Author: Rivkah Zim File Type: epub Boethius wrote The Consolation of Philosophy as a prisoner condemned to death for treason, circumstances that are reflected in the themes and concerns of its evocative poetry and dialogue between the prisoner and his mentor, Lady Philosophy. This classic philosophical statement of late antiquity has had an enduring influence on Western thought. It is also the earliest example of what Rivkah Zim identifies as a distinctive and vitally important medium of literary resistance writing in captivity by prisoners of conscience and persecuted minorities.The Consolations of Writing reveals why the great contributors to this tradition of prison writing are among the most crucial figures in Western literature. Zim pairs writers from different periods and cultural settings, carefully examining the rhetorical strategies they used in captivity, often under the threat of death. She looks at Boethius and Dietrich Bonhoeffer as philosophers and theologians writing in defense of their ideas, and Thomas More and Antonio Gramsci as politicians in dialogue with established concepts of church and state. Different ideas of grace and disgrace occupied John Bunyan and Oscar Wilde in prison Madame Roland and Anne Frank wrote themselves into history in various forms of memoir and Jean Cassou and Irina Ratushinskaya voiced their resistance to totalitarianism through lyric poetry that saved their lives and inspired others. Finally, Primo Levis writing after his release from Auschwitz recalls and decodes the obscenity of systematic genocide and its aftermath.A moving and powerful testament, The Consolations of Writing speaks to some of the most profound questions about life, enriching our understanding of what it is to be human.**

Author: Melvyn C. Goldstein File Type: pdf This is the as-told-to political autobiography of Phuntso Wangye (Phunwang), one of the most important Tibetan revolutionary figures of the twentieth century. Phunwang began his activism in school, where he founded a secret Tibetan Communist Party. He was expelled in 1940, and for the next nine years he worked to organize a guerrilla uprising against the Chinese who controlled his homeland. In 1949, he merged his Tibetan Communist Party with Maos Chinese Communist Party. He played an important role in the partys administrative organization in Lhasa and was the translator for the young Dalai Lama during his famous 1954-55 meetings with Mao Zedong. In the 1950s, Phunwang was the highest-ranking Tibetan official within the Communist Party in Tibet. Though he was fluent in Chinese, comfortable with Chinese culture, and devoted to socialism and the Communist Party, Phunwangs deep commitment to the welfare of Tibetans made him suspect to powerful Han colleagues. In 1958 he was secretly detained three years later, he was imprisoned in solitary confinement in Beijings equivalent of the Bastille for the next eighteen years.Informed by vivid firsthand accounts of the relations between the Dalai Lama, the Nationalist Chinese government, and the Peoples Republic of China, this absorbing chronicle illuminates one of the worlds most tragic and dangerous ethnic conflicts at the same time that it relates the fascinating details of a stormy life spent in the quest for a new Tibet.From BooklistChinas brutal occupation of Tibet and efforts to quash Tibetan Buddhism have caused countless tragedies, engendering compelling tales of activism, valor, and loss. This living biography of Tibetans caught up in the struggle offer unusual insiders perspectives. Few books illuminate the lives of secular Tibetans, making this vibrant biography of a Tibetan revolutionary an invaluable addition to modern Tibetan history. Three scholars (two Americans and one Tibetan) provide a historical context for the wrenching story of Phuntso Wangye, known as Phunwang, which they present in a riveting first-person narrative gleaned from extensive interviews. As a teenager, Phunwang eagerly joined a Chinese-run program designed to train ethnic minorities for government work. A natural-born leader convinced that communism was the key to better lives for Tibets poor, he started a Tibetan Communist Party and earned praise from both the Dalai Lama and Mao. But the Chinese government betrayed him, and he spent 18 years in prison under cruel conditions. Incredibly, Phunwang possessed the resolve to return to politics after his release and has become a highly regarded author. His awe-inspiring story fills many gaps in the history of the relationship between China and Tibet and introduces to a wider world an extraordinary human being. Donna Seaman American Library Association. ltReviewA surprising and necessary book on Phunwang for anyone seeking to understand Tibet. - New York Review of Books Few books illuminate the lives of secular Tibetans, making this vibrant biography of a Tibetan revolutionary an invaluable addition to modern Tibetan history.... [Phunwangs] awe-inspiring story fills many gaps in the history of the relationship between China and Tibet and introduces to a wider world an extraordinary human being. - Booklist It is both an astonishing tale of idealism and courage and an appalling catalogue of bad faith and historical blunder...[an] important book. - Financial Times Presents a significant, if neglected, aspect of Tibetan biographical history. - Shambhala Sunbuddhadharma Taken from many hours of interviews, the narrative flows well, and the translation is highly readable, with helpful explanatory footnotes. - Library Journal