Book: “Trois autres Cambodge” (Three Other Cambodias), Khmer youth facing the future

After Three Other Trois autres Thaïlande and Trois autres Malaisie, this third and final volume of the trilogy offers a new insight into contemporary Southeast Asia. Three Other Cambodia, edited by Teri Shaffer Yamada, stands out for its approach, which eschews easy exoticism in favour of powerful short stories where people take precedence over picturesque settings.

This anthology brings together eighteen short stories, each of which paints a portrait of a Cambodia in flux. They give voice to a generation of authors born after the 1980s, heirs to a heavy past but resolutely looking to the future. Their writing, freed from the codes of traditional Khmer prose, questions the tensions of a society where traditions, economic upheaval and individual aspirations intersect.

Three perspectives, three paths

The stories are organised into three parts with strong resonances.

A future to build: A dry, almost brutal dialogue between a mother and her daughter crystallises a universal conflict: that between the weight of family expectations and the desire for emancipation.

‘If you don't get married, I'll die. I'll be so ashamed to have a daughter like you...’

The legacy of the past: The characters' voices carry the weight of memory. Invisible grudges and debts are passed on, redrawing the line between gratitude and resentment.

‘You're part of the new generation. You don't know the difference between right and wrong. I'm civilised, but you're wild!’

The middle way: Here, an everyday gesture — running after a garbage truck — becomes a metaphor for a quest: the quest for money, survival and, perhaps, rebirth.

— Garbage is our money; the others and I run after money.

A generation tells the story of its country

The authors — Chieb Kimheang, Heng Oudom, Kao Seiha, Kao Sokchea, Mey Son Sotheary, Nhem Sophath, Noch Sakona, Pen Chhornn, Phou Chakriya, Phy Runn, Ry Sarong, Seng Chanmonirath, Sun Try, Svay Leemeng, Than Chan Tepi and Yur Karavuth — present a multifaceted Cambodia. Through their stories, they capture the contradictions of a country where young people are seeking to build a future without denying their sometimes painful roots.

An intimate format with universal appeal

Modest in size — 130 x 190 mm, 220 pages — but with rare intensity, this collection offers contemporary Khmer literature that refuses to be frozen in time, relegated to folklore or nostalgia. Here, Cambodia is neither a postcard nor a backdrop, but a living space, filled with voices, anger and hope.

Buy the book