Product Description

This book explores the relationship between tourism, culture and ethnic identity in Tibet in , focusing in particular on Shangrila, a Tibetan region in Southwest China, to show how local ‘Tibetan culture’ is reconstructed as a marketable commodity for tourists. It analyses the socio-economic effects of Shangrila tourism in Tibet, investigating who benefits economically, whilest also considering its political implications and the ways in which tourism might be linked to the negotiation and reassertion of ethnic identity. It goes on to examine the spatial re-imagining provoked by the development of tourism, and asks whether a tourist destination inevitably becomes a ‘pseudo-community’ for the visited. Can a fictitious name, invented for the sake of tourists, still provide the ‘natives’ of a place with a sense of identity? This book argues that conceptions of place are closely linked to notions of social identity, and in the case of Shangrila particularly to ethnic identity. Viewing the spatial as socially constructed, and place-making as vital to social organisation, this is a study of how place is constructed and contested. It describes how local villagers and monastic elites have negotiated the area’s religious geography, how agents of the Communist state have redefined it as a minority area, and how tourism developers are now marketing the region as Shangrila for tourist consumption. It outlines the different ‘place-making’ strategies utilised by the various social actors, including local villagers to create the communities in which they live, monastic elites to invent a Buddhist Tibetan realm of ‘religious geography’, agents of the People’s Republic of China to define the area as part of the communist state, and tourism developers to market the region as ‘Shangrila’ for tourist consumption. Overall, this book is an insightful account of the complex links between tourism, culture and Tibetanethnic identity in Tibet, and will be of interest to a wide range of disciplines including social anthropology, sociology, human geography, tourism and development studies.

Product Description

There are many Lhasas. One is a grid of uniform boulevards lined with plush hotels, all-night bars, and blue-glass-fronted offices. Another is a warren of alleyways that surround a seventh-century temple built to pin down a supine demoness. A web of Stalinist, rectangular blocks houses the newnomenklatura. Crumbling mansions, once home to noble ministers, famous lovers, nationalist spies, and covert revolutionaries, now serve as shopping malls andfaux-antique hotels. Each embodiment of the city partakes of the others' memories, whispered across time and along the city streets.

In this imaginative new work, Robert Barnett offers a powerful and lyrical exploration of a city long idealized, disregarded, or misunderstood by outsiders. Looking to its streets and stone, Robert Barnett presents a searching and unforgettable portrait of Lhasa, its history, and its illegibility. His book not only offers itself as a manual for thinking about contemporary Tibet but also questions our ways of thinking about foreign places.

Barnett juxtaposes contemporary accounts of Tibet, architectural observations, and descriptions by foreign observers to describe Lhasa and its current status as both an ancient city and a modern Chinese provincial capital. His narrative reveals how historical layering, popular memory, symbolism, and mythology constitute the story of a city. Besides the ancient Buddhist temples and former picnic gardens of the Tibetan capital,Lhasa describes the urban sprawl, the harsh rectangular structures, and the geometric blue-glass tower blocks that speak of the anxieties of successive regimes intent upon improving on the past. In Barnett's excavation of the city's past, the buildings and the city streets, interwoven with his own recollections of unrest and resistance, recount the story of Tibet's complex transition from tradition to modernity and its painful history of foreign encounters and political experiment.

Customer Reviews (5)

Living Lhasa
An unusual book that offers a layered and multi-faceted vision of Lhasa, with great historical depth and an uncommon awareness of the many factors at work.This is not a feel-good narrative, it does not take sides, nor does it presume to tell you what to think.Instead, it combines deep scholarship and detailed knowledge of the political, cultural, social and economic forces behind the tremendous changes in Lhasa since the Chinese arrived - the author is a world-renowned expert on Tibet - with an artist or a poet's sensitivity to what lies beneath appearances.In addition, the writer's perspective is infused with a rare and touching humility, a welcome relief from the rather authoritative or even didactive tone of much travel writing.There is a great deal to be learned from this subtle book and I enjoyed the juxtaposition of personal experience and learned content.

poetic city
Tibet and its capital, Lhasa, are among the many places I hardly know.This book is a brief introduction to their history, and the competing narratives non-Tibetans have adopted for interpreting Tibet.It is also a work for those enthralled by the question of what was- staring at a modern city block, you wonder: what was here before?The office building that used to be a park where families would picnic on weekends, the suburb that used to be a swamp.

