PROBLEMS IN STUDYING THE ANCIENT CHAMPA LITERATURE (Remarks on the translations of Deva Muno)

Abstract

Deva Mưno is a famous Champa Akayet. As a type of literary epic, the Champa Akayet reflects various aspects of the Cham people and society in the past. In the last decades there were several translations of this work into Vietnamese and French. But in these translations one can perceive serious errors. Three reasons for these errors were: 1. The use of inaccurate orginal text for translation. 2. The lack of thorough understanding of Champa reality. 3. An incorrect identification of Cham words in akhar thrah (ancient Cham script) text. This brief survey shows that such classical Champa works as Deva Muno must be handled with great care. It is expected that in the future folk – epic and folk – poems of the Cham people as well as other Vietnamese ethnic groups will be translated, studied and carefully edited.