SURVEY OF TIBETAN LITERATURE

Designed for both undergraduate and graduate students, this course introduces Tibetan belles-lettres and vernacular works (all in English translation) spanning from the imperial period to the present day. We will engage in close readings, together with discussion of the genre each text represents and its salience in current Tibetan intellectual discourse. In the final four weeks, we will read landmark works from the post-Mao period, with a view to the negotiation of traditional forms amidst the advent of new literary genres and the economics of cultural production.

Questions to address include: How have Tibetan literary forms and content developed throughout history? How has the very concept of "Tibetan literature" been conceived?  How have Tibetan writers and scholars—past and present—negotiated literary innovation?

Each session will consist of a brief lecture followed by discussion. Lectures will incrementally provide students with a general timeline of Tibetan literary and related historical developments, as well as biographical material regarding the authors assigned for that week.

Tibetan language students and heritage learners will be offered three optional sessions to read excerpts of selected texts in Tibetan.