The book is incomplete- it doesn't try to present modern Tibetans and their narratives.Perhaps because that identity has become confused by assimilation or maybe the author just didn't understand them and knew it.

That said, it's still worth reading as an ode to an ancient city.

Beautifully written and profoundly moving
I had no more than a passing interest in Tibet when I was given this book, and I found it absolutely riveting. It gave me a clearer, more immediate sense of the cultural crisis in Tibet than any straightforward, linear history could have done. Robert Barnett begins with the premise that one has to learn how to read any foreign city, and points out that Lhasa, where so much of the text is hidden below the surface, has suffered more than most from foreign misreadings. The book sets out to make Lhasa more legible to foreigners, but what it achieves is deeper and far more important.

Barnett approaches his subject from two perspectives, one intellectual, the other experiential. The main narrative traces the history, mythos and cultural development of the city, and is written from Barnett's current vantage point as a Tibet scholar. This on its own would be an interesting and informative read. But it is the secondary narrative that makes the book so compelling: In hushed italics, Barnett gives us glimpses of his own experiences in Lhasa, first as a hapless tourist who wanders into the middle of the 1987 uprising, and later as a part-time resident teaching at the university. He is careful not to impose his own interpretation on the events, but simply, and generously, shares his observations. The most harrowing of the episodes he recounts come early on, and have to do with his own inability to read Lhasa during a period when a foreigner's misreading could hold serious consequences for the Tibetans involved.

Barnett has an artist's eye for detail, and his writing is lush and vivid. The dual narratives struck me at first as an interesting literary device: the scholar describes the city's development from the ground up, while the foreigner sees the superficial and gradually learns to read what's below the surface. But toward the end of the book, when the two narratives catch up with each other, something extraordinary happens: the scholar succeeds in making Lhasa more legible just as the foreigner observes that the city he has learned to read has in effect already been erased by the Chinese. This realization had a visceral impact on me; the tragic urgency of the situation in Tibet hit me like a blow. "Lhasa: Streets With Memories" is an important book and deserves a wide audience.

Dead End Street
A very confused attempt to be meaningful by a British professor who should have written a magazine article(s) with this material and not a book. Both the writing style and substantive thoughts presented are choppy and obscure.

Not recommended except for those already deeply engrossed with all things touching upon this ancient city of Tibet and who are willing to put up with an opaque and disjointed presentation. (A universe of readers that, I wager, is lightly populated.)

I often disagree with the national editorial reviews that are posted by Amazon, but here the March review by Publishers Weekly has this book dead right.

A brilliantly naunced meditation on a changing culture
I am struck by the originality of Robert Barnett's approach, as well as the clarity and utter honesty of his voice. LHASA: STREETS WITH MEMORIES is a much needed tool in grappling with the way in which China has absorbed and digested old Tibet and, sadly, the way in which Beijing has re-interpreted Lhasan culture with often appalling results. It's an old tale but told from an utterly fresh viewpoint--a must-read for those who are troubled by China's ongoing stranglehold of Tibetan society. ... Read more

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By the great Lama Govinda, this book includes Meditation, Mudra, and Mandala, and The Meaning of Mantras in the Vajrayana. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Pictorially Evocative Language of Religious Experience
I highly recommend this book. After reading, I can see this book is from both a Lama and a former westerner. But much more than that, it's written in somewhat of a Jungian style, and that's what I mean by a westerner who is also a Lama, a devoted experiential Buddhist with years of life experience. Anotherwards, like Jung, it contains the Western intellectual comprehension and is in no way blinded by such scholarship of objectivity, but accented, enhanced, or shall I say enlightened, by the Eastern frame of non-discursive understanding of symbols and pictorial visualizations which can only come from the depths of understanding through subjective experience.

