The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

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It would seem that one has to choose.
Either one has 'literature'
in the accepted sense, or one bas popular writing catering for the taste of
a newly literate public. Whether this popular writing need pander to
the worst tastes is another matter. One knows the reading habit hardly
exists in the region; there is respect for writing but no great desire for it.
As Labrousse notes, 'La promiscuite familiale, l'entassement des habitations
et les problemes quotidiens reduisent a neant les moments de
disponibilite', so the writing bas to be accessible. But need it be a denial
of literature? Perhaps the presses of the Plain of Jars and the Red River
valley, even if they may not have found the answer, at least provide an
alternative which makes one pause for thought.
This volume then, uneven and infelicitous as it sometimes is, does
provide a general insight into some aspects of literary creation in the
Southeast Asian region in 1973, even if the picture is somewhat changed
by political events two years later in at least three of the countries
considered. It could certainly have gained from casting a wider net for
its contributors. But no collection of this kind is perfect; these are
essentially papers presented at a conference sideshow (there were 6,000
delegates and 22 sections and subsections to the congress, as well as 2
colloquia and 13 seminars) and at least one paper contributed bas been
wisely dropped altogether. The emphasis given by four contributors on
popular literature, including comic strips, breaks relatively new ground
and is challenging. In ways perhaps not intended the collection is also
deeply disturbing and one is left wondering what literature and literacy
should really be about.
Gadjah Mada University,
Yo gyakm·ta
Michael Smithies