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Self-Immolation as a Rhetorical Social Protest with Special Reference to Self Immolation of Tibet
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation (Electronic Copy Not Available)
Keywords
Self-immolation--China--Tibet Autonomous Region; Protest movements--China--Tibet Autonomous Region; Tibet Autonomous Region (China)--Social conditions;
Abstract
Being a Tibetan refugee, self-immolation has long been a vital act that helped me understand and remember the existence of human genocide against the Tibetan in China. This essay analyzes self- immolation as a rhetorical act of social protest in the context of the Tibetan struggle against the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In particular, I analyze Jamphel Yeshi’s self-immolation in 2012. Approaching self-immolation as a protest enables me to visualize the larger meaning, message, and motives behinds those blazing bodies. Self-immolators seek to let the world know about the inhumane treatment and brutality against Tibetans under the Chinese regime. I explain the rhetorical nature of the corporeal act of self-immolation with reference to some of the more famous examples of self- immolation that inspired change: Thich Quang Duc (1963) and Mohammad Bouazizi (2010). Existing literature supports and justifies the rhetorical study of self-immolation as a protest towards social justice. I emphasized three major aspects of self-immolations:1) it is a self-sacrificial act that 2) functions as an image event that 3) deploys body rhetoric. This paper aims to study why and how self-immolation became one of the major tools of protest in the Tibetan struggle against Communist China.
Start Date
3-4-2018 1:00 PM
End Date
3-4-2018 4:00 PM
Faculty Advisor
Catherine Palczewski
Department
Women's and Gender Studies Program
Copyright
©2018 Tsering Kyi
Embargo Date
3-30-2018
Self-Immolation as a Rhetorical Social Protest with Special Reference to Self Immolation of Tibet
Being a Tibetan refugee, self-immolation has long been a vital act that helped me understand and remember the existence of human genocide against the Tibetan in China. This essay analyzes self- immolation as a rhetorical act of social protest in the context of the Tibetan struggle against the People’s Republic of China (PRC). In particular, I analyze Jamphel Yeshi’s self-immolation in 2012. Approaching self-immolation as a protest enables me to visualize the larger meaning, message, and motives behinds those blazing bodies. Self-immolators seek to let the world know about the inhumane treatment and brutality against Tibetans under the Chinese regime. I explain the rhetorical nature of the corporeal act of self-immolation with reference to some of the more famous examples of self- immolation that inspired change: Thich Quang Duc (1963) and Mohammad Bouazizi (2010). Existing literature supports and justifies the rhetorical study of self-immolation as a protest towards social justice. I emphasized three major aspects of self-immolations:1) it is a self-sacrificial act that 2) functions as an image event that 3) deploys body rhetoric. This paper aims to study why and how self-immolation became one of the major tools of protest in the Tibetan struggle against Communist China.
