Culture and Art in Contemporary Tibet
Course No. East Asian W4545 – Call No. 76447
Syllabus and Reading List
Sessions: Mondays, 4.10-6.00pm Room: Kent 522C
Lecturer: Dr. Robert Barnett Phone: 212 854 1725
Office hours: 5.30-630pm Tuesdays Office: SIPA 939
Email: rjb58@columbia.edu Class prerequisites: none, any level
The Course
Since Tibet was absorbed into the People’s Republic of China some 50 years ago, it has undergone a turbulent and contested history. Since about 1990 discussions about Tibetan culture and art have become increasingly important in considerations of the Tibetan situation. Within Tibet, there has been an extensive amount of cultural activity among Tibetans, using both the Tibetan and Chinese languages. Outside, some international powers and lobby groups have argued that Tibetan culture as a meaningful process is under threat, while in China officials insist that it is booming. What can we learn from reading and studying this cultural activity for ourselves, if we engage with it directly? How should we understand and evaluate it? Can outsiders talk meaningfully about someone else’s culture? And what is a culture anyway?
In this course, we study films, poems, stories, paintings, pop songs and other forms of cultural product that have been made by Tibetans in the last 3 or 4 decades, together with some made by others in their name or in their areas. We discuss questions of identity, survival, history and the politics of representation. We’ll look at questions about cultures and continuity; about whether and how we as outsiders can come to understand or interpret the culture of a country whose language and history we may barely know; about the interplay of texts, politics, and power; and about ways of reading and interpreting artworks and the meanings that they generate in politically charged societies and communities.
The course will be primarily a seminar led by students, together with lectures. Besides theoretical and background readings, students will watch films and TV shows, study artpieces, read stories and listen to pop songs. Translations will be provided and no previous knowledge of Tibetan or Chinese or of their histories is required.
Course Requirements
There are no prerequisites for this course. Any student can attend, and no previous knowledge of the area or of the relevant languages is required.
The course will consist of one session per week. Each session will begin with a 15-20 minute presentation by a student, who will then lead a discussion, with both lasting in total for about one hour. The presenter can use a projector for powerpoint presentations or distribute handouts. The discussion will be followed by a brief lecture. Images and film clips will be shown.
Students must attend classes regularly and should participate in class sessions. Grades will be based on assignments, attendance and participation. Non-attendance or repeated late attendance will affect grades. You will be expected to complete all required readings before the classes, and to read or look briefly at optional pieces wherever possible. Most or all of the reading materials will be available on the Courseworks site. By each Sunday evening students will be required to post a brief comment on one or other of the required readings for the coming Monday’s class. There will be at least one additional session for film viewings.
Assignments
1. Post your responses to one or more of the readings for the Monday class to the rest of the class, at one page in length by 7pm each Sunday.
2. Each student (except those who know Chinese or Tibetan) will choose by week 3 a translated version of a Tibetan-authored literary text from www.plateauculture.org/asian-highlands-perspectives as their reading companion for the course, and as a basis for their mid-term presentation and paper. Students with advanced Chinese or Tibetan should choose any previously untranslated story or poem by a contemporary Tibetan author, which by the end of the term they will translate and present to the class. Remember to check your choices before you work on them, so we can avoid duplication.
3. Each student will give a class presentation during the term, with their summary of and comments on a reading for that class, and will lead part or all of the discussion for that session.
4. After each student presentation, each student will fill in an evaluation form giving feedback on the presentation. Within a week the presenter will post a summary of the feed-back received from other students and add their own self-evaluation on their presentation.
5. In sessions where there is no student presenter, each student will bring a short piece of text to present to the group and lead a 10 minute discussion based on that text.
6. Each student will submit a one page proposal for their final research paper by April 9th.
7. Each student will act as rapporteur for two sessions, taking notes on the main ideas in the discussion for that session and summarizing them at the beginning of the next session.
8. There will be at least one random in-class test or quiz on basic facts in Tibetan history around mid-term, based on required readings.
9. The final paper will be a research paper of some 3,000 words in length requiring some basic library or similar research.
Readings and Syllabus for each Session
The readings will be available on the Courseworks site except for those marked with an *asterisk which will be available as photocopies. The reading load will be heavy at the beginning of the course, but lighter in the second half of term. We’ll discuss the reading load at the end of each preceding session. The correct, updated version of the syllabus and the web-readings are on the courseworks site.
U means that this reading is required for all students.
