Remediating Uncle Tonpa: The lives of a Tibetan Trickster in the People’s Republic of China

In recent years, remediation—appropriating the techniques, forms, and social significance of other cultural forms in a new medium (Bolter and Grusin 68)—has provided indigenous and minority cultural producers around the world with a valuable way to connect traditional knowledge with emerging art forms. Narratives about tricksters in particular have figured prominently in this process, as they seem to simultaneously entertain their audiences and speak to the marginal conditions that many indigenous communities currently experience. One such figure is the Tibetan trickster Uncle Tonpa. Uncle Tonpa impregnates nuns and makes fools of nobles. He swindles the wealthy and gives to the poor. For the majority of Tibetan history, narratives about Uncle Tonpa’s exploits have circulated among Tibetan communities primarily in oral form. In recent years, however, tales about the Tibetan cultural hero have found new life in emerging media portrayals. During the Maoist period, Uncle Tonpa was drafted into the service of the Communist Party, which saw tales of the trickster’s egalitarian economic ethos as proof of a nascent Tibetan class-consciousness. However, since the 1980s, Uncle Tonpa has inspired authors and budding filmmakers in China’s constrained media climate. This paper examines how the remediation of traditional narratives reveals the trickster’s continued relevance for both governmental and vernacular attempts to influence the ongoing negotiation of Tibetan regional and ethnic identities in China.