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Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change
Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change is the first systematic and detailed overview of modern Tibetan literature, which has burgeoned only in the last thirty years. This comprehensive collection brings together fourteen pioneering scholars in the nascent field of Tibetan literary studies, including authors who are active in the Tibetan literary world itself. These scholars examine the literary output of Tibetan authors writing in Tibetan, Chinese, and English, both in Tibet and in the Tibetan diaspora. The contributors explore the circumstances that led to the development of modern Tibetan literature, its continuities and breaks with classical Tibetan literary forms, and the ways that writers use forms such as magical realism, satire, and humor to negotiate literary freedom within the People’s Republic of China. They provide crucial information about Tibetan writers’ lives in China and abroad, the social and political contexts in which they write, and the literary merits of their oeuvre. Along with deep social, cultural, and political analysis, this wealth of information clarifies the complex circumstances that Tibetan writers face in the PRC and the diaspora. The contributors consider not only poetry, short stories, and novels but also other forms of cultural production—such as literary magazines, films, and Web sites—that provide a public forum in the Tibetan areas of the PRC, where censorship and restrictions on public gatherings remain the norm. Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change includes a previously unavailable list of modern Tibetan works translated into Western languages and a comprehensive English-language index of names, subjects, and terms. Contributors : Pema Bhum, Howard Y. F. Choy, Yangdon Dhondup, Lauran R. Hartley, Hortsang Jigme, Matthew T. Kapstein, Nancy G. Lin, Lara Maconi, Françoise Robin, Patricia Schiaffini-Vedani, Ronald D. Schwartz, Tsering Shakya, Sangye Gyatso (aka Gangzhün), Steven J. Venturino,
Riika Virtanen
Riika Virtanen
424 pages, Paperback
First published June 25, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 11, 2009
As a student of comparative religion in the early nineties, I became fascinated by Tibet and, specifically, by Tibetan Buddhism. I had the pleasure of hearing the Dalai Lama speak on Cornell’s campus and meeting monks who were living in upstate New York as refugees. My college experience was decorated by “Free Tibet” bumper stickers, yet it has been some time since I have actively educated myself. I am not a scholar of Tibetan literature, but I did not find that to be any impediment to enjoying this collection of essays.
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.
The sweeping social change made by Chinese communism to what was a relatively small, indigenous culture subsequently created the emerging writers who now struggle to define their heritage and their own artistic voices. These fourteen essays offer a comprehensive study that begins at the start of the twentieth century and traces Chinese rule and domination, along with the near complete loss of language and culture, for the subsequent generations. The fact that modern writers primarily educated in Chinese are now learning the Tibetan language in order to renew its use as a cultural signifier is fascinating. As Tsering Shakya puts it, “The development of modern Tibetan literature cannot be separated from the politics of identity. Tibetan literature emerged as an assertion of Tibetan space in a period of increasing intrusion by the metropolitan colonial inscription. For Tibetan writers and intellectuals, the Tibetan language alone has the power to preserve and reinvent Tibet.”
In 1975 a Swedish journalist went to Lhasa intending to meet contemporary Tibetan writers, and the TAR government could not present even one. This spurred the encouragement of modern writing, obviously beginning with very specific adherences, and several literary journals were started. Now, with over twenty years in print, these journals have spread the words of many talented writers who themselves are forging a new identity for modern Tibet. This book is a rich resource, as the first comprehensive collection of its kind, for any scholarly inquiry into Tibetan literature.
Review by Jen Wilson Lloyd
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.
The sweeping social change made by Chinese communism to what was a relatively small, indigenous culture subsequently created the emerging writers who now struggle to define their heritage and their own artistic voices. These fourteen essays offer a comprehensive study that begins at the start of the twentieth century and traces Chinese rule and domination, along with the near complete loss of language and culture, for the subsequent generations. The fact that modern writers primarily educated in Chinese are now learning the Tibetan language in order to renew its use as a cultural signifier is fascinating. As Tsering Shakya puts it, “The development of modern Tibetan literature cannot be separated from the politics of identity. Tibetan literature emerged as an assertion of Tibetan space in a period of increasing intrusion by the metropolitan colonial inscription. For Tibetan writers and intellectuals, the Tibetan language alone has the power to preserve and reinvent Tibet.”
In 1975 a Swedish journalist went to Lhasa intending to meet contemporary Tibetan writers, and the TAR government could not present even one. This spurred the encouragement of modern writing, obviously beginning with very specific adherences, and several literary journals were started. Now, with over twenty years in print, these journals have spread the words of many talented writers who themselves are forging a new identity for modern Tibet. This book is a rich resource, as the first comprehensive collection of its kind, for any scholarly inquiry into Tibetan literature.
Review by Jen Wilson Lloyd
October 16, 2025
only read ch13 and ch14 for research
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews