The language divide: identity and literary choices in modern Tibet.

• Author: Schiaffini, Patricia

A unique conjunction of factors during the 1980s made Lhasa an ideal place for the development of a new literature. The revival of Tibetan culture and beliefs at the end of the Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976), the eagerness of a generation of oppressed intellectuals to find new ways of expression, and the coincidental gathering in Lhasa of a group of charismatic Tibetan and Hart intellectuals, led to the creation, for the first time in Tibetan history, of a corpus of modern secular literature. (l)

Nevertheless, decades of Chinese occupation had already altered the cultural landscape of Tibet. (2) The madness of the Cultural Revolution led to the systematic destruction of cultural and religious books and objects, as well as the prohibition on teaching Tibetan culture and language in many schools. When better times came and Tibetans felt the need to express themselves through literature, some writers had to do so in Chinese because they were illiterate in their own language. For writers who were able to write in Tibetan, language proved to be a divide difficult to cross since they did not want their works associated with literature written in Chinese.

This paper explores how the use of Tibetan and Chinese affected the literary choices of these writers, their sense of ethnic identity, and the perception of their ethnicity by others.

THE BIRTH OF A MODERN LITERATURE IN TIBET

The visit of the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Hu Yaobang to Tibet in May 1980 marked the beginning of a new era of Chinese policies towards Tibet. During that visit, Hu gave a speech at a gathering of 5,000 cadres in Lhasa in which he summarized the main points of the reform he envisioned for Tibet: to promote an economic recovery; to develop Tibetan science, culture, and education; to establish the University of Tibet; and to exercise national autonomy in the region.

The reform program Hu proposed gave the Tibetan people a great deal of confidence in the future of Tibet. The reformist spirit of the new Chinese government ushered in a series of regulations on religious and cultural freedom. Temples, shrines, and monasteries were rebuilt, and Tibetan classics were reprinted. The local government was given a higher degree of autonomy in dealing with religious, cultural, and educational issues. The living standard of the Tibetan people improved considerably as well, due to the liberalization of the economy and to the number of infrastructure and development projects carried out by the Chinese authorities.

In 1977, the first modern literary journal of Tibet, the Chinese-language Literature and Arts from Tibet (Ch. Xizang wenyi) was published. Three years later, a Tibetan language journal under the same name (Tib.Bod kyi rtsom rig rgyud tsal) was published as well, and in 1984, to avoid the confusion of shared names, the Chinese journal was renamed Literature from Tibet (Ch. Xizang wenxue). Both the Chinese and the Tibetan language journals played a key role in the literary and cultural revitalization of Tibet.

Two groups of Chinese writers and editors who arrived in Tibet after the Chinese occupation also played an active role in the birth of a modern literature in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR). The first one, many of whose members were with the People's Liberation Army (PLA), arrived in Tibet right after 1959. They were sent to Tibet to write for propaganda and educational purposes (3) and were mostly of Han nationality, although there were also some Chinese-educated Tibetans from other parts of China. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the second wave of Han educated youth arrived in Tibet. Many of them requested to be sent there because of the spirit of adventure and romanticism Tibet inspired in them. Some--such as the female writer Ma Lihua, the painter Han Shuli, and the writer Ma Yuan--would later become very famous in China for their long-lasting intellectual and emotional association with Tibet.

During the 1980s, Lhasa progressively regained its former status as a cultural and religious center, attracting more artists from all over China. These "cultural pilgrims" went to Tibet and other areas with ethnic minorities in search of artistic inspiration. At a time of exhilarating intellectual exchange, writers of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds met in Tibet, exchanged ideas, and influenced one another. The homes of writers and editors, as well as Lhasa's famous tea-houses, served as forums to discuss literary works and to nurture new talents. (4)

The writer rDorje tshering remembers the impact these reforms had on young Tibetan intellectuals like him:

When schools began teaching in Tibetan, there were no teaching materials in the Tibetan language. Those of us who were bilingual enthusiastically helped translating books from Chinese into Tibetan. I even translated a math textbook for kids. We saw that Tibetan language was finally acquiring some official recognition. When we read the first issues of Literature from Tibet we were extremely excited. It did not matter that it was written in Chinese; what mattered was that Tibetan writers at last had a forum. Later on, they began publishing [the Tibetan language journal] Literature and Arts from Tibet. It was really unbelievable, we were thrilled. At the time, Lhasa was the center of the [Tibetan] literary development, and it exerted a powerful attraction on us back in A mdo. Many people wanted to come to Lhasa and be part of the literary movement. That is how I came here. (5) A poem by Don grub rgyal, one of rDorje tshering's fellow Tibetan-language writers, eloquently expressed the enthusiasm and idealism of the generation of Tibetan intellectuals who in the 1980s undertook the process of creating a modern literature in Tibet:

The torrential waterfall, the glorious young people of the Land of Snows, This! In the year 1980 the heartfelt power and creativity of the youth of Bo, (6) The dignifying struggle, the music of youthfulness, Kyi! Kyi! Youthful waterfall, waterfall of youth, Where did you obtain the fearless heart, immeasurable confidence, unbending pride, limitless strength? (7) Encouraged by the official spirit of reform, and by the dedication of Tibetan and Han intellectuals alike, modern Tibetan literature flourished.

THE INITIAL LACK OF TIBETAN WRITERS

The rapid development of modern Tibetan literature during the 1980s seems more surprising given the fact that, at the end of the 1970s, it was almost impossible to find works written by Tibetan writers in China. In 1977, the first issues of the Chinese-language journal Literature and Arts from Tibet featured mostly works by Chinese authors residing in Tibet, since the editors were not able to find enough works by Tibetan writers to fill the pages of the newly created journal. By 1980, a few Chinese-educated Tibetan writers had already begun to write poetry and short stories in Chinese, but there was still an obvious lack of modern literary works in Tibetan. It has been noted that when the Tibetan version of the journal Literature and Arts from Tibet was published that year, none of the stories featured was originally written in the Tibetan language. (8) The stories, mostly propagandistic tales about the hardships endured by the people during Tibet's "feudal" past, had been originally written by Tibetans in Chinese, and later translated into Tibetan for the inaugural issue of the journal. (9)

The shortage of Tibetan writers was due to a combination of historical and political factors. Many talented Tibetan intellectuals and highly educated members of the clergy had fled to India before the arrival of the Chinese. Some educated Tibetans remained in Tibet, joined the CCP, and received a Chinese education within Marxist-Leninist ideological parameters. In the relatively calm post-"liberation" climate, these intellectuals could have had a chance to write modern literature, but, as political repression started, many were sent to re-education camps. Tibetan culture also suffered severe damage under the Cultural Revolution campaign to eradicate the "Four Olds" (ideas, culture, morals, and customs). The few works published by minority writers during the Cultural Revolution were communist propaganda without much literary value.

The pre-1959 literacy level for lay people was extremely low, and many of the schools built after 1959 were closed during the Cultural Revolution. (l0) The schools that remained open were few and far between, which made it impossible for many parents to send their children to them. Those who managed to attend school had a curriculum that, as was typically the case during the Cultural Revolution, emphasized physical work over intellectual matters. As the Tibetan poet 'Jamdbyangs shes rab remembers:

We grew up taking care of the cattle. My family made a huge effort to send me to school, and they were not able to do so until I was a teenager. At the time the Cultural Revolution was raging, so the teachers had to teach us how to do rural work such as taking care of the cattle. Maybe urban kids needed to learn how to do rural chores, but we were from the countryside, for us it was a waste of time. Most children in our school barely knew how to write. (11) The changing language policies and a lack of teachers provided the few Tibetan children who attended school with a poor education. Many were not able to learn how to read well, and some were taught only in Chinese, which deprived them of a Tibetan education. For the majority of the Tibetan population, the communist promise of widespread literacy did not materialize.

CREATING TIBETAN IDENTITIES

The process of emphasizing the cultures of the ethnic minorities of China was initiated at the end of the Cultural Revolution. After a long period of political isolation, China was entering a new era of reforms and open-door policies. For the Chinese government it was important to show, both at home and abroad, that this new age...