"Art is the living expression of religion. Religion without art is a dead system of dogmas, which have no effect on life. As long as Buddhism was reduced to the narrow confines of a monastic community, it exhausted itself in dogmatic quarrels and discussions which had no effect on the lay-community, but with the advent of Mahayana Buddhism the greatest works of art in India were created, and Buddhism spread its message over the greater part of Asia." p. 64

"The realm of religious life is a specific form of human experience, or, better, an expression of an inner experience. Therefore no objective scientific description can ever do justice to the realm of religion, since it cannot grasp what is most essential. At the very moment in which the subjective experience is treated as the object of intellectual observation or inquiry, it is robbed of its aliveness and immediacy." P. 89

"The Buddha neither claimed to be the bearer of a divine revelation nor of preaching an ancient religious tradition, but rested firmly on the basis or experience.. . . it was not Buddha's intention to invent a new theory about the origin of the world and the cosmos, but to make us aware that the only cosmos which we can observe and significantly influence is our own body with its psycho-physical functioning. He realized that the functions of our body as well as those of our consciousness are not erratic, but according to those natural laws which we interpret according to th4e level of our development and understanding and then project onto inner events. P. 95

"This experience of the transcendental cannot be grasped by means of logical and dialectical thinking; therefore it is also beyond the realm of verbal description. This is why in the Pali canon it is said of the Dharma, "Well proclaimed is the law by the Enlightened One: visible to everybody, timeless, deep, understandable only for the wise ones." The simplicity of this praise of the Dharma can only become confusing for intellectuals, but those who have acquired wisdom, who have regained their inner wholeness, will immediately understand. P. 95-96

Govinda, very much like Carl Jung, speaks about Buddha's choice of synchronicity over causal and dialectic, and the need to envision a "pictorially evocative" language, that is, imagery within the self to perceive reality of the religious realm of experience. This is a crucial point of his book. He relates the problems of one-sided thinking in "ego-frozen" levels of perception. This again is the difference of dogmatic, logical, theological religion, which is dead, and that of internal visualizations coupled with understandings within subjective experiential religion, a living experience.

There is an important difference from Lama Govinda and the Tibetan Sogyal Rinpoche, who wrote in his book, The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, that the guru disciple relationship was absolutely crucial and necessary in what he related as an alchemy of devotion that brought forth the subjective enlightened experience. While Lama Govinda acknowledges such spiritual gurus, he does not emphasise this guru disciple relationship as absolutely crucial but rather as the early part of the development of the psyche, as "Buddha rejected such disowning of one's discriminative faculties." P. 115

"Although we are not endowed with universal of divine power, by opening to its influence, we can create within ourselves the readiness to become receptive to it. Light is always present, but as long as we shut it out, we remain in the dark. Even the highest power requires our own willingness to cooperate. If we emphasize our egocentricity, we close ourselves off from this power which otherwise would always be accessible."

"The amazing fact is, that precisely at the very moment in which we are filled with this power, it will not abolish or destroy our personality. It will fill us up like a vessel, so that even at the moment when this form is breaking up and our ego-consciousness is extinguished, the uniqueness of our individuality will continue to vibrate and be transformed into a unique expression of universality which cannot be duplicated."

"Power is not creative. It becomes creative only when meeting resistance. This is why the universal is dependent on the individual, the divine within the human being, in order to recognize itself.' P. 151

The danger of the West is to overemphasize individuality, while the East denies such. Govinda emphasizes the need to remain in the world integration, while release our egos. The idea is to transcend polarity, we do not deny either side.

