Tibetan Culture in China

Is Tibetan culture in China in a revival, surviving under pressure, or both?This book responds to a seeming paradox: Tibetan culture has been growing, diversifying, sometimes hybridizing, and gaining popularity in Tibet, throughout China, and internationally while at the same time the Chinese authorities keep Tibet under tight control. Each chapter focuses on a different cultural phenomenon and how it is shaped by complex negotiations between the one-party state, the market economy, and unequal ethnic relations.Part I spotlights the overlooked historical presence of Tibetans in Chengdu long before the current renewal, the all-pervasive presence of Chinese state culture inside Tibet today, and the Chinese imagination of Tibet in recent films about Tibet by non-Tibetan directors. Part II examines transformations such as the commodification of Tibetan thangka painting and carpet production, the Gesar epic’s intangible heritage status, and cultural festivals. Part III examines new cultural developments from the exponential boom of contemporary Tibetan literature via the website Chömé to expansion of Tibetan filmmaking. Part IV highlights place, ecology, and identity in Tibetan audio-visual culture in China today. Tibetan Culture in China is essential for scholars and researchers of contemporary Tibet and ethnic politics in China.