Heinz Räther

Imagining Tibet

In the past century, the Western view of Tibet has evolved from an exotic Shangri-la filled with golden idols and the promise of immortality, to a peaceful land with an enlightened society now ravaged by outside aggression. How and why did our perception change? How accurate are our modern conceptions of Tibet?

Imagining Tibet is a collection of essays that reveal these Western conceptions. Providing an historical background to the West’s ever-changing relationship with Tibet, Donald S. Lopez Jr., Jeffrey Hopkins, Jamyang Norbu, and other noted scholars explore a variety of topics—from Western perceptions of Tibetan approaches to violence, monastic life, and life as a nation in exile, to representations of Tibet in Western literature, art, environmentalism, and the New Age movement.

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