Faces and Facets of the Kantosou Kou Xat – The Lao “National Liberation Struggle” in State Commemoration and Historiography

Abstract

Contemporary Lao history and politics are characterised by an ambivalent ideological hybrid of cultural heritage protection and revolutionary glorification. Even though Buddhism and its related ritual practices appear to have regained considerable ground in official nation-building strategies, the “national liberation struggle” (Lao: kantosou kou xat) continues to constitute a key element of the national discourse as represented by official historiography and state iconography. In fact, the revival of royal-Buddhist images is linked to the “struggle”, since past kings of the Lao Buddhist kingdom of Lane Xang are at present re-interpreted as proto-national patriotic fighters on behalf of the so-called “Lao multi-ethnic people”.This paper argues that the different aspects of official Lao history and memory politics are directed towards the twin goals of ideological nation building and the self-legitimisation of the present regime. Heroic kings such as Anouvong and Setthathilat are highlighted as ancestors of Kaysone Phomvihane and other revolutionaries of the twentieth century within a genealogy of national heroes. Besides discussing present historiographical narratives of the Lao “struggle”, this paper explores material and performative aspects of state commemoration, in particular with regard to national lieux de mémoire and public events.