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Tibetan Diary
From Birth to Death and Beyond in a Himalayan Valley of Nepal
Language:
English
Published/Copyright:
2004
About this book
In this rich and deeply personal account of life in the highlands of Nepal, Geoff Childs chronicles the daily existence of a range of people, from venerated lamas to humble householders. Offering insights into the complex dynamics of the ethnically Tibetan enclave of Nubri, Childs provides a vivid and compelling portrait of the ebb and flow of life and death, of communal harmony and discord, and of personal conflicts and social resolutions. Part ethnography, part travelogue, and part biography, Tibetan Diary is a one-of-a-kind book that conveys the tangled intricacies of a Tibetan society.
Childs's immensely readable and informative narrative incorporates contemporary observations as well as vignettes culled from first-person testaments including oral histories and autobiographies. Examining the tensions between cultural ideals and individual aspirations, he explores certain junctures in the course of life: how the desire to attain religious knowledge or to secure a caretaker in old age contrasts with social expectations and familial obligation, for example. The result is a vivid and unparalleled view of the quest for both spiritual meaning and mundane survival that typifies life in an unpredictable Himalayan environment.
Childs's immensely readable and informative narrative incorporates contemporary observations as well as vignettes culled from first-person testaments including oral histories and autobiographies. Examining the tensions between cultural ideals and individual aspirations, he explores certain junctures in the course of life: how the desire to attain religious knowledge or to secure a caretaker in old age contrasts with social expectations and familial obligation, for example. The result is a vivid and unparalleled view of the quest for both spiritual meaning and mundane survival that typifies life in an unpredictable Himalayan environment.
Author / Editor information
Contributor: Geoff Childs
Geoff Childs is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Washington University.
Topics
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Frontmatter
i -
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Contents
v -
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Illustrations
vii -
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Acknowledgments
ix -
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Prologue: The Genre and the Purpose
1 -
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Chapter 1. Raising the Curtain
7 -
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Chapter 2. The Lay of the Land
19 -
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Chapter 3. Life Begets Death, Death Begets Life: The Life Course Begins
38 -
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Chapter 4. Adolescent Discord: Family Needs versus Spiritual Deeds
56 -
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Chapter 5. Growing Through Travel: The Pilgrimage for Knowledge and Prestige
74 -
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Chapter 6. The Merits of Matrimony: Commencing the Householder Life
98 -
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Chapter 7. High Peaks and Deep Valleys: The Imponderable Nature of Everyday Life
114 -
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Chapter 8. Anticipating the End of the Life Course: The Anxieties of Old Age
129 -
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Chapter 9. Parting Breaths: Death Is But a Transition
142 -
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Chapter 10. Transcending Death: Rising Corpses and Reincarnations
157 -
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Appendix: Place Names
171 -
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Notes
175 -
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Glossary
189 -
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References
195 -
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Index
213
Publishing information
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
eBook published on:
August 5, 2019
eBook ISBN:
9780520937840
Pages and Images/Illustrations in book
Main content:
228
eBook ISBN:
9780520937840
Keywords for this book
contemporary nepal; nonfiction diary; tibetan society; travelogue; ethnographers; asia scholars; firsthand account; himalayas; tibet; himalayan valley; nepal; ethnically tibetan; highlands; daily life; lamas; social dynamics; communal society; nubri; life and death; ethnography; biography; oral histories; religious knowledge; familial obligation; spiritual meaning; discussion books; social resolutions; personal account; anthropology; personal conflicts; social science
