Khun Srun

Khun Srun (Khmer: ឃុន ស្រ៊ុន, 1945–1978) was an important Cambodian writer. He was born in Char village (ភូមិចារ), Roveang commune (ឃុំរវៀង)[1], Samrong district (ស្រុកសំរោង), Takéo province, into a poor Chinese Cambodian family. When he was eight, his father, Khun Kim Chheng, a Chinese man who had fled Communism, died, and he and his six siblings were raised by his mother, Chi Eng, a small shopkeeper and a devout Buddhist.[2] 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.[3] 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 (this last book was probably never published). He was influenced by both existentialism and Cambodian Buddhism. In 1971, he was imprisoned[4][5] during 7 months by the right-wing Lon Nol government for refusing to collaborate, but still refused to align himself with the extreme left.[6] 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[7][8][9]) was assigned work as a railway engineer[10]). On the 20th of December 1978, he, his wife and their two youngest children were victims of the last purges. They were arrested, transferred to Tuol Sleng prison and probably killed in Choeung Ek, few days 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.

In this Cambodian name, the surname is Khun. In accordance with Cambodian custom, this person should be referred to by their given name.
Khun Srun
Famous Neang Khmao temple near Khun Srun's birthplace
BornOctober 3, 1945
Takéo Province, Cambodia
DiedDecember 1978
(aged 33)
Occupation
  • Writer
LanguageKhmer
NationalityCambodian
Notable worksThe Accused - The Last Residence

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.[11]

The life and writing of Khun Srun is portrayed in Eric Galmard's documentary film, A Tomb for Khun Srun (2015).[12]

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.
  • សៀវភៅជំទង់អំពីចំណេះ (About Knowledge - For Young People), with Peng Soeung (ប៉ែងសឿង), 1971 (Second Edition, 1973).
  • សំរស់ជីវិត (The Beauty of Life), 1971 (republished in 1994).
  • សៀវភៅជំទង់អំពីស្នេហា (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 Neang 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. Phoeun, a teacher) describe the sweet memories of Srun's schooldays." (Tomoko Okada, Tokyo University of Foreign Studies)[13]

  • 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)[14]

  • ចិត្តសាស្ដ្រសំរាប់គ្រប់គ្នា (Psychology For All, 1973, unpublished?)
  • ជូននារីម្នាក់ (For a Woman, 1973, unpublished?)

Translations

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)[15]
  • "I do have one hope left, however. A tiny one. I know I am innocent and wrongly accused. So I try to fool myself, I try to be an optimist: the inspector is a Khmer; he has dark skin and the same blood as I do." (The Accused)[16]
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See also

References
  1. Near the famous Neang Khmao temple (Khmer: ប្រាសាទនាងខ្មៅ) where he learned to read and to write.
  2. Macquet, Christophe (2003). "Five Cambodian Writers" (PDF). Revue Europe. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  3. Thien, Madeleine (2016). "Fragments from The Accused". Brick Magazine. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  4. 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.
  5. DC-Cam, Document (2014). "ចម្លើយសារភាព ហេង សុងហ៊ី ហៅ គា និស្សិតមកពីបារាំងដកស្រង់ចេញពីឯកសារចម្លើយសារភាព D៥ ១៩៧៦)". ស្វែងរកការពិត. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
  6. "Khun Srun: The Accused (excerpt)". Mānoa, University of Hawaii Press. 2004. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  7. Khun Srun took as a revolutionary alias the name of one of the characters in his book The Last Residence (Khmer: គ្រូភឿន).
  8. DC-Cam, Document. "Tuol Sleng Box 16 No 5483". ID Number D02612. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  9. DC-Cam, Document. "Tuol Sleng ID of CBIO Record: K07047". ID Number TKI0690. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  10. DC-Cam, Document. "Tuol Sleng No 0217". ID Number K07047. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  11. 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.
  12. Galmard, Eric (2015). "A Tomb for Khun Srun". Dora Films.
  13. Okada, Tomoko (2001). "Cambodian Studies, Modern Short Stories". Tokyo University of Foreign Studies. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  14. Thien, Madeleine (2016). "Fragments from The Accused". Brick Magazine. Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  15. Thien, Madeleine (2016). "Fragments from The Accused". Brick Magazine. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  16. "Khun Srun: The Accused (excerpt)". Mānoa, University of Hawaii Press. 2004. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
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