THE TIBET MIRROR AS A NEW IMPETUS IN TIBETAN LITERARY WRITING

Abstract

Yul phyogs so so’i gsar ‘gyur me long (or The Tibet Mirror) is one of the first periodicals in the Tibetan language. It was published in Kalimpong, India, for 38 years (1925–1963) by a remarkable Tibetan religious and public leader Dorje Tharchin. Inspired by the liberal British press and willing to share with his compatriots both international and latest local news, Dorje Tharchin attempted to change the conventional Tibetan world outlook and at the same time to preserve Tibetan culture in the Indian-Tibetan border area by launching the first ever periodical in the Tibetan language issued by a Tibetan editor. Of a variety of possible approaches towards The Tibet Mirror, this paper chooses the one which aims to explore the periodical from a perspective of its input on the Tibetan literary activity. Yul phyogs so so’i gsar ‘gyur me long not only presents one of the first examples of Tibetan mass media, but also contains first pieces of the modern Tibetan writing which determined the future development of a new Tibetan literary functional style, a journalistic (or publicistic) style in particular. The examples of the new functional genres are presented in the paper based on the study of the actual content of the first six issues of the periodical (Vol. I No. 1–6, dated 1925–1926).