Khun Srun
Khun Srun | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 3, 1945 Takéo Province, Cambodia |
| Died | December 1978 (aged 33) |
| Occupation |
|
| Language | Khmer |
| Nationality | Cambodian |
| Notable works | The Accused - The Last Residence |
Khun Srun / ឃុន ស្រ៊ុន (1945–1978) was an important Cambodian writer. He was born in the hamlet of Roveang, district de Samrong, Takéo province, into a poor Chinese Cambodian family. When he was eight, his father died and he and his siblings were raised by his mother, Chi Eng, a small shopkeeper and a devout Buddhist.[1] He began his schooling during the country's first years of independence, when the doors to higher education and professionalization were inching open to all Cambodians, regardless of their social and economic class.[2] A brilliant student, he studied Khmer literature and psychology at the university in Phnom Penh, becoming widely read in the sciences, mathematics, and European literature. Amid the turmoil of the 1960s, he worked as a professor of mathematics and a journalist while writing fiction and poetry. He also worked as a member of the textbook editorial committee at the Ministry of Education. In less than four years, he published three collections of poems, short tales, and philosophical anecdotes; two collections of autobiographical short stories, The Last Residence and The Accused; and a final volume of poems, For a Woman. He was influenced by both existentialism and Cambodian Buddhism. In 1971, he was imprisoned[3] during 7 months by the right-wing Lon Nol government for refusing to collaborate, but still refused to align himself with the extreme left.[4] In 1973, after being imprisoned for a second time, he finally joined the communist guerrillas. He was only 28, and his life as a writer was finished. After the Khmer Rouge took power, in 1975, Khun Srun (aka Phoeun - ភឿន[5][6]) was assigned work as a railway engineer[7]). In December 1978, he, his wife and their three youngest children were victims of the last purges. They were arrested, transferred to Tuol Sleng prison and probably killed in Choeung Ek, two weeks before the end of Pol Pot's regime. Only Khun Srun's nine-year-old daughter, Khun Khem, survived, taken by the Khmer Rouge and forced to live among them in the forest on the Cambodian-Thai border.
One of his brothers, Khun Ngoy, was among the intellectuals who returned to Cambodia during the rule of the Khmer Rouge and disappeared from Dey Kraham (Red Land) camp.[8]
The life and writing of Khun Srun is portrayed in Eric Galmard's documentary film, A Tomb for Khun Srun (2015).[9]
Books
- គណិតសាស្ត្រថ្នាក់ទី៣-៤-៥-៦-៧-៨ (Textbook of Mathematics, third-form to eighth-form classes), under the direction of Uy Vanthon, 1970.
- គំហើញទី១ (My Views 1), 1970.
- គំហើញទី២ (My Views 2), 1970.
- គំហើញទី៣ (My Views 3), 1970.
- ជំទង់អំពីចំណេះដឹង (About Knowledge - For Young People), 1971.
- សំរស់ជីវិត (The Beauty of Life), 1971 (republished in 1994).
- ជំទង់អំពីស្នេហា (About Love - For Young People), with Peng Soeung (ប៉ែងសឿង), 1971 (Second Edition, 1973).
- កាព្យសាស្រ្តខ្មែរ (Khmer Poetics), written by Ing Yeng (អឹុងយ៉េង), corrected (ពិនិត្យសំរួល) by Khun Srun, 1972.
- ហ្សង់ប៉ូលសាត្រ និងអាល់ប៊ែរកាមិស (About Jean Paul Sartre and Albert Camus), 1972.
- លំនៅចុងក្រោយ (The Last Residence), 1972. This book is composed of five short stories.
"Srun might have written the first story, ផ្លេកបន្ទោរមួយ (A Flash of Lightning), after reading the short story "Erostratus" from Sartre's book, The Wall. When the narrator, a prisoner, takes a shower on the roof of the police station, he suddenly has the delusion that he wants to kill a woman who happens to be there, just as the hero in "Erostratus" while standing on top of a high building decides to kill someone. The second story, ភេទដែលគេជិន (A Disgusted Nature), deals with the confession of a lady teacher who is distrustful of men. One can draw some comparisons with characters from classical stories such as Kakey, Tum Teav, and Reamker. The lady teacher asserts that men have always exploited women, marriage does not bring women happiness and women have a right not to bear a child. The story raises gender issues that are the same today. In ផ្ទះអន្ទិតសុក (Sok's Home), the hero, Sok, leaves his home village and goes to Phnom Penh where he wanders from house to house as a servant. He sees that a rich family who used to live in an elegant home had come on hard times and finally found a place to live in peace in the simple home of a married couple. សាលាខ្ញុំ (My School) and គ្រូភឿន (Mr. Phuan, a teacher) describe the sweet memories of Srun's schooldays." (Tomoko Okada, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)[10]
- ជនជាប់ចោទ (The Accused), 1973 (written after being jailed for the first time by the Lon Nol regime, from 1 February to 6 September 1971) : 1. សំរែកអ្នកសរសេរ 2.ជីវិតជាប់ចោទ 3.ខ្ញុំមិនទាន់យល់ 4.ជនជាប់ចោទ
"Khun’s last novel, The Accused, published in 1973, is narrated by a writer imprisoned by Cambodia’s military government. The accused asserts that he is not a person of politics or even a man of conviction, simply an observer and a writer. He, a lover of literature, wants to flee the country and be part of the wider world; yet he wants, also, to have the courage to risk his life for his principles. Shortly after The Accused was published, Khun left Phnom Penh and joined the Khmer Rouge." (Madeleine Thien, Brick Magazine)[11]
- ចិត្តសាស្ដ្រសំរាប់គ្រប់គ្នា (Psychology For all, 1973, unpublished?)
