La Femme et l'Oiseau (Women and Birds)
by Pierre Le Roux
Aesthetical and symbolical outlook on Birds in Southeast Asian cultures.
Publication: Author's publication
Published: 2006
Author: Pierre Le Roux
Pages: 92
Language : French
pdf 14.7 MB
This essay on bird cultural representations and their correlation with feminity explores numerous cultures through Southeast Asia.
Regarding Cambodia, the author stresses the centrality of three bird-like mythical figures in Khmer folklore and traditions: hângsa (from Sanskrit hamsa), wild goose often assimilated to the swan, kinari, the bird-woman so important in the Reamker, and khrut, the Khmer version of the garuda, often associated with drought.
As a symbol of aesthetical perfection -- "an embodiment of grace, frailty and strength" --, the bird often meets with the female principle, a promise of a new life to be born. Icarus and fertility, an truly encompassing concept...
Photo: Birds at Pek Toal Bird Sanctuary, Cambodia
About the hangsa (KH ហង្សទ, SK हंस, haṃsa or hansa): this aquatic bird of passage, which various scholars have interpreted as the goose, the swan,or even the flamingo, is an icon used in Indian and Southeast Asian culture as a spiritual symbol and decorative element. In Hindu tradition, this bird is the vahana (vehicle) of Brahma, Gayatri, Saraswati, and Vishvakarma.
Below: Hangsa as a ceiling support in in Wat Preah Theat Basrey, Tbong Khmum Province (Photo Kim Hong).
About the Author
Pierre Le Roux
Pierre Le Roux is an ethnologist and a professor of ethnology at Strasbourg University.