The idea of deities and demons are equated to the human ability to create form for forces that do not create or destroy us, but project anthropomorphic form to such forces, which in turn, create their reality.

Govinda writes an interesting account of Hinduism being a later historical development from Buddhism and not the other way around.

Mantras and Mandala's must be coupled with understanding of both the words used and pictorial visualizations and their subsequent meanings.

Karma is not the relationship between actions, but the internal intensions of the individual, which bring forth their actions.

And on language: "Translators of language are often not aware that, because meaning shifted in the course of millennia, even a literal translation gives the modern reader incurred ideas, since the modern reader is used to thinking in abstract terms and is no longer rooted in the pictorially evocative language of ancient times." P. 103 ... Read more

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How did a society on the edge of collapse and dominated by wandering bands of armed men give way to a vibrant Buddhist culture, led by yogins and scholars? Ronald M. Davidson explores how the translation and spread of esoteric Buddhist texts dramatically shaped Tibetan society and led to its rise as the center of Buddhist culture throughout Asia, replacing India as the perceived source of religious ideology and tradition. During the Tibetan Renaissance (950-1200 C.E.), monks and yogins translated an enormous number of Indian Buddhist texts. They employed the evolving literature and practices of esoteric Buddhism as the basis to reconstruct Tibetan religious, cultural, and political institutions. Many translators achieved the de facto status of feudal lords and while not always loyal to their Buddhist vows, these figures helped solidify political power in the hands of religious authorities and began a process that led to the Dalai Lama's theocracy. Davidson's vivid portraits of the monks, priests, popular preachers, yogins, and aristocratic clans who changed Tibetan society and culture further enhance his perspectives on the tensions and transformations that characterized medieval Tibet.

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What has made remote, mountainous Tibet and its only real celebrity, the Dalai Lama, so abidingly fascinating to the West? In Virtual Tibet, Orville Schell, one of the preeminent experts on modern China and Tibet, undertakes a strange and wondrous odyssey into our Tibetan fantasies. He recounts the spellbinding adventures of the Western explorers and spiritualists who for centuries were bent on reaching forbidden Tibet and the holy city of Lhasa. Simultaneously, Schell embarks on a parallel present-day journey from Beastie Boys' "Free Tibet" concerts to a re-creation of Lhasa in the high Argentine Andes -- the extravagant set of Seven Years in Tibet, starring Brad Pitt.

At once comic and insightful, Virtual Tibet takes us beyond the fantasies to the reality of an isolated country that has repeatedly won the West's adoration, and paid the price for believing that our allegiance is profound.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (16)

Virtual Realities
This is an excellent book that tells how over the years Hollywood has become just as much a propaganda mouthpiece as the Chinese media. Hopefully it will awaken those Western supporters of Tibet from their fantasies and simplistic views of the Tibetan situation.

