Darkness and Light: Two Narratives of Political Struggle

This paper compares the Thirteenth Dalai Lama's last testament with the British novel Darkness and the Light in order to help better appreciate the content, context, and significance of both narratives. In 1942 British science fiction author Olaf Stapledon published his novel, Darkness and the Light, which narrates a near-future global political order where forces of "darkness" and "light" vie for power. The side of light begins with an independent Tibet's renaissance, where "Young Lamas" lead a scientific and social revolution that spreads across the globe. Just four years later in 1946 Thirteenth Dalai Lama's "last testament" was published in English. The Dalai Lama narrates his efforts toward securing a sovereign and enlightened Tibetan nation. Bound by time, these two texts vividly depict the value of Tibetan voices, both real and imagined, for readerships in a period of world war as they grappled with human suffering and flourishing.