Home Institution
Middlebury College
Publication Date
Fall 2011
Abstract
This study examines the ways the Sherpa identity has been commoditized for a Western audience, the Sherpa responses to such a process and the repercussions it creates when understanding Sherpa cultural “authenticity.” Located in Kathmandu and the Solukhumbu district of Nepal, the findings were acquired through interviews with various members of the Sherpa community, discourse analysis and observation. This research concludes that the Sherpa community views their cultural commoditization as both a source of discredit and honor, creating difficulty in rationalizing how it both de-authenticates and re-asserts their Sherpa culture.
Disciplines
Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures | Religion | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion | Sociology of Culture
Recommended Citation
Mittelman, Melissa, "Sherpa Inc. The Cultural Commoditization of the Sherpa Identity" (2011). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 1161.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/1161
Included in
Other Languages, Societies, and Cultures Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons
Program Name
Nepal: Development and Social Change