Introductory Topics in Asian Languages and Cultures (290-0-21)

Topic

Intro to Contemporary Tibetan Literature

Instructors

Antonio Terrone
847/467-1636
1880 Campus Drive, Kresge Hall #4-439
Office Hours: times vary by quarter, please contact instructor

Meeting Info

Kresge Centennial Hall 2-425: Mon, Wed 2:00PM - 3:20PM

Overview of class

AY 26-27. This course explores the birth and development of Tibetan literature beginning in the 1950s when Tibet became part of the newly established People's Republic of China, with a focus on its booming in the 1980s, in the wake of the new economic and political reforms. Although Tibet was a civilization uniquely characterized by a religious literature produced and consumed in monastic institutions, the nature of literature and literacy has changed in Tibet in the past seventy years, becoming more accessible to the wider public. Tibetan writers have used fiction and poetry in new ways to reflect on life, rapidly changing worldviews, and critiques of the past as well as the present. This course will introduce students to a number of modern and contemporary Tibetan literary works, mostly secular in nature, including short novels, fiction, and poetry in English translation, as well as academic studies and scholarly analysis of modern Tibetan literature.

Learning Objectives

1. Analyze Themes of Identity, Displacement, and Cultural Change in Contemporary Tibetan Literature
2. Compare Literary Responses to Distinct Political and Social Contexts
3. Recognize Genre Innovation and Experimentation in Contemporary Tibetan Writing
4. Understand the Multilingual Dimensions of Contemporary Tibetan Literature
5. Contextualize Contemporary Tibetan Literature Within Recent Historical Events

Teaching Method

Lecture and Discussion

Evaluation Method

Participation; in-class response essay; in-class presentations; end-of-term essay

Class Materials (Required)

- Tsering Döndrup, The Handsome Monk and Other Stories. Columbia University Press, 2019 ISBN 978-0231190237

- Tsering Döndrup, The Red Wind Howls: A Novel. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2025 ISBN 978-0231213738

- Tenzin Deckie. Old Demons, New Deities. 21 Short Stories from Tibet. OR Books, 2017 ISBN 978-1944869519

- Pema Tseden. Enticement: Stories of Tibet. State University of New York Press, 2018 ISBN 978-1438474267

Class Attributes

Literature and Arts Foundational Discipline
SoC Humanities and Fine Arts Distro