Landscapes in the living memory : New Year festivities at Angkor, Cambodia

In recent years, a proliferation of studies dedicated to the understanding of national identities through the 'memories' held within symbolic landscapes have emerged (Yalouri, 2001; Boswell and Evans, 1999). This chapter uses and develops these ideas in the context of an annual four-day festival held at the World Heritage Site of Angkor, Cambodia. The legacy of Cambodia's glorious past, the templed landscape of Angkor, is revered by Khmers as a deeply symbolic icon of national, ethnic and cultural unity, all values which have been brought into sharp focus by the suffering and turmoil endured across the country in recent decades. For the purposes of this chapter, 29 interviews were conducted with individuals, couples and families at three different sites within the Angkor park: Angkor Wat, the West Mebon and at Srah Srang. Conducted in Khmer, via a translator, these semi-structured interviews focused on the values ascribed to Angkor by domestic tourists along with an examination of their activities during the four day festival. Additional insights are provided from interviews undertaken with the chief monks of two monasteries located inside the Angkor Thom complex. Analysis of the data reveals how the embodied practices of driving, picnicking, swimming and visiting pagodas are metaphorically and symbolically loaded with an optimism for the ongoing reconstruction of a nation. Accordingly, Angkor emerges as a landscape where the aspirations and visions of a future Cambodian identity are realized and articulated. In this respect, the site is not merely regarded as a cultural heritage site of the 'ancient' past, but as a form of 'living heritage'.