The Arc of the Pendulum: Anisong Manuscripts Facing New Technologies in Luang Prabang

This book examines manuscripts containing homiletic anisong (Pali: ānisaṃsa) texts found in Luang Prabang, Laos, which appear to have been influenced by modern printing technologies introduced to Laos in the twentieth century. Produced both locally in Laos and imported from Thailand, anisong manuscripts display verbal and visual patterns shaped by the use of printing machines such as block printers, typewriters, photocopiers, and computers. The layout organization was adapted to accommodate these printing tools, yet still resembles traditional palm-leaf manuscripts. The exclusive use of modern Lao and Thai scripts in the printing machines replaced the Dhamma script traditionally used for writing these texts. This shift led to a decline in Dhamma script literacy but broadened access to readers who were not literate in the Dhamma script. As a result, new and traditional features influenced by printing technologies interacted with each other throughout the process of manuscript production, resembling the movement of a pendulum’s arc.