MEMORIES OF THE KHMER ROUGE REGIME THROUGH THE CONSTRUCTION IN FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER

Abstract

Objectives of this qualitative research were to study the memory of Khmer Rouge period through the construction of the film “FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER”. The research methodology was to study the film and raised the issues and the research objectives from it. The data were collected from articles, journal,dissertation, and website. The research employed the concept of memory, nostalgia, representation, and semiology for the data analysis.

The results found there were 3 parts in the constructions. They were shown through 1. the memories that based on historical events and Loung Ung’s childhood story. The compositions of the construction are plot, characters, settings, events, conversation, and narrative. 2. The main characters by using Loung Ung’s perspective, and there were 6 aspects: violence, class, age, relationship, belief, and vengeance. 3. The symbols that could be divided into 4 parts: nostalgia, the representation, the destruction, and the cultivation of Khmer Rouge ideology. In conclusion, the film used the construction of story and meaning by composing true story through Loung Ung’s memory so that the audiences can feel the struggle to survive in a new society with Loung Ung through the events and feelings that the characters must experience. The film was used as a medium to create a memory space. The memories that the film created for the audience were what used to happen and part of the memories of the Cambodians who used to lose.