G means that this reading is required for graduate students and should be at least skim-read by undergraduates
Recommended Text (not required)
Tsering Shakya, The Dragon in the Land of Snows: A History of Modern Tibet Since 1947. New York: Columbia University Press, 1999.
Optional readings: Each week you must read at least one optional reading and skim the others wherever possible, even if you don’t have time to read them in full. Some optional texts are listed here for reference only; you should treat this as a bibliography in case you want to do further research in the future. Presenters must read at least two of the optional readings for their week and produce a summary of their contents for the rest of the class.
– Part 1 Background and Introduction –
Jan 28 – Session 1: Background to the course and the subject
Briefing papers will be handed out giving background information, including notes on:
1. Geographic terms 2. Time-line 3. Party-Government system 4. Pronunciation and spelling systems.
– Part 2: Tibetan History, Art and Religion in the China context –
Feb 2 – Session 2: Tibetan History and Civilization: Key Representations
U W.D. Shakapba, Tibet: A Political History, New York: Potala, 1984 (first published 1966), pp.23-53
U Tiley Chodag, Tibet, The Land and the People, New World Press, Beijing, 1988, pp. 3-21, 281-283
U Melvyn Goldstein, “The Balance between Centralization and Decentralization in the Traditional Tibetan Political System: An Essay on the Nature of Tibetan Political Macro-Structure”, in Central Asiatic Journal, xv (1971), pp. 170-82.
U Wang Jiawei and Nyima Gyaincain. The Historic Status of China’s Tibet, China Intercontinental Press, Beijing 1997. Chapter 8: “Armed Rebellion in Tibet Opposed the Democratic Reform Through Which Serfs Win Human Rights” www.tibet-china.org/historical_status/english/e0801.html
G Uradyn E. Bulag, “From Inequality to Difference: Colonial Contradictions of Class and Ethnicity in `Socialist’ China” in “Post-colonialism and Its Discontents”, special issue of Cultural Studies, 2000
Optional/For Reference:
Geoffrey Samuel: Civilized Shamans: Buddhism in Tibetan Societies, Washington, D.C: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993, pp.3-13, 39-63.
David Snellgrove and Hugh Richardson, A Cultural History of Tibet, Boston: Shambhala, 1986 (first ed. c.1968) pp. 177-203
Melvyn Goldstein, “Religious Conflict in the Traditional Tibetan State” in Lawrence Epstein and Richard F. Sherburne, (eds.), Reflections on Tibetan Culture: Essays in Memory of Turrell V. Wylie, Lewiston, Maine: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1990, pp.231-247
Georges Dreyfus: “Proto-nationalism in Tibet”, Per Kvaerne (ed.), Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Vol.1, Oslo: Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, 1994, pp. 205-218
Christopher Beckwith, The Tibetan Empire in Central Asia, Bloomington: University of Indiana Press, pp.1-43, 69-83.
Images: early Tibetan emperors, kings and palaces
Feb 9 – Session 3: The Commissar: CCP Views on Art
U Mao Zedong, “Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art” in Bonnie McDougall, Mao Zedong’s “Talks at the Yan’an Forum on Literature and Art”: A Translation of the 1943 Text with Commentary, Ann Arbor 1980, pp. 36-41, 53-67, 82-85
U Deng Xiaoping, “The Present Situation And The Tasks Before Us”, January 16, 1980 (extracts)
U People’s Daily Online Commentator, “Commentary: Writing People’s History with Deep Feeling”, People’s Daily, May 4th, 2002, p. 4. Also at http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200205/23/eng20020523_96323.shtml
U Chen Kuiyuan, “Speech on Literature and Art”, delivered 11th July 1997; as published by Xizang Ribao (“Tibet Daily”), Lhasa, 16th July 1997; published in translation as “Tibet party secretary criticizes “erroneous views” of literature, art” in The BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, 4th August 1997
Optional/Reference:
Geremie R. Barmé, In the Red, On Contemporary Chinese Culture, New York: Columbia University Press, 1999, pp, 273-287, 333-344
Chen Kuiyuan, Lantian baixue (“Blue Sky, White Snow”), Beijing Chubanshe, Beijing, 1999 (selections in translation)
Images: Images, signs and architecture; websites and blogs. See Transnational China site at Rice http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~tnchina/archives.html and http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~tnchina/subwayads/subwayads.htm.
