Representation of Tibet in Mary Craig's Kundun

Abstract

Kundun: Mary Craig's biography is about fourteenth Dalai Lama and is generally read as an authentic representation of history of Tibet. Through this historical representation, Craig constructs a discourse about Tibet by mis-representing their history, society and economy. The way western writers do politics to represent negative stereotypical image about Eastern culture. It further clarifies why the writer takes sides and makes fairy tales, while delivering the history between China and Tibet. It blames the writer, dividing the world into two fragments: occident and orient. The aim of this study is to examine the stereotypes shown by mainstream writers and their politics behind it. Moreover, writer’s intention to distinguish among political authority, materialistic greed and spiritual ethos are blurred. It claims that the writer’s position is guided by materialistic and imperialistic canon. While doing it, the research has incorporated theoretical insights of Straut Hall’s Work of Representation and Edward Said’s book Orientalism. The research concludes that the writer’s politics behind the representation of the culture of Tibet is demonstrated openly. She lacks to gather ethical and accurate information during the time of representing culture. This paper concludes that Tibet’s invasion has been presented hypothetically and emphasizes on own way whereas, economical crisis, corrupted bureaucracy, autocratic feudal system and superstition are some reasons for Dalai Lamas’ fall which are hidden intentionally.