ABSTRACT
To understand Lao literature and the nature of its composition, it is necessary to reconcile two conflicting statements, that individual Lao stories have multiple authorship and that they have no author at all. According to traditional Lao belief, the stories that comprise Lao literature are taken from Buddhist religious sources rather than being the creation of the Lao themselves. The literature's perceived religious origin not only raises its status in the eyes of its audience but also makes the concept of literary authorship appear sacrilegious if not irrelevant.
