Literature of Cambodia
Encyclopedia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
n or Khmer literature has a very ancient origin. Like most Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
n national literatures its traditional corpus
Text corpus
In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts...
has two distinct aspects or levels:
- The written literature, mostly restricted to the royal courts or the Buddhist monasteries.
- The oral literatureOral literatureOral literature corresponds in the sphere of the spoken word to literature as literature operates in the domain of the written word. It thus forms a generally more fundamental component of culture, but operates in many ways as one might expect literature to do...
, which is based on local folkloreFolkloreFolklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...
. It is heavily influenced by BuddhismBuddhismBuddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, the predominant religion, as well as by the Hindu epics RamayanaRamayanaThe Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
and MahabharataMahabharataThe Mahabharata is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India and Nepal, the other being the Ramayana. The epic is part of itihasa....
.
Ancient stone inscriptions
A testimony of the antiquity of the Khmer languageKhmer language
Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
are the multitude of epigraphic
Epigraphy
Epigraphy Epigraphy Epigraphy (from the , literally "on-writing", is the study of inscriptions or epigraphs as writing; that is, the science of identifying the graphemes and of classifying their use as to cultural context and date, elucidating their meaning and assessing what conclusions can be...
inscriptions on stone. The first written proof that has allowed the history of the Khmer empire
Khmer Empire
The Khmer Empire was one of the most powerful empires in Southeast Asia. The empire, which grew out of the former kingdom of Chenla, at times ruled over and/or vassalized parts of modern-day Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Burma, and Malaysia. Its greatest legacy is Angkor, the site of the capital city...
to be reconstructed are those inscriptions.
These writings on columns, stelae
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
and walls throw light on the royal lineages, religious edicts, territorial conquests and internal organization of the kingdom.
Buddhist texts
Following the stone inscriptions, some of the oldest Khmer documents are translations and commentaries of the PaliPáli
- External links :* *...
Buddhist texts of the Tripitaka
Tripiṭaka
' is a traditional term used by various Buddhist sects to describe their various canons of scriptures. As the name suggests, a traditionally contains three "baskets" of teachings: a , a and an .-The three categories:Tripitaka is the three main categories of texts that make up the...
written in the Khmer script
Khmer script
The Khmer script is an alphasyllabary script used to write the Khmer language . It is also used to write Pali among the Buddhist liturgy of Cambodia and Thailand....
.
These texts were written with stencils by the monks on palmyra
Palmyra
Palmyra was an ancient city in Syria. In the age of antiquity, it was an important city of central Syria, located in an oasis 215 km northeast of Damascus and 180 km southwest of the Euphrates at Deir ez-Zor. It had long been a vital caravan city for travellers crossing the Syrian desert...
palm leaves. They were kept in various monasteries throughout the country and many did not escape the destruction of the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
.
Reamker
The ReamkerReamker
Reamker is a Cambodian epic poem, based on the Sanskrit's Ramayana epic. The name means "Glory of Rama". It adapts the Hindu ideas to Buddhist themes and shows the balance of good and evil in the world. More than just a reordering of the epic tale, the Reamker is a mainstay of the royal ballet's...
or Ram Ker (Rama's fame) is the Cambodian version of the Ramayana
Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon , considered to be itihāsa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata...
, the famous Indian epic. The Reamker comes in rhymed verses and is staged in sections that are adapted to Cambodian dance movements interpreted by local artists.
The Reamker is the oldest form of Cambodian theatre. The Robam Sovann Maccha - a certain dance from the Reamker about Hanuman
Hanuman
Hanuman , is a Hindu deity, who is an ardent devotee of Rama, a central character in the Indian epic Ramayana and one of the dearest devotees of lord Rama. A general among the vanaras, an ape-like race of forest-dwellers, Hanuman is an incarnation of the divine and a disciple of Lord Rama in the...
and Suvannamaccha, the golden mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
, is one of the most renowned pieces of classical dance in Cambodia.
Court literature
King Thommaracha II (1629–1634) wrote a poem directed to the Khmer young generation which is still a well loved traditional piece of poetry.King Ang Duong
Ang Duong
Ang Duong was king of Cambodia.Ang Duong was younger son of king Ang Eng, who 1779-1797 was ruler of Cambodia at the then capital Oudong, by one of his Thai consorts, Ros, 'queen Vara' , whom he had taken as concubine in 1793 from Bangkok.He is regarded as the Great-King of Cambodia who...
(1841–1860) is known in Khmer literature for being not only a king but a famous classical writer in prose. His novel Kakey or Ka key (from the Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
word for a "female crow"), is inspired in a Jataka
Jataka
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....
tale and has elements of regional folktales. It narrates the story about a woman that is unfaithful to her husband and ends up being punished by him for her betrayal. It contains specific moral lessons that were used in texts in Cambodian schools. Kakey social norms were traditionally taught to high-born young Khmer girls and the story's values have cultural relevance even in present times.
