Literature—Cambodia, Khmer

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Dark ages of Cambodia Summary

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Literature—Cambodia, Khmer

The earliest dated stone inscription in the Khmer language, which could be regarded as the beginning of Khmer, or Cambodian, literature, is from 611 CE and was found in Takeo province. Over a thousand inscriptions in Old Khmer and Sanskrit that were produced throughout Cambodia and the former Khmer regions of northeast Thailand, southern Laos, and southern Vietnam between the seventh and fourteenth centuries survive. The Cambodian inscriptions are of great significance for general history as well as for the history of art and linguistics.

Classical Literature

The period of inscriptional literature ended after the decline of the Angkor empire in the fourteenth century. The four centuries from the abandonment of Angkor in 1432 to the establishment of the French protectorate in 1836 were considered to be the dark ages in the history of Cambodia, but it was in this period that the literary works regarded as classics appeared. Written on palm leaves, classical Khmer literature was exclusively composed in verse. Prose was not regarded as an artistic medium and was reserved for practical documents such as legal texts and chronicles. There are more than fifteen forms of verse composition, each with its own strict rules on syllable length and internal and external rhyme schemes. As with other kinds of Khmer art, the beauty of Khmer poetry lies in the delicacy and richness of harmonious ornamentation. Several techniques, such as the use of high-style vocabulary, paired synonyms, alliteration, and assonance, must be skillfully manipulated to produce the most euphoric effect. Therefore, literary production was only in the hands of the intelligentsia, who had sound knowledge of the Khmer, Sanskrit, and Pali languages. Indian literary influence was undoubtedly very strong, but always the Khmer authors modified what they adopted to suit their own traditions and tastes.

Classical Khmer literature, which was composed by kings, court poets, and Buddhist monks, can be divided into ten categories. The most important genres include verse novels and didactic poems. The bestknown and earliest verse novel is the Reamker, the Khmer version of the Indian epic Ramayana, written between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries. The story of Rama, which was adapted to match the culture and beliefs of the Cambodians, has pervaded all art forms: the bas-reliefs at Angkor, the frescoes on temple walls, the shadow theater, the masked dance, and the chief repertoire of the Royal Ballet. Apart from the classical Reamker, popular versions of Reamker also exist that were recited by storytellers in public performance. The Cbap, or the Code of Conduct (didactic poetry written to encourage good social behavior consistent with the observance of Buddhist morality), was also highly influential. The Cbap has enjoyed remarkable popularity; it was constantly written, copied, and memorized from the early seventeenth century right up to the present. Two of the most famous examples are Cbap Proh (Code of Conduct for Men) and Cbap Srey (Code of Conduct for Women).

During the early eighteenth century, the Satra Lbaeng, verse novels recounting the Buddha's birth stories, developed. The oldest example, Khyang Sang (The Conch Shell), dates from 1729. Portraying the Buddhist concept of karma, many of the Satra Lbaeng were used by monks as texts to teach Khmer boys to read and write. Later, they came to be dramatized both in the court and the popular dance drama. A number of Khmer verse novels also draw their story lines from old local folktales and legends. A favorite with Cambodians is Tum Teav, the story of the ill-fated romance between Tum and Teav, based on a true love story said to have occurred in the fifteenth century. Unlike other verse novels, which are Hindu-Buddhist in their inspiration, Tum Teav is almost free from supernatural and mystical elements, and ordinary Khmer life is described with striking realism.

Early-Twentieth-Century Literature

During the early part of the twentieth century, the Khmer novel emerged as a result of Western influence. The appearance of the first two novels, Sophat (The Story of Sophat) and Tik Tonle Sap (The Water of the Tonle Sap), during the last years of the 1930s marked a new era in the history of Khmer literature. These innovative and realistic literary works, reflecting the life of the emerging middle class, aroused considerable interest among the public. From 1940 to the end of the colonial era in 1953, more than fifty novels were published, with the main trend being toward romanticism. Many of them were created with serious social and political motives, and nationalism was the main inspiration for writers, although patriotic sentiment had to be shown in an indirect way. Among the best early novels are Kulap Pailin (The Rose of Pailin), Phka Srapon (The Faded Flower), and Mealea Duongjit (The Garland of the Heart).

Postindependence Literature

After independence in 1954, the novel underwent tremendous growth and became the most popular literary genre in Cambodia. Between 1953 and 1975, almost one thousand titles were published. Love stories constituted a major portion of the postindependence novels, with the favorite theme being the arranged marriage. Another outstanding type was the historical novel; these were written mainly to cultivate a spirit of nationalism and loyalty toward the monarchy. The adventure novel, packed with exciting battles, was also very popular among the Khmer readers. The authors of these novels were heavily influenced by Western adventure novels as well as by Chinese epics and films. In the late 1950s, the social novel appeared after the government and the Association of Khmer Writers introduced literary competitions. The award-winning novels mostly dealt with such contemporary social problems as the struggle of Khmer women in modern society and the life of the urban working class. An outstanding example is Preah Athit Thmey Reah Loe Phaendey Chah (The New Sun Rises on the Old Land), which reflects the struggle of the working class against oppression and exploitation by urban capitalists.

Khmer Rouge and Later Periods

Khmer literature degenerated during the Khmer Rouge regime between April 1975 and January 1978. As a result of revolutionary policies, at least 1.5 million Cambodians were killed, including a great many writers and literary scholars, as well as members of the reading public. Schools were closed, libraries were demolished, books were deliberately destroyed, and writers were not able to express their ideas and feelings. Literature, in the form of poetry and proverbs, was written to support Khmer Rouge ideology and values. After 1979, cultural and literary activity was reorganized by the government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea. Khmer poems and novels of the 1980s were written to support the socialist policy of the government and to encourage the Cambodians to participate in the work of national security and reconstruction. Their recurring themes are the tragic life during the Pol Pot years, the heroic acts of soldiers in the revolutionary army fighting against the Khmer Rouge and the noncommunist resistance factions, and Cambodian-Vietnamese friendship and solidarity. In Europe and America, Khmer refugee writers also produced novels, stories, and collections of poems with the principal theme of the dramatic events between 1975 and 1979 and their suffering and nostalgia for the homeland. From 1980 on, the horrors of the Khmer Rouge reached a much wider audience through the autobiographical accounts of survivors written in English and French. Among the first was Pin Yathay's L'Utopie Meurtière, published in Paris in 1980. This book is considered by general readers as well as scholars of Cambodian studies as one of the best of the surviviors' accounts. Later, it came out in English under the title Stay Alive, My Son.

In the 1990s the Association of Khmer Writers was reestablished, and two literary competitions have been organized since 1995. Khmer fiction in this decade developed in two directions: one returning toward the novelistic tradition of the postindependence period, and the other continuing the socialist influence from the former decade.