Feb 16 – Session 4: Chinese Representations of Minority Culture
U Dru Gladney, “Representing Nationality in China: Refiguring Majority/Minority Identities” in Journal of Asian Studies, 53 (1), 1994, pp 92-123
U Ma Yin, “Introduction” in Ma Yin (ed.), China’s Minority Nationalities, Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1989
U Stevan Harrell, “Civilizing Projects and the Reaction to Them”, in Stevan Harrell (ed.), Cultural Encounters on China’s Ethnic Frontiers, Seattle: University of Washington, 1995, pp. 3-36
U Ma Jian, “Show me the colour of your tongue or Fuck All” in Geremie Barmé and John Minford (eds.), Seeds of Fire: Chinese Voices of Conscience, New York: Noonday, 1989”, Hill and Wang New York 1988, pp. 414-416, 432-452, including editor’s introduction (Also translated as “Stick Out the Fur on Your Tongue or It’s All a Void” in Herbert Batt (ed.), Tales Of Tibet: Sky Burials, Prayer Wheels, And Wind Horses, Rowman and Littlefield, 2001)
U Jin Binggao, “When Does The Word ‘Minority Nationality’ [shaoshu minzu] [First] Appear in Our Country?”, Bulletin of the History of the Tibet Communist Party, 1988 Vol. 1 (No.19 of the General Series), 5th January 1988, pp. 45ff., published in translation in Background Papers on Tibet – September 1992, Part 2 London: Tibet Information Network, 1992 (extracted from Jin Binggao’s article in Minzu Tuanjie (“Nationality Solidarity”), Volume 6, 1987)
U Mark Elliott, “The Case of the Missing Indigene: Debate Over a “Second-Generation” Ethnic Policy
Review”, The China Journal, No. 73 (January 2015), pp. 186-213
Optional/Reference:
Barry Sautman, “Myths of Descent, Racial Nationalism and Ethnic Minorities in the People’s Republic of China”, in Frank Dikötter (ed.), The Construction of Racial Identities in China and Japan, University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu, 1997, pp. 88-95
Almaz Khan, “Who Are the Mongols? State, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Representation in the PRC” in Melissa Brown, (ed.), Negotiating Ethnicities in China and Taiwan, Berkeley, CA: East Asian Institute, University of California, 1995, pp. 125-159
Frank Dikötter, “Racial Discourse in China: Continuities and Permutations” in Frank Dikötter (ed.), The Construction of Racial Identities in China and Japan, University of Hawai’i Press, Honolulu, 1997, pp. 24-33
Louisa Schein, “Performing Modernity” in Cultural Anthropology, 14 (3), 1997, pp. 361-395
Images: See Stefan Landsberger’s site on CCP nationalities posters at http://www.iisg.nl/~landsberger/xsmz.html.
Feb 23 – Session 5: Religion and the post-1980 religious revival of Buddhism in Tibet
U Georges Dreyfus, The Sound of Two Hands Clapping, University of California Press, 2003, pp. 17-31
U Donald McInnis, Religion in China Today: Policy and Practice, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books, 1989, pp.7-10, 20-22, 32-34, 154-156, 165-172, 367-374, 403-405
U David Germano, “Re-membering the Dismembered Body of Tibet: Contemporary Tibetan Visionary Movements in the People’s Republic of China” in Melvyn Goldstein and Matthew Kapstein (eds.), Buddhism in Contemporary Tibet – Religious Revival and Cultural Identity, Berkeley: University of California, 1998, pp. 53-95
U Pama Namgyal, “Lamaism in the Tibetan Autonomous Region” in James D. Seymour and Eugen Wehrli, “Religion in China”, in Chinese Sociology and Anthropology, Vol.26, No.3, Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe, Spring 1994, pp. 61-72
Optional/Reference:
Anon. “Nang khul gyi dus deb yin bas nyar chags bya rgyud do snang byed dgos” in Bod sjongs ‘phrin deb (“Tibet Information Book”), Volume 9, pp. 39ff., partially published in translation as “The Heroes of Ling: Elimination of a Sect” (including postscript by John Hillary) in Background Papers on Tibet – September 1992, Part 2, London: Tibet Information Network, 1992, pp. 30-33
Guiseppe Tucci, Tibetan Painted Scrolls, Roma: Libreria dello Stato. Vol.1, 1949, pp 17-24
Images: Religious activities in Tibet
Mar 2 – Session 6: The Culture Question
U Clifford Geertz, “Thick description: toward an interpretive theory of culture” in The interpretation of cultures: selected essays. Basic Books, New York, 1973, pp. 3-30
U Tomoko Masuzawa, “Culture” in Mark Taylor (ed.), Critical Terms for Religious Studies, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1998, pp. 70-93
G Clare Colebrook, “Culture and Interpretation: anthropology, ethnography and understanding”, in New Literary Histories: New historicism and contemporary criticism, Manchester University Press, 1997, pp. 66-89
Optional/Reference:
Vincanne Adams, “Karaoke as Modern Lhasa, Tibet: Western Encounters with Cultural Politics”, in Cultural Anthropology, 11 (4), 1996, pp. 510-546
– Part III: Contemporary Tibetan Culture –
Mar 9 – Session 7: Modern Art: Socialist Realism and the Sweet Teahouse Group
U Clare Harris, In the Image of Tibet: Tibetan Painting after 1959, Reaktion Books, 2000, pp.7-15, 150-191
U Tsewang Tashi, “20th Century Tibetan Painting”, in Robert Barnett and Ronald Schwartz (eds), Tibetan Modernities, Brill, Leiden, 2008.
