eberhard Lämmert in Germany,[11] his arts and literary criticism was influenced by Charles Baudelaire, Bertolt Brecht, Albert Camus, Neville Cardus, Reinhold Grimm, Alexander von Humboldt, F. R. Leavis, Ekavidya Nathalang, Ronald Peacock, Soedjono Djoened Poesponegoro, Friedrich Schiller, Oskar Walzel, René Wellek.[6][12] He and his young colleagues were instrumental in carrying out the higher education ideal of a collegiate system conceived by ML Pin Malakul, former Minister of Education and former president of Silpakorn University.[6]

Nagavajara's first placement in Thailand was at the Ministry of Education in 1968. He later moved to Sanam Chandra Palace campus of Silpakorn University in Nakhon Pathom.[13] As one of the first-generation academic staff at the campus, Nagavajara founded the German Department in 1968.[14] He temporarily left the university to become deputy director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Secretariat (SEAMEO Secretariat) under the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) for 2 years.[8][15] Afterwards, Nagavajara returned to the University in 1976 as Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Silpakorn University and remained in that position until 1979.[3] During his time in the university, he is also a former Vice President for Academic Affairs and Development Planning (1979–1981).[2][16] Later in 1983, he was promoted to full professor.[17]

Nagavajara was twice visiting scholar at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor in 1985 and 1992[18] and Fulbright Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley in the academic year 1989–1990.[19] In addition, he went back to Germany for academic work with Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst (DAAD)[20] support and also received the Humboldt-Forschungspreis from the Humboldt Foundation.[21]

He retired as a senior professor (level 11) in 1997 and was appointed Emeritus Professor of German at the university. After official retirement from full-time public service, Nagavajara still continues contributing to the academia by serving on government commissions, university councils and leading research projects after his official retirement.[5] In addition, Silpakorn University established a memorial on the second floor of the Sanam Chandra Palace Library for Professor Nagavajara by collecting all the books he gave to the library.

Nagavajara's childhood lived near the Victory Monument, he rode a bicycle along the Phaya Thai road every day. He enjoyed playing sports and music, and this little thing made him to be a member of the people. He discovered the knowledge of music from his father, and the ability to develop his English proficient language from his mother, and was trained and instructed by his grandmother. He joined the singing competition at the temple fair when he was a student.[22]

He is married to Tasanee Nagavajara, a professor of French, Chulalongkorn University.[23][24] They have one son, Tasana, a violinist[25] and a professor of faculty of music, Silpakorn University,[26] and two daughters.

Nagavajara's 1965 doctoral dissertation discusses August Wilhelm Schlegel's leading role in French literary criticism in 1807–1835. The thesis written in German was later published as his first book in 1966 by the German publisher Max Niemeyer in Tübingen.[27] The thesis turned monograph was praised for its role as an impartial literary mediator between France and Germany[6][28] and was lately cited in the biography of Schlegel by Roger Paulin.[29] His second book "Brecht and France" was published in English by Peter Lang in Bern. In addition to Schlegel and Brecht, he also wrote about Goethe, Mann and contemporary German poetry in Thai language.

Beside his own written works, Nagavajara translated more than 50 pieces of work mainly poetry by other authors, almost exclusively from German to Thai. Some examples of poetry he translated are "Geschrieben" by Werner Lutz, "Ein Tag für Impressionisten" by Rainer Malkowski and "Der Aufruf" by Friederike Mayröcker.[30]

Nagavajara wrote a number of English and German books discussing a transboundary culture of humanities between Thailand and Western countries such as "Comparative literature from a Thai perspective. Collected articles 1978–1992", "Fervently Mediating: Criticism from a Thai Perspective, Collected Articles 1982-2004" and "Bridging Cultural Divides: Collected Essays and Reviews 2006-2014". These were published in Thailand by Silpakorn University, Chulalongkorn University Press and Silkworm Books and were well received by the community of scholars.[31][32][33]

Before his official retirement from Silpakorn University, he was awarded the inaugural TRF Senior Research Scholar grant in 1995 by the Thailand Research Fund for his research project "Poetry as Intellectual and Spiritual Force in Contemporary Society: Experiences from Thai, British-Irish, American, French and German Literature".[34][35] His work is not without controversies. In August 1998, during the last seminar in the series for this TRF-funded project, poets took an exception to what he presented as "representative Thai poetry" which include lyrics from modern pop songs by Seksan Sukpimai but not highly-regarded modern classics. In his interview with the Bangkok Post, he explained that "The protest by the poets at last August's seminar was brief, and had to do with a misunderstanding concerning the concept of value in poetry."[5]

Nagavajara has been seasoned arts and literary critic in Thailand for decades. In 1998, The Bangkok Post described him as "... a critic who writes with a sharp pen. His comments can cause playwrights, too, to have second thoughts about their work even when it is playing to sold-out houses, and visual artists pay very close attention to what he has to say..."[5]

As researcher and project leader, Nagavajara initiated and led the research projects "Poetry as a Spiritual and Intellectual Force in Contemporary Society" (1995–1998) and "Criticism as an Intellectual Force in Contemporary Society" (1999–2005). Thai arts criticism research projects under his leadership comprise literary criticism, art criticism, theatre criticism and music criticism.[36][37] After the conclusion of the two grants (1999–2001 and 2002–2005) from the Thailand Research Fund,[38] the projects were continued and expanded in scope by other research team members while he remains involved as a senior advisor until the conclusion of the last TRF-funded project in 2020.

