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This book is an unprecedented survey of the range of literary expressions developed by the Tibetan people. Tibet possesses a literature that stretches back over 1300 years and is one of the great literary tradtions of Asia in terms of both its size and range of influence. It is an important repository of Buddhist teachings, but also of lyrical and epic poetry, a novel, biographies, histories, and wrintings on topics as diverse as law, ritual, medicine, art, poetics and geography. Despite its size and influence and the growing Western interest in Buddhism, the majority of Tibetan literature remains little known in the West.
Dedicated to Geshe Lhundup Sopa, a Tibetan scholar/monk who has done much to open Western eyes to his country's religious and literary treasures, Tibetan Literature is the first book to address the immense variety of Tibet's literary heritage. An introductory essay by the editors attemps to assess the overall nature of "literature" in Tibet, and to understand some of the ways in which it may be analyzed into"genres." The remainder of the book contains articles by nearly thirty scholars from America, Europe and Asia, each of whom address an important genre of Tibetan literature.
Tibetan Literature is the most comprehensive survey of its subject so far attempted, and the access it povides to one of the most important literary traditions of Asia will be appreciated by students of history, religion and comparative literature alike.
Tibetan Literature, Cabezon / Jackson editors, Snow Lion Publications, Paperback, 549pp, $29.95
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