Virtual Faddism
Orville Schell's works have always been exquisite.Written in a crisp style, penetrating in analysis, his books have never failed to breathe life into their subjects and leave the reader more informed than before.Expecting the same tour de force as found in Mandate of Heaven and Discos and Democracy, I was not disappointed with Virtual Tibet: Searching for Shangri-La from the Himalayas to Hollywood.Schell tackles a topic that receives plenty of discussion and fanfare, but has experienced precious little objective study in recent years. Tibet has labored under the political and cultural repression of the People's Republic of China since 1951.Many believe that China is slowly committing cultural genocide through its repression of Tibetan religious and cultural customs and by encouraging vast numbers of Han Chinese to settle in Tibet.With the help of a charismatic Dalai Lama and throngs of Hollywood stars, the Tibetan issue has received a disproportionate amount of attention relative to its importance in world events.Whereas one struggles to find "Free East Timor" bumper stickers on cars, "Free Tibet" stickers are far more ubiquitous. The strong point of Schell's work is his analysis of Hollywood's fascination with Tibet.He interviews many of the most visible promoters of the Tibetan cause and also provides fly-on- the-wall accounts of numerous "Free Tibet" Hollywood functions and the making of the movies Kundun and Seven Years in Tibet.Through his interviews and observations, Schell largely confirms what I have suspected for years.Hollywood's promotion of the Tibetan cause has less to do with its relative merits than it does with the fact that it has become a fashionable issue in which to be associated.The Tibetan cause has become a virtual Rohrsach test in which Hollywood supporters can use to feel better about what ails them spiritually and politically. Schell's works demonstrate an uncanny ability of meeting all the right people and convincing them to reveal their true feelings.Instead of Communist Party officials or Chinese gangsters as in his previous works, Schell is somehow able to elicit revealing quotes from otherwise elusive individuals such as Steven Seagal and Brad Pitt.Although nobody has complained about being misquoted to my knowledge, I hope this reflects Schell's skill as an interviewer.It would be a shame if a writer and journalist of Schell's quality needed to embellish his subject's words for better copy. Schell succeeds in making the subject of Tibetan history more entertaining for the general reader without sacrificing content. Schell's Virtual Tibet is an informative and well-rounded work, lifting much of the mystique from an esoteric, yet prominent subject.While Schell sympathizes with their cause, he is able to remove the veil of motivation from Hollywood's Tibetan supporters.Many readers may have expected Schell to delve deeper into the issues surrounding China and Tibet, but this would have required Schell to tread over already well- traveled terrain. In deciding to leave the debate over the relative merits of Chinese policies toward Tibet aside, Schell has produced an original and thoughtful work of journalism. Schell's portrayal of the main protagonists for the Tibetan cause are unflattering and bound to upset many people.This is the hallmark of a fine journalist.

A Sober Look at an Intoxicating Subject
Orville Schell has written a pretty good book.The basic premise of the book is that anything that Hollywood touches is going to suffer distortion.It's simply a primal fact of the beast.And what a beast it is!Equal parts whore, dreamer, cynical businesman, and hopeless idealist.Schell is very good at examining the strange interaction between Hollywood and the Tibetan exiles.And I think he does it in a not unkind manner.

The present Dalai Lama is an enormously attractive figure.He's a wonderful spokesmen for Tibetan Buddhism.His spirituality, sincerity, intelligence, and integrity seem to me to be beyond reproach.However, there is more to Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan history than the present Dalai Lama.

Regardless of what you think of the present gang in Beijing, what type of society was Tibet before the Chinese takeover?Schell describes it, more or less, as an oppressive feudalistic theocracy.Tibet as something short of Shangri-la.Schell depicts the old Tibet as being a dark, oppressive, and decidedly filthy place.We can condemn the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the suppression of the Tibetan people without creating fantasies of the old Tibet days.Schell is essentially calling for a realistic view of the historical events.By understanding a bit of the history of the area we may come to a more realistic idea of what needs to be done.The best political solution may be the type of compromise that Schell seems to suggest.This compromise seems to be along the lines of what the Dalai Lama has proposed in recent years.

Religion and reason often do not share the same realm.This is a truism that seems to be as valid for some of the adherents of Tibetan Buddhism as well as the followers of Jimmy Swaggert and Jerry Falwell.Buddhism has a wonderful spirtual tradition--as does Christianity and other religions.However, upon what authority do people consider the Tibetan brand of Buddhism to be superior to the SE Asian, the Japanese, etc. versions of Buddhism?The 4 noble truths and the 8 fold path are the same for all the different flavors of Buddhism.The present Dalai Lama's character strikes me as impeccable.But what of the other Tibetan Buddhist religious figures that came to the West in recent decades to proclaim the dharma?It's my understanding that many of them fell victim to the temptations of our modern culture:money, sex, drugs, etc.

