I was drawn to Lang Leav’s pearl necklace. She was wearing it in all her pictures. It was a gift from her mother – a symbol of a mother’s love, and the struggle that accompanied it. It does not only connect mother and daughter but also to their homeland – like an umbilical cord that is never severed.
It is a reminder that she was luckier than the millions of Cambodians who were not able to escape the genocide perpetrated by the Khmer Rouge under the Pol Pot regime.
Lang Leav’s family along with thousands of Cambodians fled their country and stayed in refugee camps across Thailand. The third of the four siblings, she was born in a camp on September 8, 1980. Refugees are stateless until they find a third country that will take them in and give them citizenship. Many spend decades in camps, denying the children the chance to live a normal life. Leav’s family was fortunate to be able to migrate to Australia when she was 11 months old in 1981.
In Australia, Leav grew up learning English and reading English books that were otherwise not accessible to students in Cambodia. Thus her flirt with words started early on.
From a refugee to a migrant, to launching her poetic career through the internet in 2013, Leav went on to become an internationally best-selling novelist and poet. She is known as an instapoet, popularizing “groups of mushy words or sentences” and calling this poetry, posted in her Instagram and Tumblr accounts.
Her first book, Love and Misadventures, was a massive success. She won a Qantas Spirit of Youth Award and a Churchill Fellowship.
Despite the negative reviews, Leav is here to stay for now. Her “groups of words,” whether we (or others) like it or not, become poetry. She manages to create her own “brand” that appeals to millions of readers – except perhaps in Cambodia.
Lang – who?
In Thailand, her books cost about 470-695 baht (US$15-$22). But most English books in Thailand are expensive anyway. With her success and background, I wonder why many Thais and Cambodians haven’t heard of her.
“Lang – what?”
“Sorry, I haven’t heard of her.”
My former student Chamroen, who is now a teacher in Cambodia, asked me who she is. I sent him a picture.
“Where’s her location in Cambodia?” he asked.
Sao Pal Niseiy, a journalist in Cambodia, told me he doesn’t know her either. Through a quick Google search, he found Leav’s social-media account.
“Despite her international recognition, Cambodian people are not able to get to know her well. Maybe some group of people like artists or writers might know her,” he said.
Niseiy hopes that Leav will one day visit Cambodia.
Iain Donnelly, an expatriate who owns Saraswati Publishing in Cambodia, explained that Leav may be popular to some young and educated Cambodians or the expatriates.
“As far as books in English is concerned the most popular genre among young and educated and entrepreneurial Cambodians is self-help books, particularly in the business field,” Donnelly said.
Personal is political
Lang Leav does not write in Khmer. Was she taught to speak in another language, but not Khmer?
She writes in Memories Lost:
“If I could, I would erase every trace of myself from your memory.
You would lose all recollections of loving me.
You won’t remember why you stopped.”
Critics say Lang does not use her influence to speak about genocide or refugee issues.
Yet she writes in Love Looks Pretty on You:
“Don’t stay where you are needed. Go where you are loved.”
And this:
“Don’t let them tell you that your pain should be confined to the past, that it bears no relevance to the present.”
But are these poetry? Maryanne Moll, an award-winning Filipino fictionist and a literary criticism student, said Lang’s poems are her way of exercising the trauma she inherited from her mother.
Ramil Digal Gulle, an award-winning Filipino poet and critic, believed that we need to define poetry like other things – mundane and abstract. “But we must also realize that definitions are not meant to be fixed. They are not meant to be changeless and eternal,” Gulle explained.
Gulle believed that the source of much fighting in the literary community are among those “who define what poetry is” – the formalist and the academic camp that prescribes rules of craft and aesthetics, while the Marxist camp says let the people decide.
“This Marxist view, ironically, is what helps make Lang Leav and her publishers rich. By saying that the people, the readers, must decide, then, of course, they will decide with their wallets. For me, it’s useless to try and get one camp to agree with the other.”
Moll said: “Marxism also considers creators of pop culture as legitimate participants in discourse, whether that particular piece of literature is beyond our own standards.”
Potential EFL material
In English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching, Leav’s poetry can be explored as an introduction to English.
An English professor at Naresuan University in Thailand, Thitirat Suwannasom, thinks Leav’s poetry is a good teaching material because the language is not too difficult to understand.
“It’s youthful. All about love and relationships and teenagers love that. We cannot use old poems to teach young people,” Dr Thitirat said.
Reuben Esteban, an EFL lecturer in Rajamangala University, agreed. “Her poems can stir their critical approach towards the topic or content she has written. They are very relative and apt for this generation of students in Thailand”.
Another Thai professor, Dr Waewalee Waewchimplee, who teaches Introduction to Literature at Nakhon Ratchasima Rajabhat University, also agreed. “It is interesting. I also relate to some poets on Tumblr. If I have time to read her books, I might include her for the next academic year,” Dr Waewalee said.
Donnelly said: “I found most of the poems in the book [Love and Misadventures] simplistic and naive, and some of the imagery was of school standards. I can see its appeal to a certain audience but cannot see her name going down as one of the greats of the genre.”
Lang Leav’s brand of poetry may not be acceptable to the gate-keepers of the literary circle. There are always bad reviews, speculation on who controls what she writes, that she capitalizes on being a refugee to gain an audience are merely trivial compared to what her half a million followers believe. Leav is a savior. She is reaching out to us. And we easily reach her without compromises, without asking questions and meanings. It is up to you to give meaning to her bouquet of words.
