Lama Jabb

Dr Lama Jabb completed his DPhil on Modern Tibetan Literature and the Inescapable Nation at Oxford in 2003. He is fascinated by the ways in which both the past and living traditions shape contemporary Tibet. He explores the intertextual nature of Tibetan literature by, among other things, examining the complex interplay between the Tibetan literary text and oral traditions. Lama Jabb also has a keen interest in the theory and practice of translation, produces his own original translations, and writes Tibetan poems.

As a JRF, Lama Jabb has been studying the unexplored genre of Tibetan bird stories within its broader cultural framework, focusing particularly on a volume called The Treasury of Intellect: Narrating the Worldly tale of the Winged Ones. During the period of his current Leverhulme Fellowship at Oxford he will investigate the interplay between orality and literacy in the genres of spiritual song, poetry, and essay.