Creator
Nou Hach
Nou Hach was a Cambodian novelist and diplomat, the author of the novel Phka Srapoun.
Nou Hach (នូ ហាច; 1916 to about 1975) was a Cambodian novelist and diplomat, the author of the novel Phka Srapoun (ផ្កាស្រពោន).[1][2] Britannica counts the novel, a tragedy about an arranged marriage, among the classic novels of Khmer literature, one that schools taught and filmmakers adapted.[2]
Early life
Nou Hach was born in June 1916 in Kampong Preah commune, Sangkae district, Battambang province, the eldest child of a farming family.[1] As a boy he went to school at Wat Kampong Preah, with monks as his teachers, and became a fluent reader of palm-leaf manuscripts (សាស្ត្រាស្លឹករឹត).[1] In 1932 he won a place at Lycée Preah Sisowath in Phnom Penh, where he went on to earn his secondary diploma.[1]
Career
Accounts of his first post differ. Khing Hoc Dy's book Khmer Literature in the 20th Century has him serving as a judge from 1939 and moving to Phnom Penh after he married. A social science and humanities journal has him begin his career in Siem Reap province as a lawyer for the courts, and marry after the move to Phnom Penh.[1]
In 1947 he joined the Ministry of Propaganda, where he was responsible for publishing the newspaper Kambuja.[1] Koh Santepheap dates to 1948 his post as personal secretary to Prince Yuthevong, whom it names as prime minister at the time. He later returned to the ministry, where he headed a department.[1]
His diplomatic career began in 1952 at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The journal records missions for the ministry to Thailand and Yugoslavia.[1] From June 16, 1952, to January 23, 1953, he served as Secretary of State for Public Works and Communications, named by Norodom Sihanouk in Royal Decree No. 252.[1] Khing Hoc Dy records his last post as ambassador to Indonesia, from around 1969. The journal adds Vietnam, and a post as special representative to the United Nations.[1]
Writing
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Phka Srapoun (Britannica: Phka srabon, "The Faded Flower") first appeared as a serial in the weekly newspaper Kambuja in 1947.[2] Koh Santepheap's list of his works dates it to 1949.[1] The story turns on a traditional arranged marriage. Its heroine falls fatally ill from depression after her mother insists on choosing her husband.[2] The novel entered the secondary school curriculum in 1958, and in 2016 it was taught in grade 8.[1]
His novel Mala tuon citt (មាលាដួងចិត្ត, "Garland of the Heart") was published in 1972, about 20 years after he wrote it. It portrays Cambodian society during World War II and carries the author's nationalism.[2] Truoy Chivit (ត្រួយជីវិត) followed in 1973.[1]
His short stories and his poems, written in French verse forms, appeared in magazines including Reatrei Thngai Sau, Neari and Ruam Mitt.[1] He was a member of the Khmer Writers Association, founded by Rim Kin in 1954. The magazine Neak Nipon Khmer dates his membership to January 17, 1958; the Nou Hach Literary Association's (សមាគមអក្សរសិល្ប៍នូ ហាច) records give January 17, 1948.[1]
Death
Accounts of his last years differ. Khing Hoc Dy's book has him back in Phnom Penh around 1972 and missing under the Khmer Rouge regime of 1975 to 1979. The journal has him returning in 1974 and killed by the Khmer Rouge in April 1975.[1]
Legacy
In 2002 the Nou Hach Literary Association took his name.[1] The association credits him with taking Khmer writing out of the old tragic verse tales shaped by Buddhist teaching and into descriptive, romantic prose.[1] ASEF culture360 describes its project, begun in 2002 to support modern Cambodian literature, as publishing a literary journal each year and giving literary awards at a writers' conference.[3]
References 3
- ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 Koh Santepheap Daily, The life of the writer Nou Hach, author of the novel Phka Srapoun (February 8, 2016; in Khmer)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Britannica, Khmer literature (undated)
- ↑ ASEF culture360, Nou Hach Literary Association (undated)
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