Contained in:
Book Chapter

Negotiating with the tradition: representations of fish in Alai’s fictional writing

  • Mario De Grandis
  • Filippo Costantini

Tibet has long been orientalized in fictional representations. Taking as a case study two texts by Alai, this paper investigates how a traditional Tibetan cultural trait–the fish taboo–is mobilized to complicate the representation of Tibetan culture. By describing the fish taboo Alai points at Tibet's cultural specificity, which in virtue of its exoticism can catch the attention of non-Tibetan readers. At the same time, however, Alai equips his characters with psychological depth, showing their contrasting inner emotions of attraction and repulsion toward fish. In this sense, Alai subtly points at the fallacies of flat representations of Tibet, thus dismantling them from within.

  • Keywords:
  • Chinese ethnic minority literature,
  • Alai,
  • disgust studies,
+ Show More

Mario De Grandis

University College Dublin, Ireland - ORCID: 0000-0001-9709-4821

Filippo Costantini

University of Costa Rica, Costa Rica - ORCID: 0000-0002-5799-0004

  1. Alai 阿来. 2015. “Yü 鱼” [The fish]. In Fang shengyang: xiaoshuo yuebao shaoshu minzu zuojia jingpin ji 2001–2015 放生羊: 小说月报少数民族作家精品集 2001–2015 [Grazing Sheep: Collection of Ethnic Minorities’ Fiction in Xiaoshuo yubeao 2001– 2015], edited by Zhongguo shaoshu minzu zuojia xuehui 中国少数民族作家学会, Zhongguo shaoshu minzu zuojia xuehui 中国少数民族作家学会, and Xiaoshuoyuebao bianji bu 小说月报编辑部, 1–8. Tianjin: Baihua wenyi chubanshe.
  2. Alai. 2004. “Yü” 鱼 [The fish].” In Alai zhongpian xiaoshuo xuan 阿来中篇小说选 [Alai’s selected novella], 216–72. Chengdu: Sichuan minzu chubanshe.
  3. Alai 阿来. 2002. Red Poppies. Tr. Li-chun Lin and Howard Goldblatt. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
  4. Altner, Diana. 2009. “Fishery in Southern and Central Tibet: An Economic Niche is Going to Disappear.” In Contemporary Visions in Tibetan Studies. Proceedings of the International Seminar of Young Tibetologists, edited by Brandon Dotson, Kalsang Norbu Gurung, Georgios Halkias, and Tim Myatt, 45–67. Chicago: Serindia Publications.
  5. Chen Ye 陈烨. 2005. Zangzu de yinshi jinji ji qi xiandai jiazhi 藏族的饮食禁忌及其现代价值 [Tibetan Diet Taboo and Its Contemporary Value]. Xizang minzu xueyuan xuebao 5: 32-35.
  6. Ci Dun 次顿. 2019. “Zang minzu yinshi jinji wenhua chengyin fenxi——yi guibi shiyong yülei weili 藏民族饮食禁忌文化成因分析——以规避食用鱼类为例 [Analysis on the causes of Tibetan food taboos: Edible fish as a case study]. Wenhua changye 文化产业 2019 (1): 53-55.
  7. Howard, Choy F. 2008. “In Quest(Ion) of an ‘I’: Identity and Idiocy in Alai’s Red Poppies.” In Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change, edited by Patricia Schiaffini-Vedani and Lauran R Hartley, 225–35. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
  8. Dangzhu, Angben 丹珠昂奔. Edited by. 2003. Zangzu da cidian 藏族大辞典 [The Dictionary of Tibetan Culture]. Lanzhou: Gansu renmin chubanshe.
  9. Das, Sarat Chandra, and William Woodville Rockhill. 1902. Journey to Lhasa and Central Tibet. London: J. Murray.
  10. Dickson, Lisa A., and Romanets Maryna, eds. 2014. Beauty, Violence, Representation. New York: Routledge.
  11. Douglas, Mary. 2002. Purity and Danger. London: Routledge.
  12. Ekvall, Robert B. 1964. Religious Observances in Tibet: Patterns and Function. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  13. Elverskog, Johan. 2020. The Buddha's Footprint: An Environmental History of Asia. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  14. Fong, Mary. 2000. “‘Luck Talk’ in Celebrating the Chinese New Year.” Journal of Pragmatics 32 (2): 219–37. DOI: 10.1016/S0378-2166(99)00048-X