Examples of notable subjects of Nagavajara's criticism projects are Chart Korbjitti, Angkarn Kalayanapong, Sri Burapha, Atsiri Thammachot, The Suntharaphon Band, Bangkok Symphony Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, and visiting foreign orchestras and soloists. Translated Plays, such as Bertolt Brecht’s Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (The Good Person of Szechwan) and Jean Anouilh’s Antigone (อันตราคนี or Antrakani in Thai) are also included.[39] Some of his works in this area are published on TRF Criticism Project website.[40]

Nagavajara's role in the series of TRF-funded criticism projects inspired an award-winning children novel Khun Pu Waen Ta To (Thai: คุณปู่แว่นตาโต lit. 'A grandfather with big eyeglasses', 2001) by Chamaiporn Bangkombang, a 2014 national artist of Thailand in literature.[41] The grandfather in the story was modeled after him and the children in the story represented team members of the research project.[42] The sequel to the novel Khun Pu Waen Ta Taek (Thai: คุณปู่แว่นตาแตก lit. 'A grandfather with broken eyeglasses', 2011) by the same author also featured him as the main character with a new batch of primary level students.[43] The adventures of a grandfather and children in field trips to Wat Pho, National Gallery, Bang Lamphu, Amphawa and Spirit Cave at Pang Mapha and attempts to instill appreciation of the arts and their native roots were the main themes in the two books. Frequent reference to Siam Devadhiraj by the grandfather to express his frustration and various remarks on grandfather's connections to Germany in the two books were inspired by unique characters of Nagavajara.

Nagavajara writes extensively about humanities education and higher education in Thailand. His first book on a humanities theme "For survival of the humanities" was published in 1989 and sequels to the first, "Humanities in crisis: a Thai case study" and "Standpoint of humanities"[44] were published in 1995 and 2015 respectively from collection of his essays. For higher education in general, he published essays in a book "Papers on Education" as early as 1981 and continues to present his views and ideas on higher education for decades. His lecture "From (Selfless) Giving to Commodification: The Dilemma of Higher Education" (2013)[45] and "Cultural Consciousness: the Foundation of Thai Higher Education" (2017) given at the workshops "Deans for Change" were published as books by the Knowledge Network Institute of Thailand (KNIT) and were later included in two of his other books.[22]

In addition to his roles as deputy director of the SEAMEO Secretariat, Dean of Faculty of Arts, Vice President of Silpakorn University, Nagavajara is a former member of the University Council at Ubon Ratchathani University (1993–2003),[46] Prince of Songkla University (2008–2012)[47] and Mahidol University (2008–2016).[48] He was a member of the Governing Board of Ministry of State University Affairs (Thai: กรรมการทบวงมหาวิทยาลัย, RTGS: Kammakan Thabuang Mahawitthayalia) for more than a decade (1987–1990, 1992–2002).[49] As Thai higher education making a transition into autonomous universities, the board was changed into Civil Servant Commission in Higher Education Institutions (Thai: กรรมการข้าราชการพลเรือนในสถาบันอุดมศึกษา, RTGS: Kammakan Kharatchakanphonlaruean Nai Sathaban Udomsueksa) and he continued to serve as a member (2005–2009).[50] These appointments to high-profile public positions were royally endorsed by the King and published in the Government Gazette of Thailand.

In an interview with Bangkok Post in the year of his retirement, 1998, he said that it is not that he want to remain a civil servant (Thai: ข้าราชการ, RTGS: Karatchakan) but it is his sense of gratitude for the Thai Government's scholarship he received for his education in Europe.[5] Nagavajara's guiding principle that he always share with younger Thai scholarship recipients is "Scholarships may be paid back (either through years of service or even in cash), but indebtedness (to those anonymous tax payers who finance your education) is inexhaustible." (Thai: ทุนนั้นใช้หมด แต่บุญคุณใช้ไม่หมด, RTGS: Thunnanchaimot Tae Bunkhunnanchaimaimot)[44]

Nagavajara chaired a working group at Mahidol University that produced a manual recognizing 22 types of academic products in humanities, social science and the arts for the purpose of academic promotion.[51] Released in 2011, the manual provides details and clarity for the interpretation of the Thai Ministry of Education rules for academic promotion of tertiary instructors which were nationally standardized and enacted for the first time in 2007.[52]

He received honorary doctorates[4] from Prince of Songkla University in 1998,[2] Srinakharinwirot University in 2001,[53] Chulalongkorn University in 2004,[54] Mae Fah Luang University in 2005,[55] Chiang Mai University in 2006[56] and University of Tübingen in 2009.[57][58] Granting a second doctorate to the same person in this way was unprecedented at the University of Tübingen and his case has set precedent.[12]

• 2004: Honorary Member of the Siam Society[59]
• 1999–2002: Vice President of International Federation for Modern Languages and Literatures[60]
• 1982–1988 Member of the Literary Theory Committee of the International Comparative Literature Association (ICLA)[4]

• 2019: Lifetime Achievement Award, the Thai Chapter of the International Association of Theatre Critics[61]
• 2017: Narathip Bongprabandh Award[62]
• 2009: Award for Distinguished Authority on the Thai Language, Ministry of Culture, Thailand[63]
• 1995: Inaugural TRF Senior Research Scholar[34]
• 1994: Alexander von Humboldt Foundation's Humboldt-Forschungspreis award[64]
• 1984, 1992: Fulbright Visiting Scholar at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor (twice)[18]
• 1989–90: Fulbright Visiting Professor at University of California, Berkeley[19]
• 1973: Goethe Medal[65]

Thailand

• 1994: Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of the Most Exalted Order of the White Elephant[66]
• 1992: Chakrabarti Mala Medal[67]
• 1990: Knight Grand Cordon (Special Class) of Order of the Crown of Thailand[68]

Germany

• 1996: Grand Cross 1st Class Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany[4]

France

• 2003: Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres[4]