Dhondup Gyal and Nature: Interpreting poetic images of wind and cloud in two Tibetan works

Authors

• Riika Virtanen

Abstract

This article discusses two works by a Tibetan writer from Amdo, Dhondup Gyal
(Don grub rgyal, 1953–1985). The prose poem “Dri bzhon gyi bu mo” (The Girl
of Wind) and the free verse poem “sPrin dkar gyi 'dab ma” (The Petals of White
Clouds) contain nature imagery related to air and sky, namely the wind and the
clouds. The poetic images are examined with the help of the cognitive theory
of metaphor and conceptual blending and attention is paid to their multilayered
nature and different possibilities of interpretation. The nature images in literary
works may be used to convey various kinds of ideas and attitudes relevant to the
people and to cultural discourse. The unique characteristics of literary representations
of natural elements and phenomena become highlighted as contrasted
with the natural elements in the external world.