Tibetan Written Images

The purpose of this study is to discuss the images in the literary works of Dhondup Gyal (1953‒1985). This Tibetan writer from Amdo played a significant role in the beginning stage of modern Tibetan literature in the 1980s and he is regarded as the founder of modern Tibetan literature. Rich imagery is characteristic to Dhondup Gyal's writings and there is a real wealth of imagery both in his poems and prose. A special feature of Gyal's style of writing is that he wrote using many styles: part of his poetry uses more traditional structural and metric forms and part of it is written in modern free verse. Nature imagery is especially prominent and his writings contain images of flowers and plants, animals, water, wind and clouds, the heavenly bodies and other environmental elements.