It's our human nature--as Schell--points out to want to think that there is some magical place or idea that will remove all of our imperfections.I think he is right in saying that Tibet is another geographic and human place with it's own attendent vices and virtues.I am of the opinion that Buddhism, like the more thoughtful and sincere versions of Christianity, is a marvelous vehicle for spirtual growth.But that growth in any religious tradition is achieved only through strong effort and practice as well as sincere devotion to the teachings.

Tibet for the American Populace.
I read this, because I am an Asian Studies major and know who Prof. Schell is. I wrote a Masters Thesis for my MA from Seton Hall in 1982, called Chinese Communism and Its Impact on Tibet. I am basing this review on reading the book and some of the other comments I've seen in the reviews. It is true, we have always had an fascination with Tibet, because of Lost Horizon, Seven Years in Tibet, etc. I cannot see in the book where Prof. Schell played down Chinese heavyhandedness. He also states (rightly so) that no Western Govt. backs the idea of an independent Tibet. They do back the Tibetans not being maltreated. Face it, in the modern world, Tibet does not have the resources to survive as an independent country. If anything, Dr. Schell showed just how silly, many of the Hollywood folks jumping on this bandwagon are. This is just the latest fad for them. Movies about Tibet look great on the silver screen. The same cannot be said for Kosovo, or Sudan. I gave it four stars. Hollywood Tibet would have been a better title. Tinseltown Tibet? I am glad this was written to bring it to the American people. Another drawback with this book is, how many people reading it are just reading it for the stars listed and don't understand ALL the issues. I hope this will spur Americans to read more about China as well. I want to know how far the Hollywood circuit wants to go with this. Are they going to go to Tibet themselves? Be with anti-Chinese fighters. No folks, as much as I respect the Dalai Lama, his best hope for seeing his homeland again in his lifetime is to work out a deal with the Chinese. Religious freedom for dropping independence claims. Yes, there is no more Berlin Wall. Tibet cannot make it on its own. Read the book, and as an American, gain your understanding. Want to help Tibet. Help to educate Hollywood folks in both sides of this issue. Prof. Schell shows, it is more complicated than many would like to think.

Thought provoking
As a Christian, I have always been curious as to why Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism provoke such passion and interest in those people around me.Instead of seeing this book as an incomplete history of that country, or as Hollywood gossip, I saw the book as a discussion on spirituality.Why do people yearn for the Other, the pure and, often, unattainable that will make our lives meaningful?What are the spiritual dangers of using what we perceive as the exotic to attain spiritual peace and fulfillment?I think that Schell writes movingly on the West's attempts to "use" Tibet as a spiritual shortcut instead of looking into itself and practicing Buddhism or Christianity with awarness and personal insight. P.S.The sections on Hollywood, especially regarding certain action movie actors are also very funny. ... Read more

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In this lively and visually engaging work on Western conceptions of Tibet, anthropologist Martin Brauen paints a vivid portrait of misinterpretation, trivialization, and political and commercial exploitation of a rich and ancient culture. Starting with romantic notions of 17th-century adventurers in search of a Himalayan Utopia, Brauen discusses misconceptions both amusing and disturbing, such as the distortions of 20th-century neo-Nazis. The author also details the cynical exploitation of Tibetan Buddhism—a fundamental objective of which is the elimination of human greed—to further Western commercial aims.Nor does Brauen absolve Tibetans themselves in the use of the more benign, even flattering, of these distorted images, as they strive to draw the world's attention to their own politically and socially tenuous situation. Here the author lists the traditionally tolerant nature of Buddhist beliefs, the tendency of Tibetans to submit without question to authority figures, and some inherent naiveté as contributing factors. The book concludes with a caution on the dangers that these misconceptions pose to a mature presentation of the great value that Tibetan culture holds for the world.The illustrations are a fascinating and diverse collection drawn from movies, comic books, and popular literature. Illustrations of the commercial packaging of Tibet, its spiritual icons and religious leaders, are vivid and at times even shocking, as they portray the promotion of products ranging from cars to cosmetics, T-shirts, ash trays, and even soft pornography. In a world in which the elimination of cultural misunderstanding may be the key to ending human strife, Dreamworld Tibet offers a thoughtful and timely contribution. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

great images and arguements
Don't let the dust cover fool you... this is not another romanticized view of Tibet.This book pulls apart the romantic view used regarding Tibet over the last several decades since it was opened to the West.The images show areas of film, comics and literature that have created this romantic veil.I would recommend it for people studying the field, not for tourists. ... Read more

