The Back Page (September 2007)

Nat Novel Courts Controversy

Every August, people from across Burma travel to the village of Taung Pyone, some 14 km north of Mandalay, to participate in the country’s largest and most elaborate Nat festival.

Smile As They Bow, Laugh As They Bow by Nu Nu Yi

Taung Pyone boasts about 7,000 Nat shrines—nearly 2,000 of which are dedicated to the village’s two famous sons, Shwe Phyin Gyi and Shwe Phyin Lay. Numerous travel agencies market the eight-day festival as a cultural event not to be missed by foreign and domestic travelers alike.

The folklore surrounding traditional belief in Nats, or ancient spirits, extends back centuries and evokes, at least in some circles, considerable pride in Burma’s rich cultural history.

But a new novel about the festival—which attracts members of Burma’s gay community, many of whom participate in a ritual marriage with Nats—has inspired anything but pride among Burmese officials.

“The authorities said the story was against the customs of Theravada Buddhism and Burmese culture,” said Nu Nu Yi, who uses the pen name Inwa and who spent three years researching and writing Smile As They Bow, Laugh As They Bow.

The novel—translated into English by Alfred Birnbaum and expected to be published in a new US edition by Hyperion—depicts a failed courtship between a 53-year-old gay medium and his 23-year-old male apprentice.

In love with the young apprentice, the aging medium’s longing turns to heartbreak when his protégé runs off with a young woman during the Nat festival.

Performers dance during a traditional Nat festival in Burma [Photo: Yuzo]

Nu Nu Yi drew international attention when her novel was long-listed for the first annual Man Asian Literary Prize, but it would have been condemned to obscurity if the junta had its way.

The novel was originally rejected by Burma’s state censors in 1993, but publishers eventually received permission to distribute a heavily redacted version a year later. A second Burmese edition appeared in May 2007 but attempts to produce a film adaptation have been blocked by Burma’s Motion Picture Censor Board.

Homosexuality is illegal in Burma, and the country’s military leaders may not have wanted to tarnish the Nat tradition with the story of the unrequited love of an aging gay medium.

Nu Nu Yi is currently working on a new novel about life in a traditional Burmese family and is considering another project about Burmese migrants living in Thailand.

The success of her compelling and controversial love story attests to the rich cultural material available to Burmese authors—when they are allowed to mine it.

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From Army Reporter to Celebrity

Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s ousted prime minister, still has the power to make or break careers, even from his present base in exile.

Sunisa Lertpakawat

He gave interviews in London to a reporter for the army-run television station Channel 5, Sunisa Lertpakawat, which provided material for a book, Thaksin, Where Are You?

The book was an overnight success and propelled Sunisa (or Jiab, as she’s better known) to fame. But she lost her job at Channel 5.

Sunisa is an army lieutenant, and her extracurricular trip to London to interview Thaksin didn’t please her superiors. Army chief Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin ordered an investigation, and although no action was taken to remove the book from Thailand’s bookshelves, a reprint has been banned.

Apart from the interviews with Thaksin, Sunisa’s Thai-language book describes his luxurious lifestyle in London, his friendship with a young Thai female singer, and criticism by the former premier of the new government’s treatment of him and his family. The book was launched in Bangkok bookshops in early August and rapidly sold out.

Sunisa’s superiors complained that she had traveled to London and interviewed Thaksin without obtaining prior permission.