The Soul of Tibet: Representations of Landscape in Chinese-medium Literature about Tibet from the End of the 20th Century

All representations of the Other, adopt similar strategies, which emphasize the difference between the Other and Self, and are recognized as symbolic expressions of supposed superiority of Self over the Other, thus serving to legitimize any attempts to civilize or rule the Other. Such strategies, often applied by the West to describe the uneven East-West relations in the colonial literary discourse, can also be found in contemporary Chinese literary representations of "minority nationalities." Representations of landscape are among the most important symbols that are used in the process of "othering" of the non-Self, and are especially relevant for Chinese representations of Tibet. The article examines the representation of Tibetan landscape in Chinese and Tibetan literatures, from the 1980s, written by both Han and Tibetan authors. Han writers have used the Tibetan landscape as a symbolic expression of the imaginary distance between themselves and Tibetans, while Tibetan authors stress the aspects that can help in an identification with the environment. The analysis reveals the symbolic function of landscape in relation to the newly (re)constructed Tibetan identity within the context of the multiethnic China at the end of the 20(th) century.