Tibetan Subjectivities on the Global Stage: Negotiating Dispossession (Studies in Modern Tibetan Culture)

Tibetan Subjectivities on the Global Stage: Negotiating Dispossession explores the many ways Tibetans are reimagining their cultural identity since the communist takeover of Tibet in the 1950s. Focusing on developments taking place in Tibet and the diaspora, this collection of essays addresses a wide range of issues at the heart of Tibetan modernity. From the political dynamics of the exiled community in India to the production of contemporary Tibetan literature in the PRC, the collection delves into various aspects of current significance for the Tibetan community worldwide such as the construction of Bon identity in exile, the strategic use of the discourse of development or the issue of cultural and linguistic purity in an increasingly hybrid and globalized world. Moving away from the preservationist paradigm that regards Tibetan culture as an endangered and precious object, the essays in this book portray Tibetan identities in motion, as lived subjectivities that travel, change and creatively reimagine themselves on various global stages. Even if recent Tibetan history is marked by imposed transitions and a sense of dispossession, this collection highlights the ways Tibetans have not only managed traumatic historical events but also become agents of change and reinventors of their own traditions. Cover 1 Tibetan Subjectivities on the Global Stage 2 Tibetan Subjectivitieson the Global Stage: Negotiating Dispossession 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 10 Strategies of Identity in Motion 16 Chapter 1 18 Zhangzhung, Bön, and China 18 Notes 31 Bibliography 35 Chapter 2 38 Narratives of Becoming 38 Newcomer Marginalization in India 40 Tibet in China/Tibet in the World 45 Tibet-born Tibetans in the United States 47 Narratives, Counter-narratives, and Becoming 49 Constraints on Narrative 51 Conclusion 52 Notes 53 Bibliography 55 Chapter 3 58 Click Here for Enlightenment 58 Scenario One: The Ironic 58 Scenario Two: The Romantic 59 The Spirit of Romanticism and the Protestant Buddhist Ethic 61 The Electronic Vernacular and Simulated Politics 63 Slumming in the Himalayas and Lobbying in Washington 64 Opinions, Both Pro and (Mostly) Con 67 Alternative Utopias and Cybersanghas 68 Notes 73 Bibliography 78 Chapter 4 84 The Words of the Developees 84 The Installation and Development in Exile 84 The Development Relationship in the West 87 The Development Relationship for the Tibetans 90 The Western Reception 97 Conclusion 99 Notes 100 Bibliography 104 Reclaiming Dispossession through Writing 108 Chapter 5 110 Acting and Speaking through Modern Tibetan Poetry 110 Notes 120 Bibliography 121 Chapter 6 124 A Tibetan Heart in a Chinese Mouth 124 The Author 125 Notes on Tibet 129 Conclusion 136 Notes 137 Bibliography 142 Appendix I—List of Woeser’s Main Sources Used in the Notes on Tibet: 144 Appendix II—List of Woeser’s Book Publications in Chinese and Western Languages: 146 Chapter 7 148 Inner Emigration and Concealed Writing 148 Inner Emigration and Concealed Writing 149 Authenticity, Competence, and Shared Identity 151 Customary Law and Social Regulations 153 Invoking Ancient Traditions: Folk Stories and Legends 154 Conclusion: Unveiling the Concealed 158 Notes 159 Bibliography 164 The Political Cultures of Exile 168 Chapter 8 170 The Last Gift of the God-King 170 The Challenges of Tibetan Constitutionalism 173 The Person and the Office of the Dalai Lama 174 The Power of Loyalty 177 Narrating the Devolution of Powers 181 Conclusion 184 Notes 185 Bibliography 187 Chapter 9 190 Exile Tibetans and the Dance of Democracy 190 Historical Background: Were Tibetans Democratic? 191 The Institutionalization of Democracy in Exile 194 Central Tibetan Administration, Tibetan Unity, and Democracy 196 Democracy in the Post-2011 Phase 199 The 2015–2016 Sikyong Elections in an Undemocratic Flavor 201 Conclusion 202 Notes 203 Bibliography 206 Chapter 10 210 Who Is a Pure Tibetan? 210 Looking Tibetan 211 Speaking Tibetan 212 Being Tibetan 215 History 216 Culture Preservation 220 Theorizing Purity 221 Notes 224 Bibliography 225 Chapter 11 228 Annual Commemorations and Celebrations 228 Tibetan National Ceremonies in Dolanji 229 Tibetan Uprising Day 229 Narrative Themes up to the 1980s: Invasion, Resistance, Flight, and Exile 231 Creating a National Identity among Diverse Regional and Religious Identities 233 Shifting Demand from Tibet’s Independence to Autonomy: The Middle Way Approach in the Late 1980s 235 The Perspective of Bonpo Leadership to the Changes in the Discourse on National Identity 239 Celebrating the Fourteenth Dalai Lama’s Birthday 241 Conclusion: Recurrent Events as Forms of Narration and Performative Ritual 244 Notes 245 Bibliography 246 Index 248 About the Editors 256 About the Contributors 258 Tibetan Subjectivities on the Global Stage: Negotiating Dispossession provides a comprehensive account of the ways Tibetans are reimagining their sense of belonging in the realms of politics, religion, literature, and development. By drawing on sources and examples from Tibet and its diaspora, the book offers an image of Tibetan identity as a multifaceted, living, and changing entity Tibetan Subjectivities on the Global Stage provides a comprehensive account of the ways Tibetans are reimagining their sense of belonging in the realms of politics, religion, and development. Drawing on sources and examples from Tibet and its diaspora, this book offers an image of Tibetan identity as a multifaceted, living, and changing entity.