Gulle aptly defined poetry: “Let us be open to expanding the definition of what poetry is. Poetry is alive – it is alive because living, breathing people enjoy and celebrate it. If it is to stay alive, then it must change, like all living things. If we confine poetry to one strict definition, we are killing it.”
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
Wow that was unusual. I just wrote an really long comment but after I clicked submit my comment didn’t show up. Grrrr… well I’m not writing all that over again. Anyway, just wanted to say excellent blog!
Hey! Do you know if they make any plugins to safeguard against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any suggestions?
Just wish to say your article is as surprising. The clarity for your submit is just
great and that i can suppose you’re a professional in this
subject. Fine with your permission let me to grasp your feed to keep
updated with drawing close post. Thank you a million and please keep up the gratifying work.
This website was… how do you say it? Relevant!!
Finally I’ve found something that helped me. Thank you!
We are a gaggle of volunteers and starting a brand new scheme in our community.
Your web site offered us with helpful info to work on. You have
done a formidable task and our whole community might be thankful to you.
I quite like reading through a post that will make men and women think.
Also, thank you for allowing me to comment!
Greetings I am so thrilled I found your website, I
really found you by accident, while I was
looking on Aol for something else, Anyways I am here
now and would just like to say kudos for a fantastic post and a all round interesting blog (I also love the theme/design), I don’t have time
to look over it all at the minute but I have bookmarked it
and also added in your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a lot
more, Please do keep up the excellent work.
Very rapidly this web page will be famous among all blogging and site-building users, due
to it’s nice posts
Howdy! Quick question that’s completely off topic. Do you know how to make your site
mobile friendly? My blog looks weird when viewing from
my iphone. I’m trying to find a template or plugin that
might be able to fix this issue. If you have any recommendations,
please share. With thanks!
My brother recommended I may like this web site.
He was once totally right. This publish truly
made my day. You can not believe just how a lot time I had spent for this information! Thanks!
I love your blog.. very nice colors & theme. Did
you design this website yourself or did you hire someone to
do it for you? Plz answer back as I’m looking to design my own blog
and would like to know where u got this from. thanks
Ridiculous quest there. What occurred after?
Take care!
Wow! At last I got a web site from where I be capable of actually take
helpful facts concerning my study and knowledge.
so much excellent info on here, : D.
I have recently started a website, the information you provide on this website has helped me greatly. Thanks for all of your time & work.
Thanks very nice blog!
Heya i am for the primary time here. I found this board and
I in finding It really helpful & it helped me out much.
I am hoping to give one thing back and aid others such as you helped me.
It’s enormous that you are getting ideas from this piece of writing
as well as from our argument made at this time.
I always emailed this web site post page to all my friends, as if like to
read it next my contacts will too.
Great beat ! I wish to apprentice while you amend your website, how could i subscribe
for a blog website? The account helped me a acceptable deal.
I had been a little bit acquainted of this your broadcast offered bright clear idea
Excellent blog you’ve got here.. It’s difficult to find high-quality writing like yours nowadays.
I seriously appreciate individuals like you! Take care!!
Yesterday, while I was at work, my cousin stole my apple ipad and tested to see if
it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so she can be a youtube sensation. My
apple ipad is now broken and she has 83 views. I know
this is completely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
Admiring the commitment you put into your website and detailed information you present.
It’s good to come across a blog every once in a while that isn’t the same old rehashed
material. Wonderful read! I’ve saved your site
and I’m including your RSS feeds to my Google account.
I couldn’t refrain from commenting. Perfectly written!
Superb, what a weblog it is! This weblog presents helpful information to us, keep it up.
I’m not sure exactly why but this website is loading extremely slow for me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a issue on my end? I’ll check back later and see if the problem still exists.
Great write-up, I’m normal visitor of one’s blog, maintain up the excellent operate, and It is going to be a regular visitor for a long time.
Hey there, You’ve done a fantastic job. I will certainly digg
it and personally recommend to my friends. I am sure they will be benefited from this website.
I’m gone to tell my little brother, that he should also pay
a visit this webpage on regular basis to obtain updated from hottest gossip.
Spot on with this write-up, I truly feel this amazing site needs a great deal
more attention. I’ll probably be back again to see more, thanks for the info!
In the great pattern of things you actually receive an A with regard to effort. Where you misplaced me personally was in your particulars. You know, they say, the devil is in the details… And that could not be more accurate right here. Having said that, let me inform you just what did give good results. Your writing is actually rather convincing which is most likely why I am making the effort in order to comment. I do not make it a regular habit of doing that. 2nd, even though I can certainly notice the jumps in logic you come up with, I am not necessarily sure of just how you appear to connect your points which help to make the conclusion. For right now I shall subscribe to your point but trust in the near future you link the facts better.
The paradox of Lang Leav – Asia Times http://dominickdunne.net
This is the right blog for anybody who would like to find
out about this topic. You understand a whole lot its almost tough to argue with you (not that I
really will need to…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a subject which has been discussed for many years.
Great stuff, just excellent!
Thank you ever so for you blog post.Much thanks again. Fantastic.
Thanks – Enjoyed this update, can you make it so I receive an update sent in an email whenever you publish a new post?
The paradox of Lang Leav – Asia Times http://hotsites.ws/cgi-bin/out.cgi?id=EmmavL&url=https://www.hongkongpool.io/