The discourse of hierarchy: a study of British writings on Siam, c. 1820-1918

Abstract

This thesis examines the relationship between Britain and Siam (modern-day Thailand) during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries through three events: the East India Company trade mission in 1821-1822, the Burma-Siam-China railway scheme in the 1890s, and the development of Siamese railways from the 1890s to the 1910s. The aim of this thesis is to ―relocate‖ the British in Siam in various ways, and in various spaces, texts, and discourses. The focus in particular is on the rhetorical strategies that British authors used to describe Siam and where they thought Siam was located in the hierarchy of civilizations. The sources used include travel writings, their reviews, fiction, and British Foreign Office documents. These writings are contextualized within the geographical, political, economic, and cultural situations of their times.