Soth Polin

Soth Polin

Soth Polin in Long Beach (April 2017)
Born (1943-02-09) February 9, 1943
Kampong Cham Province
Occupation
  • Writer
Language Khmer and French
Nationality Cambodian and American naturalization
Notable works The Anarchist

Soth Polin / សុទ្ធ ប៉ូលីន (born February 9, 1943, in the hamlet of Chroy Thmar, Kampong Siem District, Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia) is a famous Khmer writer. His maternal great-grandfather was the poet Nou Kan (who wrote Teav-Ek, ទាវឯក, a version of Tum Teav, the masterpiece of Cambodian love poetry).[1] He grew up speaking both French and Khmer. Throughout his youth, he immersed himself in the classical literature of Cambodia and, at the same time, the literature and the philosophy of the West. His first novel, A Meaningless Life, published in 1965 (he was 22 years old), was strongly influenced by Nietzsche, Freud, Sartre and Buddhist philosophy. It was an enormous success. Numerous novels and short stories followed, among them The Adventurer With No Goal, A Bored Man, We Die Only Once, and Dead Heart.[2] He also worked as a journalist in Khmer Ekareach (The Independent Khmer), the newspaper of his uncle, Sim Var, and in the late 1960s, he founded (with Sin Kim Suy) the newspaper and publishing house, Nokor Thom (នគរធំ / The Great Kingdom). He was a militant nationalist who was both anti-Sihanouk and anti-communist.[3] Through his newspaper, he supported the pro-American government of General Lon Nol before finally distancing himself and suddenly taking refuge in France in 1974, after the assassination of his friend, Thach Chea, the Deputy Minister of Education.[4] His father and two of his brothers died during the Khmer Rouge regime. He worked in Paris as a taxi driver and published his dark cult novel The Anarchist, written in French.[5] Later he and his two sons moved to the West Coast of the United States, where he now resides.

His brother-in-law is Mam Sonando.

Novels (in Khmer) / ប្រលោមលោក[6]

Novel (in French)

« The Anarchist flouts the mythology of "la belle France" and takes us to an entrepôt of broken dreams where the trauma of war haunts a Cambodian émigré, whose monologue comprises the second half of the novel. In Paris, weeks after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian taxi-driver Virak unburdens himself of a terrible secret. His audience is fresh road-kill: a young English tourist who is a victim of his distracted driving. Unlike other Europeans in the novel, who impose their own journalistic or ethnographic narratives on Cambodia, she cannot talk back. » (Penny Edwards, Berkeley University).[7]

Collections of short stories (in Khmer) / កម្រងរឿងខ្លីៗ

Play (in Khmer) / ល្ខោននិយាយ

Essays (in French)

Articles (in Khmer, French and English)

Miscellaneous works (in French)

Translations of his work

Quotes

See also

References

  1. ↑ Macquet, Christophe (2003). "Five Cambodian Writers" (PDF). Revue Europe. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  2. ↑ Amratisha, Klairung (2007). "Women, Sexuality and Politics in Modern Cambodian Literature: The Case of Soth Polin's Short Story" (PDF). MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities, Special Issue No.14. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  3. ↑ May, Sharon (2004). "Soth Polin: Communicate, They Say". Manoa, University of Hawaii Press. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  4. ↑ May, Sharon (2004). "An Interview with Soth Polin". Manoa, University of Hawaii Press. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  5. ↑ La Table Ronde, Editions (2011). "Soth Polin: L'Anarchiste". Table Ronde. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  6. ↑ Khing, Hoc Dy (2002). "អក្សរសិល្ប៍ខ្មែរសតវត្សទី២០ (Anthology of Khmer Literature: 20th Century)". Ed. de La Plus Haute Tour. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  7. ↑ Edwards, Penny (2015). "Soth Polin". Mekong Review. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  8. ↑ Edwards, Penny (2015). "The Anarchist". Words Without Borders. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  9. ↑ May, Sharon (2004). "An Interview with Soth Polin". Manoa, University of Hawaii Press. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  10. ↑ Edwards, Penny (2008). "The Moral Geology of the Present: Structuring morality, menace and merit (chapter 11)" (PDF). NIAS Press, Nordic Institute of Asian Studies. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
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