The two autobiographies of the Dalai Lama contain a wide range of descriptions, visualizations and judgments about Tibet and Tibetans, the PRC and Chinese and others. Members of different groups...Show moreThe two autobiographies of the Dalai Lama contain a wide range of descriptions, visualizations and judgments about Tibet and Tibetans, the PRC and Chinese and others. Members of different groups come to judgments and valorize the other depending on their own point of view. According to researchers, Tibetan exile leaders have deliberately adopted and adapted images, including pre-1959 images that existed in the West, to entice public support for the Tibetan cause, yet there is little research into the use of images by the Dalai Lama. Using discourse analysis I will examine how the Dalai Lama uses images in My Land and My People and Freedom in Exile and argue that images such as myths, clichés and Western stereotypes are used to emphasize the uniqueness, victimhood and respectfulness of Tibet and Tibetans, whereas he uses negative images to describe the PRC and the Chinese. Analysis of the results confirms earlier research that people make use of preconceived images when describing others, while the Dalai Lama’s words are indeed beneficial to Tibetans and could in that way have convinced people for supporting the Tibetan cause. Broader research into his actions, as well as into his other work could provide more clarity in this, while research into his work and public performance meant for a Tibetan audience could give an idea whether he uses different imagery when describing the other and the self than in work catering to an international audience.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
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It is a sensitive question for many Tibetans nowadays what the use and thereby the survival of the Tibetan language could or could not mean for the preservation of a Tibetan cultural identity and...Show moreIt is a sensitive question for many Tibetans nowadays what the use and thereby the survival of the Tibetan language could or could not mean for the preservation of a Tibetan cultural identity and the survival Tibetan Buddhism.Show less
This thesis argues that there is a hegemonic and inflexible discourse on Tibetan identity, though there are examples of dissent. This identity discourse constructs a narrative on ‘Tibet’ which...Show moreThis thesis argues that there is a hegemonic and inflexible discourse on Tibetan identity, though there are examples of dissent. This identity discourse constructs a narrative on ‘Tibet’ which Tibetans claim. In turn, by claiming ‘Tibet’, Tibetans are claiming their own identity. ‘Tibet’ is represented by the government in exile. This constitutive relationship between ‘Tibet’ and ‘Tibetanness’ results in a narrativising of history and an Othering of Shugden practitioners and Chinese, in order to define a coherent national identity.Show less
