[Buddha-l] "Western Self, Asian Other"

[Katherine Masis]

I have read and have mixed feelings about Thurman's review of Lopez' *Prisoners of Shangri-La*, which I won't go into right now.  But here's an interesting paragraph from it:
 
"During our AAR panel, Lopez told a revealing anecdote, quite apropos
of this irony. He was invited to do a National Public Radio show on
his book. The interviewers told him he should expect a representative of
'the other side' to debate him during the show. He came to the studio,
fully expecting to face a representative of the Chinese perspective. He was
astonished that the producers had invited a representative of the Tibetan
Government In Exile to debate with him. He thought he was on the Tibetan
side and would face opposition from the Chinese; but the producers
thought he was on the Chinese side and that the Tibetans should have
the chance to voice their opposition! This perfectly exemplifies the contradiction
between his intentions and his expressions that I am exposing
in this critique."
 
So that goes to show that there are quite a few of us out there who see some contempt in Lopez' writings.  Still I wonder, why was he astonished?  Did he not see how he came across in his book?
 
Katherine Masis