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The west-Himalaya is one of the most fascinating areas of the world. In no other region is the Tibetan culture preserved in such pristine shape. Illustrated with excellent new photos, this volume gives an insight into more than 1200 years of heritage and 100 years of exploration of this landscape. The Tibet of today is a virtually destroyed country. One can only experience Tibetan culture that approximates its original state in the Indian border regions, especially the western Himalayas, where the forced exile of tens of thousands of Tibetans who used to make up principalities and kingdoms have brought about an unexpected cultural renaissance. The year 1909 saw the first research expedition devoted entirely to the western Himalayas. Over the last 20 years, the author and photographer Peter van Ham has made several expeditions in the footsteps of the early Himalayan researchers and has found the cultural heritage and the spectacular scenery of the Western Himalayas largely unchanged. His own fascinating work is complemented by the historic photographic work of Samuel Bourne, Babu Lal Pindi and Heinrich Harrer. German text. ... Read more

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Eastern Europe is a historical concept, Niederhauser asserts, and as such is subject to the movement of history that often takes place under geographical conditions.surveys the first five hundred years of Eastern European history, focusing on structural elements in the early period such as the lack of organized states or the existence of nomadic states. The book examines the disappearance, assimilation, and recurrence of ethnic cultures over time and how the intermixing of cultures influenced the formation of modern states. ... Read more

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This book investigates Tibetan recovery from the devastation of High Socialism and a new engagement with attempts to modernize the region in the era of ‘reform and opening’ in post-Mao China.

With chapters on the negotiation of culture and identity in Amdo in contributions on public debate about traditional culture, on attempts at language standardization, and on sexuality. Concerning religion, there are contributions on critical perspectives on reincarnate lamas, and on cases of revival and reinterpretation of popular rituals. Amdo Tibetan self-expression in art, literature, and performance are studied in articles on folk songs, painters and their works, and on the changing economics of cultural production. The final chapters deal with social and economic trends in two nomadic pastoral areas and with foreign aid for new Tibetan schools.

