The Cultural Representation and Production of Tibetan Carpets
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CARPET WORLDS: THE CULTURAL REPRESENTATION AND PRODUCTION OF TIBETAN CARPETS by Tracy Ying Zhang B.A., Trent University, 2001 M.A., Dalhouse University, 2002 DISSERTATION SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the School of Communication © Tracy Ying Zhang 2009 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY Fall 2009 All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of the author. Declaration of Partial Copyright Licence The author, whose copyright is declared on the title page of this work, has granted to Simon Fraser University the right to lend this thesis, project or extended essay to users of the Simon Fraser University Library, and to make partial or single copies only for such users or in response to a request from the library of any other university, or other educational institution, on its own behalf or for one of its users. 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Simon Fraser University Library Simon Fraser University Burnaby, BC, Canada Last update: Spring 2010 ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the representational politics of Tibetan carpets and the political economy of carpet production from the early twentieth century to the 2000s. I describe how socio-historical practices and processes formed the conditions from which Tibetan weavers invented their subject positions in socialist and post-socialist Lhasa. B y examining the history of a Tibetan carpet factory, I analyze the interplay of patriarchy, ethnicity, and capital accumulation that has marginalized women weavers in Lhasa’s post-socialist carpet industry. The first three chapters consist of an historical analysis of representations of “Tibetan carpets.” I begin by investigating “Western” ideas of Tibetan carpets and the establishment of a carpet production centre in Nepal. I then explore the making of “Tibetan carpets” as commodities and as cultural symbols under the Tibetan government, the socialist Chinese government, and the post-socialist Chinese government. I argue that the making and marketing of Tibetan carpets directly or indirectly turned Tibetan carpets into internationally-celebrated “ethnic folk art,” thus contributing to the emergence and development of an export carpet industry in Lhasa. The second part of the dissertation is a case study of the history of Tibet’s first carpet factory, Lhasa Carpets, from the 1960s to the 2000s. I discuss the changes in meanings of carpet-weaving, weavers’ social-economic status, working conditions, and labour relations. I describe how weaving prestige carpets started as men’s work in pre- socialist Lhasa, became women’s work in socialist Lhasa, and finally became migrant women’s work in post-socialist Lhasa. I show that pro-market policies and Tibetan patriarchal family structure combine to subject women weavers to exploitative and patriarchal working conditions. Finally, I examine the legacy of socialism and Tibetan Buddhist culture that gave these women the strength to confront the local patriarchy and exploitative labour policies. I conclude by discussing the limitations of women’s collective and individual strategies for social status and economic reward. iii Key Words: patriarchy; gender; ethnicity; work; labour; development; representation; cultural policy; political economy of craft production; arts and crafts; Tibetan carpet iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is the outcome of support, advice, friendship, and hospitality that I have received from many people in Vancouver, Lhasa, and other places. First of all, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to Alison Beale and Jacob Eyferth. Their incisive curiosity and friendship taught me things that I could not learn from books. I a m especially grateful to the wisdom and encouragement of Zhao Yuezhi. I thank friends and teachers who contributed to the completion of this manuscript. I thank my editor Lee Gould for her patience, encouragement, and unfailing support. I thank Okawa Kensaku for sharing his knowledge about Tibetan history and language with me. Also, I am very grateful to Robbie Barnett for his friendship, generosity, and guidance. I would like to acknowledge, with thanks, the administrative support of Denise Vanderwolf and Amy Soo. I want to thank the School of Communication for awarding me a timely scholarship in 2006. I own my deepest debts to the people among whom I lived in Lhasa, whose names I have withheld. I am extremely grateful to my partner, Kevin Gould, who sustained me with his love, humor, and intellectual acumen. To my mother and father, as their only child, I want to express my most sincere gratitude for their unconditional love and continued support. v TAB LE OF CONTENTS Approval ............................................................................................................................ ii Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................v Table of Contents ............................................................................................................. vi List of Illustrations ........................................................................................................... ix A Note on Transliteration .................................................................................................x Introduction: Carpet Worlds ............................................................................................1 The Politics of Value ........................................................................................................4 Feminist Methodology and Political Economy ................................................................6 Putting “Self” in the Field ................................................................................................9 Making a Life in Lhasa...............................................................................................11 Methods and Research Process ..................................................................................13 A Guide for the Reader...............................................................................................15 Oriental Rugs, Spiritual Technology, Ethnic Folk Art ................................................19 The Imperial Trade .........................................................................................................20 The British-Tibet Affair: International Politics, Trade, and Information ...................20 Scholars, Spies, and Imperial Officers .......................................................................23 Discovering Carpets ...................................................................................................25 Carpets of Empire .......................................................................................................27