On Wednesday I battled the elements and trekked over to the Voice of America studio in central London to talk about banned Tibetan literature.
Fortunately there was also another guest from Dharamsala who knew the authors and writings that were under discussion well whilst I could give a general overview and talk about the importance of such writings and also how important it is to translate these writings into other languages.
Apart from the information on High Peaks Pure Earth, my main sources of preparation for this interview were the two ICT reports, “Like Gold That Fears No Fire” and “A Raging Storm”.
Although I don’t hear that many people talk about it, I really think that Woeser’s essay, “US-Post 2008” that she wrote for “Like Gold That Fears No Fire” is quite brilliant and full of insights. She writes:
Tibet is not mute. Even though many people have been arrested or harmed in the general silence, the Internet will wrest a new space for the existence of those whose voices have been lost. The Internet has already built a bridge of communication and exchange for a Tibet that has long been divided. In sum, the Internet is the most important field of activity in this era. The Internet will change China and it will also change Tibet.
[…]
To this day, records and critiques written in Tibetan, Chinese and many other languages keep flooding out, and in particular books, magazines, essays and lyrics written in the mother language are emerging. Tibetans living under the Chinese political system are breaking through the silence, and there are more and more instances of these voices being bravely raised, and this is encouraging ever more Tibetans.
I am embedding the whole programme in 4 videos from YouTube below!
Dechen's Blog 