U Oeser (aka Tsering Woeser), “On recent paintings of Tsering Nyandak”, August 16th, 2006, translated by Susan Chen, at http://www.mechak.org/recent_paintings_of_tsering_nyandak.html
G Kabir Heimsath, “Untitled Identities: Contemporary Art in Lhasa, Tibet”, AsianArt.com, December 16, 2005, http://www.asianart.com/articles/heimsath/index.html
Optional/Reference:
Ian Alsop, Anna Maria Rossi, Fabio Rossi and Gonkar Gyatso, “Artist Gonkar Gyatso in conversation with Zaklina Petrovic”, and “Modern Art in Tibet and the Gedun Choephel Artists’ Guild, pp. 16-17, in Visions from Tibet: A brief survey of contemporary painting, Anna Maria Rossi and Fabio Rossi Publications, London [2005], pp. 13-15, 16-17*
Leigh Sangster Miller, “Meeting old Buddhas in new clothes”. Available at http://sitekreator.com/firestarter/meeting_old_buddhas_in_new_clothes.html.
Images: Han Zhuli, Gade, Nyima Tsering, Tsewang Tashi, Nortse. See Mechak website.
Mar 23 – Session 8: Modern Literature and the Dispute over Chinese Tibetan and Tibetan Tibetan
U Tsering Shakya, “Introductory Essay: The Waterfall and Fragrant Flowers” in Song of the Snow Lion – Special Focus: New Writing from Tibet, Manoa 12.2, 2000 (Issue on contemporary Tibetan literature), available at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/ manoa/toc/man12.2.html
U Heather Stoddard, “Don grub rgyal (1953-1985): Suicide of a Modern Tibetan Writer and Scholar” in Per Kvaerne (ed.), Tibetan Studies: Proceedings of the 6th Seminar of the International Association for Tibetan Studies, Oslo: Institute for Comparative Research in Human Culture, 1994, pp. 825-34
U Franz Xavier Erhard, “Magical Realism and Tibetan Literature”, in Steven Venturino (ed.), Contemporary Tibetan Literary Studies, Brill, 2007, pp 133-146
U Dhondup Gyal (Tsering Shakya, translator) “The Waterfall” (from Manoa 12.2, 2000, Song of the Snow Lion, available at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/manoa/toc/man12.2.html
U Anonymous (Adrian Moon, translator), “A Monk’s Story,” published in translation in Background Papers on Tibet – September 1992, Part 2, London: Tibet Information Network, 1992, p.20-26
U Ju Kelsang, “Two Poems” (Lauran Hartley, Ronald Schwartz, translators) in Song of the Snow Lion – Special Focus: New Writing from Tibet, Manoa 12.2, 2000 (Issue on contemporary Tibetan literature), 115-117, available at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/manoa/toc/man12.2.html
Tashi Palden, “The Yellow Leaves of Summer” (1995) in Riika J. Virtaanen (editor, translator), A Blighted Flower and Other Stories: Portraits of Women in Modern Tibetan Literature, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala, 2000, pp. 105-28
Optional/Reference
Jangbu, The Nine-Eyed Agate –poems and stories (translated Heather Stoddard), Rowman and Littlefield 2010, pp. 124-9, 143-5, 146-55, 171-5
Pema Bhum (Ronald Schwartz, translator), “The Heartbeat of a New Generation: A Discussion of the New Poetry,” in Lungta (special issue on Modern Tibetan Literature), Dharamsala: Amnyemachen, May 1999
Tashi Palden (Yangdon Dhondup, translator) “Tomorrow’s Weather Will be Better” (Manoa12.2, 2000, Song of the Snow Lion, available at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/manoa/toc/man12.2.html
