For too long there has been only scant understanding of the indigenous Khmer people inhabiting Southern Vietnam, also known as Kampuchea Krom. Philip Taylor's impressive book, The Khmer lands of Vietnam goes a long way towards filling this gap, providing a meticulous account of how the Khmers of Southern Vietnam have survived and even thrived through a tumultuous history in a natural environment many would consider hostile to human habitation. Taylor presents the Khmer Krom as a sophisticated people with a strong heritage and cultural identity who are adept at innovating and adapting to changing social and environmental circumstances. This view, he posits, contrasts with the prevailing perception of the Khmer Krom as backward, depraved, and insular. To buttress his claim, Taylor meticulously demonstrates the ingenious ways the Khmers have carved out a niche in the natural, social and economic environments they inhabit. Rather than backward or depraved, the Khmer Krom possess a strong sense of cultural and historical identity and have successfully improvised technologies and processes that allow them to live and prosper in a difficult environment while navigating an economic and social terrain to their benefit.
The book is organised into seven chapters with an introduction and a conclusion. Each of the seven chapters is devoted to a unique community in a specific locale. These seven communities and the locales they describe are ecologically, socially, and historically distinct from one another, yet together form the people, the Khmer Krom, in the land of Kampuchea Krom. Taylor's decision to divide the area of Kampuchea Krom into sub-regions for the purpose of study arose out of the local myths and other stories and practices that distinguished Khmer communities from each other as well as demonstrating connections between them. As he writes: ‘Exploring this history though a sub-regional lens enables us to better identify historical continuities and disjunctions and to grasp the locally sensitive nature of Khmer historical consciousness’ (p. 13). The chapters are followed by a strong conclusion that harnesses evidence presented in the preceding chapters to provide a compelling thesis on Khmer Krom identity that has far-reaching implications on how the people and the region are to be understood historically, politically, economically, and socially.
Several themes flow through the book. One of the most significant of these is the relationship of cosmology to the local landscape, a phenomenon that is also prevalent in Cambodia. In Southern Vietnam, Taylor tells us, the landscape is composed of such features as dunes, mountains, riverbanks, and swamplands. He asks, ‘How do these landforms feature in local conceptions of what it means to be Khmer and in Khmer ideas of what it means to be human?’ (p. 9). The relationship between the landscape, history, identity, and myth is a dynamic one. Stories are represented through features of the natural landscape and can be allegorical to historical events. There may be different versions of the same story depending on the circumstance of the telling and the locality where it is being told. One of Taylor's most exemplary instances of this is the story he tells of the legend of the Queen Neang Chan. The tale is told in chapter 2 and discussed again in the conclusion. In this story, Neang Chan, the favourite of the King's wives, is forced to flee for her life from the palace after being falsely accused of attempting to murder the King. Her escape from the palace leads her on a journey downriver to the sea, where she eventually drowns and later in some versions becomes a mermaid. This journey and the subsequent drowning and transformation become a poetic site for harbouring cultural identity, history, and place.
Taylor tells us that one of the key features of the tale stems from the fact that no one knows the complete story, and different people in different locations know only various fragments of the tale, depending on where they live (p. 83). For example, those living by the sea are the only ones who tell the part of the story where Neang Chan turns into a mermaid. Thus we are shown how each of the populations which make up Kampuchea Krom is distinct and connected to a specific geographic locale while also part of a larger identity. The tale is also a description of the natural landscape. The course of Neang Chan's flight is the course of the river to the sea. But as Taylor astutely observes it is so much more. As he suggests, the eventual fragmentation and decomposition of Neang Chan is like the destruction of the Khmer Krom populations through war and hardship. However, Neang Chan does not simply decompose, but instead is resurrected in different forms and so it is also a story of renewal and revival as are the Khmer Krom people themselves who have managed to renew and revive their lives and livelihoods after periods of rupture.
Taylor's presentation and analysis of the Neang Chan myth illustrates to us the connections between myth, landscape, and identity. However, it is his discussion of various origin myths that truly drives home his argument that the Khmer Krom are not a people without land, place, or history, but in fact maintain a deep sense of belonging that is tied to place and articulated through myths. Taylor writes, ‘Tracing origin stories told by Khmers of this region, we can gain a sense of the deep pride Khmer Krom people have in their roots and the importance of their region in history’ (p. 271). The Khmer Krom, Taylor tells us, see Kampuchea Krom as the birthplace of Khmer civilisation itself preceding the nations of Cambodia or Vietnam.
The stories of myth, landscape, and identity are fascinating and perhaps due to this reader's own interests are the heart of the book. However, it would be unfair to leave it at that. The text also provides a wonderfully detailed survey of the various environmental features of the area and the livelihoods of the people inhabiting it. A wide range of topics are covered, including the role of Buddhist temples in communities, education, economics, and history. Taylor clearly utilised his understanding of these various elements of Khmer Krom life to support his larger argument. Namely, that for the Khmers of Southern Vietnam, belonging and identity is tethered to myth, place, history, and traditions. Moreover, rather than being backwards and static as prevailing outside views have maintained, the lives of Khmers living in this region are continuously dynamic as they interpret their past and present while adeptly adapting to changes in the world in which they live.
All in all this is an important and fascinating study. The Khmer lands of Vietnam would be of interest to anyone interested in the intersections between landscape, history, and myth. It would appeal also to scholars and non-scholars of Cambodia and Vietnam and also those in environmental studies. The book, while written for scholars, is not filled with jargon and can easily be enjoyed by those outside of academia who have an interest in these topics.
