"Thank you for giving me a new life": The Reconstruction of Self through "Geobiography" and Sense of Place in A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021)

Abstract

This research article exarnines A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021), a Thai TV series, frorn an ecocritical perspective. It particularly explores the series' portrayal of the protagonist's transformation of self through his construction of sense of place. It also incorporates Wendell Berry's notion of "geobiography", the postulation of the interconnectedness between one's sense of place. This research argues that the protagonist's journey to becorne a volunteer teacher at Pha Pun Dao village is a departure point of his healing process. His developing bond with the place, and its inhabitants gradually allows him to reconstruct his sense of place as he begins to see different layers of the place apart from its physicality, specifically its mernory, and culture. His newly constructed self not only galvanizes himn to corne to terrns with his traurna but also paves the way for his better treatments of the environrnent. Ultirnately, the protagonist cornes to realization of his life goal as he aspires to become a teacher to inculcate into the posterity the idea of sense of place and ecological awareness