A unique introduction to contemporary life and attitudes in north-eastern Tibet, invaluable for understanding modern Tibetan life in China today, how it developed, and what it is rapidly becoming. ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Culture Contemporaine Dans La Région Autonome Du Tibet. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : La Région autonome du Tibet est née officiellement en 1965. Ses limites coïncident à peu près avec celles du territoire qui était régi par les 13e et 14e dalaï-lamas et jouissait d'une indépendance non reconnue internationalement. Partie intégrante de la République populaire de Chine, elle forme le « Tibet administratif » ou « officiel ». Avec les préfectures et districts tibétains autonomes des provinces limitrophes ou voisines (Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan et Yunnan), la région autonome, dite parfois « Tibet politique », forme le « Tibet ethnographique » ou « culturel », dit aussi parfois « Grand Tibet » . Le qualificatif « contemporain » ne désigne pas la même fourchette chronologique selon qu'il s'applique à l'histoire ou à l'art : l'« époque contemporaine » couvre, pour les écoles historiographiques autres que la française, les 75 années précédant le moment présent, tandis que l'« art contemporain » n'est pas antérieur à 1945 ou, de plus en plus, à 1960. Le concept de « culture contemporaine » s'oppose généralement à celui de « culture traditionnelle ». Il existe aujourd'hui deux représentations différentes de la culture et de son développement dans la région autonome du Tibet. La République populaire de Chine, dont le Tibet est une nationalité, met en avant une nouvelle culture originale qui se développe grâce à la généralisation de l'enseignement en tibétain et en chinois et à l'apparition de médias modernes. Le gouvernement tibétain en exil, installé à Dharamsala en Inde, considère que la République populaire de Chine a pour objectif d'éradiquer la culture tibétaine, lui permettant ainsi d'assoir sa supr...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Les achats comprennent une adhésion à l'essai gratuite au club de livres de l'éditeur, dans lequel vous pouvez choisir parmi plus d'un million d'ouvrages, sans frais. Le livre consiste d'articles Wikipedia sur : Sinisation Du Tibet, Francisation, Russification, Acculturation, Forum D'avignon - Culture, Économie, Média, Anglicisation, Exception Culturelle, Civilisation Universelle, Conversion à L'islam, Forum Culturel Autrichien de New York, Culture de L'empire Ottoman, Américanisation, Sinisation de La Mongolie-Intérieure, Islamisation, Scandinavisme, Arabisation, Africanisation, Institut Culturel Roumain, British Council, Institut Slovaque, Métissage Culturel, Européanisation, Centre Tchèque, Magyarisation, Germanisation, Néerlandisation. Non illustré. Mises à jour gratuites en ligne. Extrait : La sinisation du Tibet est, selon les milieux exilés tibétains et des observateurs occidentaux, la transformation de la société tibétaine de la région autonome du Tibet, du Kham et de l'Amdo sur la base de normes chinoises, au moyen de l'assimilation culturelle, la migration, et la politique de réforme et d'adoption de l'économie de marché. C'est un processus marqué principalement par la venue en masse de population de l'ethnie han au Tibet et par une politique active du gouvernement central de la République populaire de Chine visant à intégrer le Tibet dans la république chinoise et à maîtriser les ambitions d'indépendance de certains Tibétains . La modernisation et le développement du Tibet expliquent l'arrivée d'ouvriers han et des spécialistes occidentaux . Depuis l'instauration de l'économie de marché en 1992, tout habitant de la RPC a le droit de se déplacer librement dans le pays et de travailler à l'endroit de son choix . Selon Robert Marquand, le Tibet étant considéré par les Chinois comme faisant partie de leur pays depuis des milliers d'années, ces derniers estiment avoir le droit de s'y établir . Le « Tibet historique » es...http://booksllc.net/?l=fr ... Read more

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Essays in honor of Turrell V. Wylie, commemorating the first 25 years of Tibetan studies at the University of Washington. Topics covered include Tibetan geography, history, language, philosophy, and monasticism. ... Read more

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These 22 stories were collected and translated in 1904 by Capt. W. F. O'Connor, who was Secretary and Interpreter for the British Mission to Lhasa. ... Read more

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High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The sinicization of Tibet is the alleged change of Tibetan society to Han Chinese standards, by means of cultural assimilation, migration, and political (communist) reform. Sinicization on the one hand is an inevitable consequence of the presence of a large number of Han Chinese in Tibet and on the other hand an active policy of the central government of the People's Republic of China. The active policy intends to make Tibet an integral part of the Chinese republic and to control Tibetan ambitions of independence. The result, whether in purpose or not, is the disappearance of certain elements of the Tibetan culture, sometimes called cultural genocide by the government of Tibet in exile. The government of China denies of these accusations and sees the reform of the theocratic system and modernization of the Tibetan economy as beneficial to most Tibetans. ... Read more

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Art of Enlightenment A concise introduction to the history, purpose, images, styles, materials, and methods of Tibetan Thanka painting. Includes a proportional diagram for drawing the Buddha and illustrations and description of the hand gestures known as mudras. ... Read more

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Examines the great difficulties facing the people of Tibet and tries to assess their chances of survival. Illustrated with colour photographs and 1 map. A new title in the THREATENED CULTURES series. Relevant to the National Curriculum Geography Key Stage 3. ... Read more

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Korean text. 309 Pages. ... Read more