The Anthropology Of Genocide - WNLibrary

cambodian villagers 285
in people’s daily lives. We were struck in particular by the increasing number of
families building wooden houses raised on piles above the ground in the traditional
Khmer style, after having lived since Pol Pot times in rather shabby thatch houses
built directly on the ground with dirt floors. No one looks malnourished; people
have nicer clothes; virtually every household has a bicycle, and increasingly over
time, some have acquired motorcycles; most families have radios, and nowadays
some even have tiny black-and-white television sets that run (in the absence of electricity)
on car batteries. 29 (On some other aspects of contemporary village life, see
Ebihara 1993a and 1993b; Meas Nee 1995; Uimonen 1996.)
Despite some material improvements to their lives, present-day villagers obviously
bear scars, both physical and emotional, from the horrors of the Pol Pot regime.
People believe that the harsh conditions of DK caused the deaths of several villagers
in the years following 1979; and many survivors are plagued by profound fatigue,
lack of strength, weak limbs, faulty memories, and other problems that are thought
to be the consequence of overly arduous work, severe deprivations, and beatings
during DK. Villagers report such difficulties as: “My legs are still weak from all the
work; sometimes they collapse and I fall down.” “They beat me on my head and
shoulders and back...and now I can’t lift heavy things.” “I’ve forgotten how to read
and write Khmer since Pol Pot.” Only one person admits that she had a mental
breakdown during DK; now, she says, “Sometimes I laugh or cry for no reason.”
But she has managed to hold down a job and functions quite capably in daily life.
We found no other evidence of serious psychological problems, although it is quite
possible that some of the villagers’ physical ailments could be somaticizations of
emotional reactions to past horrors. Although it is certainly true that numerous
Cambodians endured intense psychological traumas during DK and that some continue
to suffer emotional distress, we do not agree with periodic statements (largely
in journalistic media) that Cambodia has become a nation of the mentally unbalanced.
30 (See Ledgerwood 1998c for fuller discussion of this issue.)
The present-day life of Svay villagers remains difficult in many respects. But
in listening to people speak of their horrendous experiences and profound losses
during the “Pol Pot time,” and in watching transformations in their lives throughout
the 1990s, we are deeply moved above all by their astonishing fortitude, resilience,
courage, and endurance. As is probably true of humankind almost everywhere,
the villagers are ordinary people with extraordinary strength and spirit.
They are survivors.
NOTES
1. Ebihara’s original fieldwork was sponsored by a Ford Foundation Foreign Area Training
Fellowship; subsequent research during the 1990s was supported by the Social Science Research
Council, the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research, and the PSC/CUNY
Faculty Research Awards Program. Ledgerwood’s work has been funded by the Social Science