I have now been in Cambodia for almost five months, and I am beginning to see that I may be very pressed for time from June to September in order to accomplish my goals here. Therefore, I am trying to take what time I have now to reflect on what I have so far accomplished and what goals I would like to achieve before heading back home.
Although this was largely unavoidable and yet rather unanticipated by me, my five months here have rapidly clarified what I want to pursue in college. Thus I am trying to keep in mind that I do not have to study everything about Cambodian Buddhism in the next eight months, and that I hopefully have many more years to learn. That said, I am trying to focus on studying what I only could study in Cambodia, and especially knowing that I have the opportunity to live in the countryside and relative freedom to meet with people in various temples. My goals for the rest of my time here thus reflect these considerations.
The goal that comes to mind first is to develop a catalogue of as many smot pieces as possible. The principle of this is simple: in order to make sure that rarer pieces are not lost, it is necessary to keep track of the songs that are currently in the canon of smot pieces. In a short amount of time, I do not expect to become familiar with the entire extant repetoire of smot pieces. However, I do see it to be very possible to come up with a somewhat complete catalogue and determine from what patterns are revealed how many other songs may exist. For the catalogue, I am trying to record as much as possible of the following information:
Title
Alternative titles
Possible Author/editor
Published texts sources
Palm-leaf and other manuscript sources
Variations between various text sources
Melody used for this piece
Poetic meter
Recordings of this piece
Source in Pali Tipitaka
Teachers who know this piece
Thus far, I have partial information for about 60 songs. At this point, it is hard to determine how many other smot songs exist, although I would currently estimate that it would probably exceed 100 hundred. Part of the dilemma is deciding which texts count as “smot” as which do not.
As I will soon be entering a monastery in Siem Reap to ordain as a monk for about four months, most of my research will have to wait until June, when I disrobe and return to Phnom Penh. During my stay in the monastery, I do not plan to continue research of any kind, but rather will try to experience Cambodian Buddhism from the inside out. When I get back, one of my goals will be to learn as much as I can from my teacher, Master Prum Ut, in Kompong Speu, especially in terms of his vocal technique. Additionally, I plan to organize a studio recording session of Prum Ut and possibly other smot masters in order to ensure that their knowledge is not lost.
At this point, I have developed a fairly extensive bibliography, but I have not had a chance to follow up on the palm-leaf sources for many of the texts I am looking at. This is one of the most tedious aspects of my research, though for the most part I would consider it to be exciting rather than tedious. Moreover, I am unsure of my ability to read “middle-period” Khmer, which at times differs substantially, especially in spelling, from its modern counterpart. My main purpose then will be to identify and gather copies of relevant texts for future study.
Over the last five months, I have met with various professors, achars, monks, and students and asked them about smot. By sifting through and analyzing their various perspectives, I am getting closer to full picture of smot in Cambodian society. However, I intend to continue to search out knowledgeable people on the subject in order to hear from as many perspectives as I can.
One final project I would like to complete while I am here is to do some preliminary research on trai leak funeral music in Siem Reap. Besides from being, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful Khmer music, trai leak is very close to extinction, with only a few living masters, all of whom who are quite elderly. This form of music, in many ways closely related to smot, is covered only briefly in writings about Cambodian music, and early questioning has revealed that possibly only 20 or less songs are currently known. I am planning to spend a couple of weeks in Siem Reap this summer in order to gather what information I can about this art.
On a whole, I feel like I have been on the right track so far in my research, and I am prepared for many more surprises along the way. When I came to Cambodia, I really had know I idea what I was getting into. From this point on, what I hope most is that I can keep an open mind about what I have learned so far, so that what new information and perspectives present themselves to me, I can see them in a fresh way and not be hampered by my own limited perspective.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Four Month Report
The past month has brought many new developments to my project. I do not hesitate to say that each succeeding month seems to go by faster than the one before, but I am also aware that each month I can see more and more clearly what I am doing here. I have about one more month here in Kompong Speu before I head off to pursue novice ordination in Siem Reap. After four months in robes, I plan to return to Kompong Speu at the end of June for another couple of months of smot study.
As of now , my listening and reading skills have improved from before, and generally I do not have much trouble understanding what people are saying to me or around me. For the most part, books written in Khmer are accessible to me, although I read rather slowly. I have not devoted much time to my speaking and writing skills, however, and subsequently, these areas have not seen much improvement. I have no trouble communicating, but at this point my grasp of Khmer grammar in not sufficient to confidently express complex ideas.
I am learning a lot, however, about the contextual nature of the Cambodian language and I now find myself speaking very differently in varying situations. This is especially true when I make the transition between the city and the countryside. In both Phnom Penh and Kompong Speu, dialects of Khmer are spoken that do not correspond to the standard language taught in schools and heard on television or radio. For example, when taking to a university professor in the capital I tend to use more standard Khmer and more grammatically correct expressions. If I am in a crowded market in Phnom Penh, trying to catch a bus to the countryside, I tend to speak more abruptly and in line with the urban dialect. I n the countryside, I usually need to speak differently to in order to be understood and match the pronunciation of those around me.
In continue to be very excited about my research. My understanding of smot, while still shallow, continues to develop as I investigate more primary and peripheral sources on the topic. Through the libraries in Phnom Penh, I continue to find small insights into smot from a wide variety of source materials. I have also begun to search for more primary literature on smot, especially folding-paper manuscripts (krang) and palm-leaf manuscripts (sastra sloek rit). A trip to a significant wat in Kandal Province where my smot teacher is an achar proved fruitful in many respects, but no ancient or modern manuscripts turned up. I have made contacts with researchers in at the National Library in Phnom Penh as well as at the École française d’extrême-orient and some manuscripts seem to be available. I am waiting for further results in this area.