  15. Goss, Rober E., and Dennis Klass. 1997. “Tibetan Buddhism and the Resolution of Grief: The Bardo-Thodol for the Dying and the Grieving.” Death Studies 21 (4): 377–95. DOI: 10.1080/074811897201895
  16. Habenstein, Robert Wesley, and William Mathias Lamers. 1963. Funeral Customs the World Over. Milwaukee: Bulfin Printers.
  17. Haidt, Jonathan. 2007. The Happiness Hypothesis: Putting Ancient Wisdom to the Test of Modern Science. London: Arrow Books.
  18. Hartley, Lauran R, and Patricia Schiaffini-Vedani, eds. 2008. Modern Tibetan Literature and Social Change. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
  19. Hillman, Ben, and Lee-Anne Henfry. 2006. “Macho Minority: Masculinity and Ethnicity on the Edge of Tibet.” Modern China 32 (2): 251–72. DOI: 10.1177/0097700405286186
  20. Hladíková, Kamila. 2013. The Exotic Other and Negotiation of Tibetan Self: Representation of Tibet in Chinese and Tibetan Fiction of the 1980s. Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci.
  21. Huang Yusheng 黄钰生. 2015. “Chunjie chi yu zenme xuan? 春节吃鱼怎么选?" [How to choose fish for the Spring Festival?]. Xiaofeizhe baodao 1: 26-27.
  22. Kolmaš, Josef. 2003. Smrt a Pohřbívání u Tibeťanů [Death and Funeral Practices of Tibetans]. Brno: Masarykova univerzita.
  23. Kolnai, Aurel. 2003. On Disgust. Chicago and La Salle: Open Court Publishing.
  24. Laing, Ellen Johnston. 2017. “Carp and Goldfish As Auspicious Symbols and Their Representation in Chinese Popular Prints.” Arts Asiatiques 72: 97–109. DOI: 10.3406/arasi.2017.1965
  25. Lange, Diana. 2010. “From Water Radish to Fish Restaurant: Recent Developments of Fisheries in Central Tibet.” In: AAS Working Papers in Social Anthropology 18, 1–13. DOI: 10.1553/wpsa18
  26. Leung, Laifong. 2017. Contemporary Chinese Fiction Writers: Biography, Bibliography, and Critical Assessment. New York: Routledge.
  27. Lopez, Donald S. 1998. Prisoners of Shangri-La: Tibetan Buddhism and the West. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  28. Ma Jian 马建. 1987. “Guan Ding” 灌顶 [The Final Initiation]. Renmin Wenxue 1–2: 112–16.
  29. Macdonald, David. 1932. Twenty Years in Tibet. London: Seeley, Service.
  30. Maraini, Fosco. 1998. Segreto Tibet. Milano: Corbaccio.
  31. McGinn, Colin. 2011. The Meaning of Disgust. New York: Oxford University Press.
  32. Meltzer, Donald, and Williams Meg H. 2008. The Apprehension of Beauty: The Role of Aesthetic Conflict in Development, Art and Violence. London: Karnac The Harris Meltzer Trust.
  33. Miller, William I. 1997. The Anatomy of Disgust. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  34. Rojas, Carlos. 2013. “Danger in the Voice: Alai and the Sinophone.” In Sinophone Studies: A Critical Reader, edited by Shumei Shih, Chien-hsin Tsai, and Brian Bernards, 296–303. New York: Columbia University Press.
  35. Rozin, P. Haidt, J. and McCauley C. 1999. “Disgust: The Body and Soul Emotion.” In Handbook of Cognition and Emotion, edited by Tim Dalgleish and Mick Power, 429-45. New York: Wiley.
  36. Rozin, P. Nemeroff, C. Wane, M., and Sherrod, A. 1989. “Operation of the Sympathetic Magical Law of Contagion in Interpersonal Attitudes among Americans.” Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society 27(4): 367–379.
  37. Rozin, Paul, and Fallon April. 1987. “Perspective on Disgust.” Psychological Review 94(1): 23–41. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.94.1.23