Another work by Ang Duong, also probably inspired in an ancient legend, is Puthisen Neang Kong Rey, a novel about a faithful wife ready to sacrifice her life for her husband. Khmer poets and songwriters have used the words "Kakey" for a woman who is unfaithful to her man and "Neang Kong Rey" for a very faithful woman.
Popular legends
Oral tradition
Oral tradition and oral lore is cultural material and traditions transmitted orally from one generation to another. The messages or testimony are verbally transmitted in speech or song and may take the form, for example, of folktales, sayings, ballads, songs, or chants...
. There are many legends, tales and songs of very ancient origin that were not put into writing until the 19th and 20th centuries and that until then had been memorized and told for generations.
Many of these tales borrow features and plots from the Indian epics Ramayana and the Mahabharata, as well as from the Buddhist Jataka
Jataka
The Jātakas refer to a voluminous body of literature native to India concerning the previous births of the Buddha....
tales. They also often show Siamese influence.
The oral-tradition legends were often extremely long stories in rhyming verses. Their heroes were mostly princes and supernatural beings and the scenarios were often connected to the palaces and the monasteries. One important purpose of these legends and stories handed down for centuries, was to transmit norms and values. Most stories emphasize the peaceful resolution of conflicts. References to geographical landmarks and the meanings of the names of Cambodian locations were also transmitted through the traditional tales.
One of the most representative of these tales was the story of Vorvong and Sorvong, a long story of the Khmer oral tradition about two Khmer princes that fell into disgrace, but after a series of ordeals regained their status. Vorvong and Sorvong was first put into writing by Auguste Pavie
Auguste Pavie
Auguste Jean-Marie Pavie was a French colonial civil servant, explorer and diplomat who was instrumental in establishing French control over Laos in the last two decades of the 19th century...
as "Vorvong and Saurivong"; this French civil servant claimed that he had obtained the folk legend version he wrote down from a certain "Old Uncle Nip" in Somrontong District. This story was put into writing in Battambang
Battambang
Battambang is the capital city of Battambang province in northwestern Cambodia.Battambang is the second-largest city in Cambodia with a population of over 250,000. Founded in the 11th century by the Khmer Empire, Battambang is well known for being the leading rice-producing province of the country...
. In 2006 the Vorvong and Sorvong story was enacted in dance form by the Royal Ballet of Cambodia
Dance of Cambodia
Dance in Cambodia consists of three main categories: classical dance of the royal court used for invocation, entertainment and to pay homage, folk dance which portrays cultural traditions, and social dances performed in social gatherings.-Classical dance:...
.
There are two hills in Kirirom National Park
Kirirom National Park
Kirirom National Park is a national park in Cambodia. It is located mostly in Phnom Sruoch District, Kampong Speu Province, while a smaller section is in neighboring Koh Kong Province.-Legend:...
, Phnom Sruoch District
Phnom Sruoch District
Phnom Sruoch District is a district located in Kampong Speu Province in central Cambodia.-Ecology:The largest surface of Kirirom National Park is part of Phnom Sruoch District, Kampong Speu, while another section is in neighboring Koh Kong Province....
, Kampong Speu Province, named after the two heroic princely brothers, Vorvong and Sorvong.
Another Khmer folktale with a local mountain as a reference is Puthisan Neang Kong Rei
Puthisan Neang Kong Rei
Puthisan Neang Kong Rei is a Khmer folk tale. Originally an ancient Sanskrit story, the tale can be found in many countries but under other names, for example Nang Sib Song in Thailand. A wealthy Khmer poet named Mien Pakley had adapted the tale into a poem. The tale has had several film adaptations...
.
Tum Teav
Tum Teav
Tum Teav is a classic tragic love story of the Literature of Cambodia that has been told throughout the country since at least the middle of the 19th century....
is a classic tragic love story set in Kampong Cham that has been told throughout the country since at least mid 19th century.
It is based on 17th or 18th century poem of uncertain origin, probably having originated in a more ancient Cambodian folk legend. Nowadays Tum Teav has oral, literary, theatre, and film versions in Khmer. Although its first translation in French had been made by Étienne Aymonier
Étienne Aymonier
Étienne François Aymonier was a French linguist and explorer. He was the first archaeologist to systematically survey the ruins of the Khmer empire in today's Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and southern Vietnam...
already in 1880, Tum Teav was popularized abroad when writer George Chigas
George Chigas
George Chigas is an American writer and scholar. He is the Associate Director of the Cambodian Genocide Program at Yale University. He completed an English translation of the Cambodian verse novel The Story of Tum Teav, and is co-author with Susan Cook of "Putting the Khmer Rouge on Trial", which...
translated the 1915 literary version by the venerable Buddhist monk Preah Botumthera Som
Preah Botumthera Som
Preah Botumthera Som was a Cambodian writer. He is also known as Venerable Botumthera Som, Brah Padumatthera in French manuscripts, or often simply as Som...
or Padumatthera Som, known also as Som.