Yangtso Kyi (Lauran Hartley, translator), “Journal of the Grassland” (from Manoa 12.2, 2000, Song of the Snow Lion, available at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/manoa/toc/man12.2.html
Mar 30 – Session 9: Chinese Tibetan? Modern Sinophone Literature by Tibetans
U Tashi Dawa (Herbert Batt, translator) “The Glory of the Wind Horse” in Song of the Snow Lion – Special Focus: New Writing from Tibet, Manoa 12.2, 2000 (available at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/manoa/toc/man12.2.html)
U Yidam Tsering (Herbert Batt, translator) “Two Poems” (from Manoa, Song of the Snow Lion) (available at http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/manoa/toc/man12.2.html)
U Ma Lihua, Glimpses of Northern Tibet, Beijing: Panda, 1991, pp. 6-11, 106-111, 242-257, 262-265
G Alai, Red Poppies, trans. Howard Goldblatt, chapters 3-11, 245-371*
U Patricia Schiaffini, “The language divide: identity and literary choices in modern Tibet”, Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 57, March 2004
Session Xtra1: Additional viewing session to watch Films
Nongnu (“The Serf” or “Serfs”, dir. Li Jun, 1963)
Yeshe Drolma (aka “Yixi Zhouma” and “Song of Tibet”, dir. Xie Fei, 1999) – extracts
Silent Mani Stones (dir. Padma Tsetan (aka Wanma Caidan), 2005)
April 6 – Session 10: Films in/of Tibet
The Silent Holy Stone (dir. Padma Tsetan, Ch. Wanma Caidan, 2005) or The Sun-beaten Path (dir. Sonthar Gya, 2010)
Extracts:
Yeshe Drolma (aka “Yixi Zhouma” and “Song of Tibet”, dir. Xie Fei, 1999)
Daomazei (“Horse Thief”, dir. Tian Zhuangzhuang, 1986)
Readings
U Jangbu (Chenaktshang Dorje Tshering), “Reflections on Tibetan Film”, in Robert Barnett and Ronald Schwartz (eds), Tibetan Modernities, Brill, 2008, 267-81
U Françoise Robin, “Silent Stones As Minority Discourse: Agency and Representation in Padma tshe brtan’s The Silent Holy Stones (Lhing ‘jags kyi ma ni rdo ‘bum)”. Paper presented at the International Association of Tibetan Studies, Bonn, 2006
G Ray Chow, Primitive Passions: Visuality, sexuality, ethnography and contemporary Chinese cinema. Columbia University Press, 1995, pp. 142-172*
Optional
U Chris Berry and Mary Farquhar, “Where Do You Draw the Line? Ethnicity in Chinese Cinemas” in China on Screen: Cinema and Nation, Columbia University Press, 206, pp. 169-94*
April 13 – Session 11: Guest Speaker (or Research and Readings Presentation)
Each student will chose and present on the Tibetan-authored text they’ve chosen from www.plateauculture.org/asian-highlands-perspectives, which will serve as the basis for their paper and a website commentary.
Session Xtra2: TV Viewing Session
We’ll arrange a special session to watch a TV drama or show.
April 20- Session 12: Tibetan Modernity: images, language and programming on Tibet TV
Watching TV Dramas:
Xiyouji (“Journey to the West”), CCTV, 1986. Extracts. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTI8OWr1n8M&list=PL8B08941A70324656 ;
Wencheng gongzhu (Rgya bza’ gong jo, “Princess Wencheng”), director Cai Xiaoqing, CCTV, 2000, Episode 10
Xizang Fengyun (Bod ljongs du ‘gyur, “Wind and Clouds over Tibet”), dir. Zhao Qunjie (?), CCTV, 2000, Episode 1
Lasa wangshi (Lha sa’i sngon byung gtam rgyud – “Tales of Lhasa’s Past”), dir. Yang Tao, Chen Lu, CCTV/Tibet TV, 2001, Episode 1
Skal bzang me tog ‘dab brgyad ma (“The Eight Petalled Kalsang Metog” or “The Eight Petalled Chrysanthemum” Ch.Geisang meiduoi), Tibet TV 2001. Extracts.