- ជូននារីម្នាក់ (For a Woman, 1973, unpublished?)
Translations
- The Last Residence (終の住処): phlek bonto muoy いなびかり, phet dael ke chin (男嫌い), phteah antet sok (ソックの家), salaa khnom (学校); translated from Khmer to Japanese by Tomoko Okada, in Modern Short Stories, Cambodian Studies, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, The Daido Life Foundation, 2001.
- Un homme en examen (extraits) translated from Khmer to French by Christophe Macquet, in Revue Europe, "Écrivains du Cambodge", 81e année, N° 889 / Mai 2003. Republished in Revue bilingue MEET, n°15, bilingual Khmer/French edition, Porto Rico / Phnom Penh, 2011.
- The Accused (excerpt), translated from Khmer to French by Christophe Macquet and from French to English by Daniela Hurezanu and Stephen Kessler, In the Shadow of Angkor: Contemporary Writing From Cambodia, Manoa, University of Hawaii Press (2004).
- Je déteste le mot et la lettre ត (tâ) translated from Khmer to French by Christophe Macquet, in Revue Europe, "Écrivains du Cambodge", 81e année, N° 889 / Mai 2003.
- I Hate the Word and the Letter ត (Ta), translated from Khmer to French by Christophe Macquet and from French to English by Daniela Hurezanu and Stephen Kessler, In the Shadow of Angkor: Contemporary Writing From Cambodia, Manoa, University of Hawaii Press (2004).
- Fragments from The Accused, translated from Khmer to French by Christophe Macquet and from French to English by Madeleine Thien, Brick (magazine) 97, Summer 2016.
Quotes
- "I know it's dangerous to live among men." (The Accused)
- "In Solzhenitsyn's novella [Matryona's Place], the widow, Matryona, possesses nothing. Why accumulate goods, she wonders, only to live in fear of dispossession, only to hold fast to our belongings rather than our lives? Hers is in an uncommon way of seeing, certainly, yet I find myself in kinship with her. I have never wanted to possess villas nor land nor wealth because I imagine that, at the moment of my death, my attachment to them would bring me only sorrow. Far better to lead an untethered existence." (The Accused)[12]
- "I do have one hope left, however. A tiny one. I know I am innocent and wrongly accused. So I try to be an optimist : the inspector is a Khmer; he has dark skin and the same blood as I do." (The Accused)[13]
See also
References
- ^ Macquet, Christophe (2003). "Five Cambodian Writers" (PDF). Revue Europe. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ Thien, Madeleine (2016). "Fragments from The Accused". Brick (magazine). Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ DC-Cam, Document (2006). "Searching For The Truth: Heng Song Hy, Confession Summary)" (PDF). Magazine of The Documentation Center of Cambodia. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
- ^ May, Sharon (2004). "Khun Srun: The Accused". Manoa, University of Hawaii Press. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
- ^ DC-Cam, Document. "Tuol Sleng Box 16 No 5483". ID Number D02612. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
- ^ DC-Cam, Document. "Tuol Sleng ID of CBIO Record: K07047". ID Number TKI0690. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
- ^ DC-Cam, Document. "Tuol Sleng No 0217". ID Number K07047. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
- ^ Ong, Thong Hoeung (2010). "Liste of the people disappeared from the camp the Red Land (APPENDIX 2)". Ong Thong Hoeung's Blog. Retrieved 26 February 2017.
- ^ Galmard, Eric (2015). "A Tomb for Khun Srun". Dora Films.
- ^ Okada, Tomoko (2001). "Cambodian Studies, Modern Short Stories". Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
- ^ Thien, Madeleine (2016). "Fragments from The Accused". Brick (magazine). Retrieved 23 February 2017.
- ^ Thien, Madeleine (2016). "Fragments from The Accused". Brick (magazine). Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ Macquet, Christophe (2003). "Five Cambodian Writers" (PDF). Revue Europe. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- Écrivains et expressions littéraires du Cambodge au XXe s. Contribution à l'histoire de la littérature khmère, by Khing Hoc Dy, vol. 2, L'Harmattan, 1993.
- អក្សរសិល្ប៍ខ្មែរសតវត្សទី២០, (Anthology of Khmer Literature: 20th Century), by Khing Hoc Dy, Phnom Penh, Ed. de La Plus Haute Tour, 2002, 665 p.
Externals links
- A Tomb for Khun Srun, documentary film directed by Eric Galmard, Dora Films, 2015, 68min, in Khmer with English subtitles (trailer).
- Chasing the Past, by Rajan Venkataraman, in the Mekong Review, February, 2016.
- A Poet, Purged, by Michelle Vachon, in The Cambodia Daily, November 19, 2016.