ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with three important aspects related to the representation of Tibet and the Tibetans. First, Tibet has been denied coevality for a long time in the Western imagination. In cultural representations, it is usually pushed back in time and stereotyped as a space of the backward and the uncivilised. This aspect has been dealt with in the first section of the chapter. Secondly, the chapter argues that the activities of the Tibetan transnational communities and dissemination of news and information about Tibet have created a greater understanding of the place. Many of the Tibetans in the diaspora are now acculturated and they have been working in proximity with the citizens of the Western countries. This has dispelled many of the misconceptions about the community. Finally, it also analyses how Tibetan communities scattered all over the globe have been in touch with one another through technological media. This creates a sense of oneness and leads to the consolidation of a pan-Tibetan identity. Dalai Lama and Central Tibetan Administration are instrumental in establishing this pan-Tibetan identity. Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan Anglophone literature too, in addition to the Tibetan transnational activities, play a key role in this respect.
