Cambodian literature is something of a unique creation, born from a tragic national history and a culture of oral storytelling. Vincent Wood explores the history of Cambodia's literature and the struggles faced by Khmer writers in the twentieth century.
“Historically, only a small portion of Cambodia’s population is literate and so large parts of the storytelling traditions of the country are oral and based in local folklore. These stories are heavily influenced by the predominant religions of Buddhism and Hinduism and also reflect the cultural influence of nearby India. The oldest such example is the Reamker, a Cambodian version of the Indian epic Ramayana that is staged theatrically with dance alongside the verses.For most of Cambodia's history, written literature was, for the most part, restricted to the royal courts or Buddhist monasteries of the country.
In 1863 Cambodia became a protectorate of France, bringing new literary attitudes and technologies to the country; by 1908 the first book in Khmer was printed in Pnom Penh. This allowed a new flowering of Cambodian literature and by 1954 the Khmer Writers’ Association had been set up in order to promote writing, as well as introduce new themes and direction to literature.”
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