Novel
ພະພຸດທະຮູບສັກສິດ
Not translated into English
Somchine Nginn · 1944
Synopsis
A Franco-Lao detective searches for a stolen image of the Buddha. The plot is a detective story, which is rare for a book of this date in this language, and the narrative proceeds by investigation rather than by edification: an object is sought, people are questioned, and in the end things are understood. It is a commissioned book as much as a beginning.
Context
The volume appeared entirely in Lao, with a preface in French, and its cover announced that it was written in a manner easy to understand: publishing in the language of the country was then a novelty, prose having at first been written in French before being translated. The colonial administration encouraged this renewal to counter Siamese claims on the right bank of the Mekong: the book thus serves a policy as much as it opens a literature.
Who it is for
A novel in Lao, not translated into French. The common editions carry notes in English for students of the language.
Prizes and reception
It is regarded as the first modern novel written in Lao, and its author as the first modern Lao writer.