Title The legacy of the hippie trail in nepal: a memory studies perspective /
Translation of Title Hippie Trail palikimas Nepale: atminties studijų perspektyva.
Authors Tavaras, Linas
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Pages 80
Keywords [eng] Nepal, memory studies, postcolonial discourse, Hippie Trail, life histories, ethnography
Abstract [eng] The paper examines the object of memory processes of the Hippie Trail in Nepal from the beginning of the phenomenon at the opening of the country in the 1950s to the present, focusing on the perspective of local residents. The complex phenomenon of the Hippie Trail depicts the migration of representatives of Western countercultures to Asian countries among which Nepal became one of the main destinations of the Trail. Thus, the paper aims to analyse how the Hippie Trail developed and from various counterculture movements as well as what memory it left among Nepali people. Additionally, it aims to investigate the phenomenon manifestations through its symbolism in contemporary Nepal. The study uses an interdisciplinary, complex methodology, which includes qualitative methods, such as: detailed life history-type interviews and (non-)visual ethnographic material analysis. A wide range of theories of memory studies and the dimension of post-colonial studies become main theoretical approaches of the research. The analysis traced the complex Easternisation of the hippie counterculture that paradoxically became the main Westernisation carrier in Nepal during the Hippie Trail. It also showed that in nowadays Nepal the Hippie Trail symbols manifests through two main currents: commercial and political reproduction of memories. The paper could be useful for analysing the impact of Hippie Trail in Nepal through memory and postcolonial perspectives as well as to studying the oral histories of both senior and younger generation of Nepali people. Moreover, study touches gender issues of the Hippie Trail that could be developed in more extensive research in gender studies field.
Dissertation Institution Vilniaus universitetas.
Type Master thesis
Language English
Publication date 2024