At the edge of the forest : essays on Cambodia, history, and narrative in honor of David Chandler

Inspired by David Chandler's groundbreaking work on Cambodian attempts to find order in the aftermath of turmoil, these essays explore Cambodian history using a rich variety of sources that cast light on Khmer perceptions of violence, wildness, and order, examining the "forest" and cultured space, and the fraught "edge" where they meet. Table of Contents Acknowledgments Foreword: Some Introductory Remarks At the Edge of the Forest: Narrative, Order, and Questions of Meaning in Khmer History and Society David Chandler: Selected Bibliography Coming to Cambodia Introduction to "Songs at the Edge of the Forest" Songs at the Edge of the Forest: Perceptions of Order in Three Cambodian Texts PART I: GAPS IN THE WORLD Gaps in the World: Harm and Violence in Khmer Buddhist Narrative Songs at the Edge of Democratic Kampuchea PART II: ALTERNATIVE READINGS OF THE PAST Performative Realities: Nobody's Possession The King with Hansen's Disease: Tales of the Leper in Colonial Cambodia Between a Song and a Prei: Tracking Cambodian History and Cosmology through the Forest PART III: NEW SONGS Constructing Narratives of Order: Religious-Building Projects and Moral Chaos Ritual In 1990 Cambodian Political Theatre: New Songs At The Edge Of The Forest Imaginary Conversations With Mothers About Death Contributors Southeast Asia Program Publications