However important literary sources may be, I know that my most important sources are real people. In addition to my teachers in Kompong Speu, I have begun to study Khmer poetry with a teacher in Phnom Penh and have also begun to study smot chanting of secular poetry from Yang Borin, who teaches smot and poetry at the Royal University of Fine Arts. Both of these teachers have significantly advanced my understanding of the subject.
Back in Kompong Speu, I have been studying intensively with Prum Ut, who graciously gives five hours of his time each day to teach me. At this point, I have studied seven songs from him, although on some of the longer songs (15 minutes or more), I am choosing to not memorize the entire texts, as this would take more time that I have. I am trying to focus on studying the smot songs that Prum Ut considers to be the oldest and least heard today, some of which are apparently only known by him. In addition, I have also been studying the most important Pali chants used in Cambodia as well as the chants needed for the novice ordination ceremony and the daily life of the monks. The study of these chants has been especially helpful for me, as it has given me the skills to pronounce and chant Pali on my own, although I do not understand the meaning of most of the words. Additionally, Prum Ut has taught me a lot about the uses of these Pali chants as well as the smot songs. I have been able to see him “on the job” at many ceremonies, but in the village and at his wat, and these experiences have given me a much better understanding of smot and it place within Cambodian Buddhism.
Life is the village in Kompong Speu is equally rewarding in itself. In general, I end up teaching English a couple of hours a day, at several different local schools as well as for the CLA smot students on the weekends. Prum Ut’s family has become like another family to me, and I have grown close to his sons and I am pleased to see their English skills continue to improve as I practice with them. Furthermore, traditional life in the village shines light on everything in Cambodian culture, from the language to the religion, from its history to its music. I wake up to the sound of threshing rice, eat breakfast as the pin peat music of a ceremony drifts across the fields, study to the voices of monks chanting in a local temple, and fall asleep to the wedding music piped through speakers in a neighboring village. In short, so much of what I learning come from my environment and not from books or even from teachers. I have learned that the most important thing is to simply open my ears and my eyes.
As of now , my listening and reading skills have improved from before, and generally I do not have much trouble understanding what people are saying to me or around me. For the most part, books written in Khmer are accessible to me, although I read rather slowly. I have not devoted much time to my speaking and writing skills, however, and subsequently, these areas have not seen much improvement. I have no trouble communicating, but at this point my grasp of Khmer grammar in not sufficient to confidently express complex ideas.
I am learning a lot, however, about the contextual nature of the Cambodian language and I now find myself speaking very differently in varying situations. This is especially true when I make the transition between the city and the countryside. In both Phnom Penh and Kompong Speu, dialects of Khmer are spoken that do not correspond to the standard language taught in schools and heard on television or radio. For example, when taking to a university professor in the capital I tend to use more standard Khmer and more grammatically correct expressions. If I am in a crowded market in Phnom Penh, trying to catch a bus to the countryside, I tend to speak more abruptly and in line with the urban dialect. I n the countryside, I usually need to speak differently to in order to be understood and match the pronunciation of those around me.
In continue to be very excited about my research. My understanding of smot, while still shallow, continues to develop as I investigate more primary and peripheral sources on the topic. Through the libraries in Phnom Penh, I continue to find small insights into smot from a wide variety of source materials. I have also begun to search for more primary literature on smot, especially folding-paper manuscripts (krang) and palm-leaf manuscripts (sastra sloek rit). A trip to a significant wat in Kandal Province where my smot teacher is an achar proved fruitful in many respects, but no ancient or modern manuscripts turned up. I have made contacts with researchers in at the National Library in Phnom Penh as well as at the École française d’extrême-orient and some manuscripts seem to be available. I am waiting for further results in this area.
However important literary sources may be, I know that my most important sources are real people. In addition to my teachers in Kompong Speu, I have begun to study Khmer poetry with a teacher in Phnom Penh and have also begun to study smot chanting of secular poetry from Yang Borin, who teaches smot and poetry at the Royal University of Fine Arts. Both of these teachers have significantly advanced my understanding of the subject.
Back in Kompong Speu, I have been studying intensively with Prum Ut, who graciously gives five hours of his time each day to teach me. At this point, I have studied seven songs from him, although on some of the longer songs (15 minutes or more), I am choosing to not memorize the entire texts, as this would take more time that I have. I am trying to focus on studying the smot songs that Prum Ut considers to be the oldest and least heard today, some of which are apparently only known by him. In addition, I have also been studying the most important Pali chants used in Cambodia as well as the chants needed for the novice ordination ceremony and the daily life of the monks. The study of these chants has been especially helpful for me, as it has given me the skills to pronounce and chant Pali on my own, although I do not understand the meaning of most of the words. Additionally, Prum Ut has taught me a lot about the uses of these Pali chants as well as the smot songs. I have been able to see him “on the job” at many ceremonies, but in the village and at his wat, and these experiences have given me a much better understanding of smot and it place within Cambodian Buddhism.
Life is the village in Kompong Speu is equally rewarding in itself. In general, I end up teaching English a couple of hours a day, at several different local schools as well as for the CLA smot students on the weekends. Prum Ut’s family has become like another family to me, and I have grown close to his sons and I am pleased to see their English skills continue to improve as I practice with them. Furthermore, traditional life in the village shines light on everything in Cambodian culture, from the language to the religion, from its history to its music. I wake up to the sound of threshing rice, eat breakfast as the pin peat music of a ceremony drifts across the fields, study to the voices of monks chanting in a local temple, and fall asleep to the wedding music piped through speakers in a neighboring village. In short, so much of what I learning come from my environment and not from books or even from teachers. I have learned that the most important thing is to simply open my ears and my eyes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)