A Fork in the Chinese Road: Educating Tibetans in Tibetan? (fwd link)

[Phillip E Cash Cash]

Language and Culture

A Fork in the Chinese Road: Educating Tibetans in Tibetan?

Susan D. Blum, Department of Anthropology, University of Notre Dame

Early this past December, a Tibetan monk set himself on fire. It was
the twelfth incidence of Tibetan self-immolation by a monk or nun
since March 2011, according to unverified but plausible reports. These
acts of desperation continue a long line of protests in China despite
the Chinese government’s unyielding determination to keep Tibetans in
line. What is called by protestors “cultural genocide” has many
dimensions, not the least of which is language. When people’s
religion, subsistence, and very language are attacked as unworthy,
there are limits. And China is reaching such a limit in Tibet, no
matter how determined it is to maintain its firm grasp in the name of
“development.”

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http://www.anthropology-news.org/index.php/2012/01/10/a-fork-in-the-chinese-road-educating-tibetans-in-tibetan/