RETELLING AND PRESENTING LIFE STORIES THROUGH THEMATIC SUITE OF MUSIC COMPOSITION: THAI-CHINESE GRANDMOTHER KEE’S VICIOUS LIFE STORIES THROUGH COHESIVE AUDIO NARRATIVE

Abstract

By exploring specific themes derived from grandmother Kee’s experiences, a resilient Thai-Chinese woman born in 1935, this project delves into her life journey, highlighting themes of adaptation, motherhood, identity and socio-cultural dynamics amidst the Thai-Chinese population. The project aims to reflect and express themes selected through a thematic suite of sonic vignettes, combining speech, archival sources and soundscapes, oscillating between real moments and emotional elements. The process involves three stages: collecting archival materials, primary interviews, and transcriptions; connecting and developing themes extracted from these sources through thematic analysis and structuring; and finally, creating the audio composition-documentary by composing music based on established themes and emotions. The research includes gathering historical and academic sources related to the grandmother's stories, collecting sound archives from relevant time periods, conducting primary interviews, and examining individual story sections to reinterpret emotions from her perspective. This process aims to provide a deeper understanding of the grandmother's emotional context and experiences, culminating in a cohesive audio narrative. The thematic analysis of the interviews highlights key themes: poverty and limited access to necessities, challenges of motherhood and womanhood, and the experience of being a Thai-Chinese woman in 20th-century Thai society, including her beliefs as a Thai citizen. From the themes extracted, music composition-documentary is developed.