We will also watch some TV news programs in class. For more information about Tibet TV programming, Chinese-speakers can go to:
a) CCTV’s search engine
http://bugu.cntv.cn/vod/xinwen/index.shtml
(Type in any term into the search engine (i.e. 西藏) and it will display relevant programming. One can watch a number of shows online.)
b) Tibet Television (XZTV) Programming Schedule
http://www.5i.tv/beijing/channel/show/id/4f34bd5b115109c61b0002f2/
Reading
U Michael A. Keane, “Television drama in China: remaking the market.” Culture and Policy (115), 2005, pp. 82-93.
U Robert Barnett, “Television Drama Series in Tibet”. In Valeria Donati (ed.), Tibetan Cinema. Discovering A New Political And Cultural Language, ASIA Onlus, Naples (2009), pp. 51-70 (read pp 1-14, 18-23 in the online version)
U Lila Abu-Lughod, “The Interpretation of Culture(s) after Television” Representations, No. 59, Special Issue: The Fate of “Culture”: Geertz and Beyond. (Summer, 1997), pp. 109-134
April 27 – Session 13: Social media
To Watch: Please read at least five articles from each of these websites:
http://www.tibetwebdigest.com and http://www.highpeakspureearth.com
If you read Chinese, please look at articles from these sites:
http://www.tibcul.com
http://jimmydorje.2000y.com/
…or at articles on other blog sites by Tibetans in China that you can find
If you read Tibetan, please look at these sites:
http://www.tibetcm.com
http://www.sangdhor.com
http://www.gdqpzhx.com
… or at other blogs by Tibetans in China that you can find.
Required Reading:
U Tashi Rabgey, “newtibet.com: Citizenship as Agency in a Virtual Tibetan Public” in Robert Barnett and Ronald Schwartz (eds), Tibetan Modernities: Notes from the Field on Social and Cultural Change, Leiden: Brill, 2008, pp. 333-352
U Francoise Robin, “From sophisticated metaphors to straightforward opinions:
new developments on the Tibetan blogosphere”,
Paper presented at the Association of Asian Studies Conference, Toronto March 2012
U Robert Barnett, “No More Mountain Climbing, or Sit Back on the Easychair: A Short History of Social Technology in Tibet” (draft), Forthcoming, pp.28-42.
U Yang Guobin, “Technology and Its Contents: Issues in the Study of the Chinese Internet”, The Journal of Asian Studies Vol. 70, No. 4 (November) 2011: 1043-1050.
Optional Reading:
Wai-Yip Ho : Islam, China and the Internet: Negotiating Residual Cyberspace between Hegemonic Patriotism and Connectivity to the Ummah , Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 2010, 30:1, 63-79
Information Office of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, The Internet in China. Government White Paper, June 8,2010. See http://www.china.org.cn/government/whitepaper/node_7093508.htm
May 4 – Session 14: Rock in a Hard Place
U Yangdon Dhondup, “Dancing to the Beat of Modernity: The Rise and Development of Tibetan Pop Music” in Robert Barnett and Ronald Schwartz (eds), Tibetan Modernities, Brill, Leiden (forthcoming).
G Gregory Lee, “‘The East is Red’ goes pop: commodification, hybridity and nationalism in Chinese popular song and its televisual performance”, Popular Music (1995), 14/1
U G Stacey van Vleet, “The “Righteous Power” of Modern Tibetan Music within the PRC”. MA thesis, Colorado University, 2006, pp 34-9, 59-87
Optional
Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy, “Women in Tibetan Performing Arts: Portraits of Six Contemporary Singers”, in Janet Gyatso and Hanna Havnevik (eds), Women in Tibet, Past and Present. London: Hurst & Co, 2005, pp. 195–258.
Andrew F. Jones, Like a Knife: Ideology and Genre in Contemporary Chinese Popular Music, Cornell East Asia Series, 1992, pp.1-33*
Nimrod Baranovitch, China’s New Voices: Popular Music, Ethnicity, Gender, and Politics, 1978-1997, University of California, Berkeley, 2003, pp. 54-107*
Music and lyrics: Tseten Drolma, Dechen Wangmo, Dadron, Yadong, Namchak (see van Vleet 2006, Appendix A).
Session Xtra3: Final Presentation
Each student will give a final presentation on their research paper.