  38. Sullivan, Lawrence R., and Nancy Y. Liu-Sullivan. 2021. Historical Dictionary of Chinese Culture. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
  39. Tybur, J. Lieberman, D. and Griskevicius, V. 2009. “Microbes, Mating, and Morality: Individual Differences in Three Functional Domains of Disgust.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 97 (1):103-22. DOI: 10.1037/a0015474
  40. Waddell, Laurance A. 1929. Lhasa and Its Mysteries: With a Record of the Expedition of 1903-1904. London: Methuen.
  41. Wang, Yiyan. 2013. “The Politics of Representing Tibet: Alai's Tibetan Native-Place Stories.” Modern Chinese Literature and Culture 25, 1: 96–130.
  42. Wen Mengyu 温梦煜. 2012. “Zangzu shiyu guibi de chengyin yu yanbian” 藏族食鱼规避的成因与演变 [The Causes of Tibetan Fish Avoidance and Its Changes]. M.A. thesis, Lanzhou: Lanzhou daxue.
  43. Wylie, Turrell. 1964. “Mortuary Customs at Sa-Skya, Tibet.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 25: 229–42.
  44. Yasuda, Rijin. 2011. “A Name but Not a Name Alone.” Tr. Paul Watt. In Cultivating Spirituality: A Modern Shin Buddhist Anthology, edited by Blum, Mark Laurence, and Robert F Rhodes, 239-65. Albany: State University of New York Press.
  45. Yeh, Emily T. 2013. Taming Tibet: Landscape Transformation and the Gift of Chinese Development. Columbia University. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
  46. Yong Zhong 拥中. 2015. “Sanjie shenling guannian xia de zangzu jinji shiyu xianxiang” 三界神灵观念下的藏族禁忌食鱼现象 [The Tibetan Taboo Phenomenon of Eating Fish under the Concept of the Three Realms of Gods]. Zhongguo minzu bao, (April 14).
  47. Yue, Gang. 2008. “As the Dust Settles in Shangri-La: Alai’s Tibet in the Era of Sino-Globalization.” Journal of Contemporary China 17 (56): 543–63. DOI: 10.1080/10670560802000324
  48. Zhuang, Kongshao. 2002. “The Development of Ethnic Cuisine in Beijing: On the Xinjiang Road.” In The Globalization of Chinese Food, edited by Wu, David Y. H, and Sidney C. H Cheung, 69–85. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press,
  49. Zivkovic, Tanya. 2014. Death and Reincarnation in Tibetan Buddhism: In-Between Bodies. London: Routledge.
PDF
  • Publication Year: 2021
  • Pages: 111-125
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2021 Author(s)

XML
  • Publication Year: 2021
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2021 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

Negotiating with the tradition: representations of fish in Alai’s fictional writing

Authors

Mario De Grandis, Filippo Costantini

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/978-88-5518-506-6.11

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2021

Copyright Information

© 2021 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

Food issues 食事

Book Subtitle

Interdisciplinary Studies on Food in Modern and Contemporary East Asia

Editors

Miriam Castorina, Diego Cucinelli

Peer Reviewed

Number of Pages

202

Publication Year

2021

Copyright Information

© 2021 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/978-88-5518-506-6

ISBN Print

978-88-5518-505-9

eISBN (pdf)

978-88-5518-506-6

eISBN (epub)

978-88-5518-507-3

Series Title

Studi e saggi

Series ISSN

2704-6478

Series E-ISSN

2704-5919

309

Fulltext
downloads

225

Views

Export Citation

1,341

Open Access Books

in the Catalogue

2,191

Book Chapters

3,790,127

Fulltext
downloads

4,399

Authors

from 923 Research Institutions

of 65 Nations

64

scientific boards

from 348 Research Institutions

of 43 Nations

1,247

Referees

from 380 Research Institutions

of 38 Nations