Description
Book SynopsisThe first systematic and detailed overview of modern Tibetan literature.
Trade Review“Despite the growing interest in contemporary Tibet, there have been few
publications in western languages of writings by contemporary Tibetans,
besides those written in Chinese by authors such as Tashi Dawa and Alai
who know little if any written Tibetan and have complex, difficult relations
with their Tibetan heritage. Hartley and Schiaffini-Vedani’s collection of
critical studies of modern Tibetan literature makes a major contribution to
correcting this imbalance. . . . [H]ere we have rich context and analysis of Tibetan voices and not just those favoured by publishers in Beijing or New York.” - Robert Barnett,
Pacific Affairs“[T]his volume will be remembered as the book that legitimized Tibetan literature.” - Nathan W. Hill,
China Review International“I selected to read
Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change with the desire for a deeper understanding of Tibetan culture, and I certainly received it. This collection is very approachable for such a scholarly work. Some of the language describing the writing of poetry was beautiful - true for any writer, in any language. I appreciated the introduction to writers who I probably would not have encountered on my own, and most of all, I gained a deeper understanding of what happens when a country is taken over, or shall I say ‘liberated’, by another. . . . This book is a rich resource, as the first comprehensive collection of its kind, for any scholarly inquiry into Tibetan literature.” - Jennifer M. Wilson,
Feminist Review blog
“
Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change is a pioneering and engaging collection of articles by prominent Tibetan, French and American academics tracing the evolution of Tibetan literature over the past fifty years. Lean and perceptive articles cover a wide range of literary output...With the representations of ‘Tibetanness’ so hotly debated in China and the West, this collection gives a fascinating insight into the parallel debate raging within Tibetan literature itself.” - George Fitzherbert,
Times Literary Supplement“The work’s 14 chapters provide much-needed thematic reflections by Tibetan and non-Tibetan scholars into the subject matter and aesthetics of current Tibetan writing. . . . This important book is scholarly by amazingly readable; thus, it will find a multidisciplinary audience, including enthusiasts of Tibetan culture in general. An exceptional, invaluable acquisition. Essential. All readers, all levels.” - T. Carolan,
CHOICE “This project fills a long necessary gap not only in the study of Tibetan language and literature, but also in modern Tibetan cultural studies. It succeeds admirably in a task that is not attempted nearly often enough: of bringing Tibetan-related topics into meaningful dialogue with other areas and disciplines.” - Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa,
IIAS Newsletter“
Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change will instantly become the standard reference for future writing on Tibetan literature. The significance of that literature for Sino-Tibetan relations and for the fate of the Tibetan cultural world is only now being recognized. The list of contributors to this collection is a veritable ‘who’s who’ in the study of Tibetan literature.”—
Janet Gyatso, author of
Apparitions of the Self: The Secret Autobiographies of a Tibetan Visionary“This book is a milestone. It is the first to bring together the complex variety of ingredients that have nurtured modern Tibetan literature. It considers several literary genres, written in three languages (Tibetan, Chinese, and English), and gives sensitive attention both to Tibetan literary tradition and to the turmoil of modern politics and social change.”—
Perry Link, author of
The Uses of Literature: Life in the Socialist Chinese Literary System“
Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change is a pioneering and engaging collection of articles by prominent Tibetan, French and American academics tracing the evolution of Tibetan literature over the past fifty years. Lean and perceptive articles cover a wide range of literary output...With the representations of ‘Tibetanness’ so hotly debated in China and the West, this collection gives a fascinating insight into the parallel debate raging within Tibetan literature itself.” -- George Fitzherbert * TLS *
“[T]his volume will be remembered as the book that legitimized Tibetan literature.” -- Nathan W. Hill * China Review International *
“Despite the growing interest in contemporary Tibet, there have been few publications in western languages of writings by contemporary Tibetans, besides those written in Chinese by authors such as Tashi Dawa and Alai who know little if any written Tibetan and have complex, difficult relations with their Tibetan heritage. Hartley and Schiaffini-Vedani’s collection of critical studies of modern Tibetan literature makes a major contribution to correcting this imbalance. . . . [H]ere we have rich context and analysis of Tibetan voices and not just those favoured by publishers in Beijing or New York.” -- Robert Barnett * Pacific Affairs *
“I selected to read
Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change with the desire for a deeper understanding of Tibetan culture, and I certainly received it. This collection is very approachable for such a scholarly work. Some of the language describing the writing of poetry was beautiful - true for any writer, in any language. I appreciated the introduction to writers who I probably would not have encountered on my own, and most of all, I gained a deeper understanding of what happens when a country is taken over, or shall I say ‘liberated’, by another. . . . This book is a rich resource, as the first comprehensive collection of its kind, for any scholarly inquiry into Tibetan literature.” -- Jennifer M. Wilson * Feminist Review blog *
“This project fills a long necessary gap not only in the study of Tibetan language and literature, but also in modern Tibetan cultural studies. It succeeds admirably in a task that is not attempted nearly often enough: of bringing Tibetan-related topics into meaningful dialogue with other areas and disciplines.” -- Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa * IIAS Newsletter *
Table of ContentsForeword / Matthew K. Kapstein vii
Note on Transliteration xi
Introduction / Lauran R. Hartley and Patricia Schiaffini-Vedani xiii
Part One: Engaging Traditions
1. Heterodox Views and the New Orthodox Poems: Tibetan Writers in the Early and Mid-Twentieth Century / Lauran R. Hartley 3
2. Roar of the Snow Lion: Tibetan Poetry in Chinese / Yangdon Dhondup 32
3. The Development of Modern Tibetan Literature in the People's Republic of China in the 1980s / Tsering Shakya 61
4. Dondrup Gyel and the Remaking of the Tibetan Ramayana / Nancy G. Lin 86
5. "Heartbeat of a New Generation": A Discussion of the New Poetry / Pema Bhum 112
6. "Heartbeat of a New Generation" Revisited / Pema Bhum 135
7. "Oracles and Demons" in Tibetan Literature Today: Representations of Religion in Tibetan-Medium Fiction / Francoise Robin 148
8. One Nation, Two Discourses: Tibetan New Era Literature and the Language Debate / Lara maconi 173
9. The "Condor" Flies over Tibet: Zhaxi Dawa and the Significance of Tibetan Magical Realism / Patricia Schiaffini-Vedani 202
10. In Quest(ion) of an "I": Identity and Idiocy in Alai's
Red Poppies / Howard Y. F. Choy 225
11. Development and Urban Space in Contemporary Tibetan Literature / Riika J. Virtanen 236
12. Modern Tibetan Literature and the Rise of Writer Coteries / Sangye Gyatso (Gangzhun) 263
13. Tibetan Literature in the Diaspora / Hortsang Jigme 281
14. Placing Tibetan Fiction in a World of Literary Studies: Jamyang Norbu's
The Mandala of Sherlock Holmes / Steven J. Venturino 301
Appendix 1: Glossary of Tibetan Spellings 327
Appendix 2: Glossary of Chinese Terms 338
Appendix 3: Contemporary Tibetan Literary Works in Translation 340
Bibliography 345
About the Contributors 369
Index 373