Modern literature
The era of French domination brought about a requestioning of the role of the literature in Cambodia. The first book in the Khmer script in a modern printing press was printed in Pnom Penh in 1908. It was a classical text on wisdom, "The recommendations of Old Mas", published under the auspices of Adhémard Leclère.The influence of French-promoted modern school education in Cambodia would produce a generation of novelists in the Khmer language beginning in the early decades of the 20th century. These new writers would write in prose, illustrating themes of average Khmer people
Khmer people
Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...
, set against scenarios of ordinary Cambodian life.
The clean break with the ancient Indian and Siamese influence was not abrupt. Some of the first modern Cambodian literary works keep the influences of the versified traditional literature, like the 1911 novel Dik ram phka ram (The Dancing Water and the Dancing Flower), Tum Teav (1915) by the venerable Som, the 1900 work Bimba bilap (Bimba's Lamentation) by female novelist Sou Seth, or even Dav Ek by Nou Kan, which appeared in 1942.
The Khmer Rouge years and their aftermath
Between 1975 and 1977, under Democratic KampucheaDemocratic Kampuchea
The Khmer Rouge period refers to the rule of Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen, Khieu Samphan and the Khmer Rouge Communist party over Cambodia, which the Khmer Rouge renamed as Democratic Kampuchea....
, intellectuals were persecuted. Since Cambodian writers were largely from an urban background, they were among the people expelled from the cities in 1975 after the victory of the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
.
During the years that followed Khmer writers were not able to practice their skill. Like all other intellectuals, they were forced to live like peasants, doing rural farmwork and heavy menial chores. Educated people had to hide their condition and many were murdered when Khmer Rouge cadres found out about their former background. As part of Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
's "struggle against superstition", the Buddhist religion, which ran through most of the traditional Cambodian literature, was repressed and Khmer Rouge cadres put a great effort into wiping away Khmer folklore
Krasue
The krasue is a certain female spirit of Southeast Asian mythology.This ghost has been the subject of a number of movies in the region, including Konm Eak Madia Arb , a Cambodian horror movie which has the distinction of being the first movie made in the People's Republic of Kampuchea after the...
.
The defeat of Pol Pot's regime and the establishment of the People's Republic of Kampuchea
People's Republic of Kampuchea
The People's Republic of Kampuchea , , was founded in Cambodia by the Salvation Front, a group of Cambodian leftists dissatisfied with the Khmer Rouge, after the overthrow of Democratic Kampuchea, Pol Pot's government...
brought about a reinstatement of the Cambodian writers' prestige, as well as a partial restoration of Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
as the state religion and a renewed interest in traditions and local folklore. Many intellectuals regained their former status and there was recognition of their achievements as being in line with the national interests. The restoration of cultural life during the PRK, however, was marred by socialist-minded
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, pro-Soviet and pro-Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
ese restrictions hampering creativity that would only be lifted towards the end of the 1980s under the SOC. A weight, nevertheless, had been lifted and following the Khmer Rouge years some writers like Vatey Seng (The Price We Paid) or Navy Phim (Reflections of A Khmer Soul) wrote frank accounts of their ordeals under Pol Pot's brutal dictatorship as part of a healing process that needed expression.
Present-day
Somaly MamSomaly Mam
Somaly Mam is a Cambodian author and human rights advocate, focusing primarily on needs of victims of human sex trafficking, and has garnered official and media acclaim for her efforts.-Early life:...
(The Road To Lost Innocence) made a bold denunciation of human sex-trafficking
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
through her experiences. She, and other Cambodian authors that gained international attention were able to make some income through their works or translations in foreign languages. Cambodian writers in Khmer, however, still find it difficult to make ends meet. The Khmer Writers' Association was reestablished again in 1993 by two of its former members in order to help struggling Khmer writers.
See also
- Culture of CambodiaCulture of CambodiaThe culture of Cambodia has had a rich and varied history dating back many centuries, and has been heavily influenced by India. Throughout Cambodia's long history, a major source of inspiration was from religion...
- Dance in Cambodia
- Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, CambodiaMinistry of Culture and Fine Arts, CambodiaThe Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts is the government ministry with a mandate to promote, encourage and support the fine arts of Cambodia....
- Vessantara JatakaVessantara JatakaThe Vessantara Jataka is one of the most popular avadānas of Theravada Buddhism. The Vessantara Jataka tells the story of one of Buddha's past lives, about a compassionate prince, Vessantara, who gives away everything he owns, including his children, thereby displaying the virtue of perfect charity...