Letter from Mongolia 30: Writing Cultural Difference

This article explores footnoting as a reflective approach to ethnographic writing.

Plate note: Writing Cultural Difference. C.Pleteshner for CPinMongolia. 21 August 2026

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WRITING CULTURAL DIFFERENCE

The following text-based explication¹ is presented using an academic style of writing referred to documentary footnoting or critical annotation. I was first drawn to this way of presenting a dense complex of ideas in 2003 whilst researching the use of computers by Australian doctors for the Australian Government. However, it turns out that this style of writing is also common in ethnographic, philological² and historical scholarship, where, in each of these situated contexts, footnotes are treated as a parallel discourse, sometimes nearly as detailed as the main body of the text.

This approach is not merely supplementary; it provides contextual depth, linguistic clarification, and source transparency, while engaging the reader in both intertextual and, for the CP in Mongolia project, intercultural reflection.

In cross-cultural discourse, especially where indigenous knowledge systems³ intersect with academic frameworks, extensive footnoting becomes a crucial scholarly practice. The footnote allows scholars to preserve conceptual nuance and maintain the integrity of non-Western epistemologies, without overburdening the main narrative. For instance, when translating Mongolian Buddhist texts, I have read that authors often grapple with terms like tömör zaya⁴ or ülemj setgel⁵, which have no precise equivalents in English.

The footnote here functions as a mini-commentary, offering readers both linguistic context and cosmological reference (Bareja-Starzyńska, 2020, pp. 118–120; Pedersen, 2011, pp. 64–66). Without such detail, subtle dimensions of meaning are easily flattened or distorted.

In Mongolian ethnographic studies, scholars have demonstrated the value of this method in research on Mongolian sacred art, footnotes detail not only iconographic symbolism but also oral traditions that inform visual interpretation (see Tsultemin, 2021, pp. 97–100). Similarly, fieldwork in Inner Asia includes footnotes unpacking ritual terms, local idioms, and social dynamics that may otherwise seem opaque or exoticised to outside readers (see Humphrey, 2012, pp. 144–149).

This concise article (see above) has considered documentary footnoting as a reflective approach to ethnographic writing, while also using the technique it describes (see below). More than supplementary detail, footnotes can create space for cultural and linguistic nuance, careful interpretation, and respectful engagement with non-Western knowledge systems.

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Treating the footnote as a dialogic space, is an invitation

to engage ethically and attentively with cultural difference,

rather than to passively receive and observe.

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FOOTNOTES

1
Explication is the close, often line-by-line explanation of a text or concept, especially in literary and religious studies. ↩︎
2
Philology is the study of historical texts through close analysis of language, meaning, and transmission across time. ↩︎
3
Indigenous knowledge systems are holistic, locally rooted frameworks of understanding developed by communities through generations of lived experience, cultural practice, and relationship with the land. ↩︎
4
The Mongolian term tömör zaya (төмөр заяа) is commonly translated literally as “iron destiny” or “iron fate.” It expresses the idea of a firm, unchangeable destiny; something strong, enduring, and possibly preordained. It is used to describe a life path or karmic outcome that is resolute or inescapable, often with both awe and resignation (Chudetskaia, 2021, pp. 129–130; Bareja-Starzyńska, 2020, p. 116). In Mongolian Buddhist and folk cosmology, zaya reflects the Buddhist concept of karma (cause and effect across lifetimes), blended with local ideas of heavenly decree or fortune (Pedersen, 2011, pp. 70–72). When someone is said to have a tömör zaya, it may mean they are fated for spiritual greatness, hardship, or a particular calling, such as religious life; and that nothing can deter that course. In poetic or oral usage, the phrase can carry mystical or emotional weight, sometimes conveying inevitability or even burden (Bawden, 2019, pp. 242–243). ↩︎
5
The Mongolian phrase ülemj setgel (үлэмж сэтгэл) can be translated as “profound mind,” “sublime thought,” or “exalted intention,” depending on context. It conveys the notion of a noble or elevated mental state, one that is emotionally expansive, spiritually refined, or deeply compassionate (Bareja-Starzyńska, 2020, pp. 132–133). In Buddhist-Mongolian textual and poetic traditions; ülemj setgel frequently appears in references to: (i) vajrayāna aspiration; the vast mind of a bodhisattva committed to liberating all beings; (ii) devotional states, expressions of intense reverence, faith, or spiritual yearning; and (iii) aesthetic elevation, especially in classical poetry, where it captures the inner response to the sacred, the teacher, or the Dharma (Elverskog, 2021, pp. 97–98; Tserenpil & Kullmann, 2005, p. 211). This term may also connote the limitless mind (apramāṇa-citta) associated with loving-kindness (mettā) or bodhicitta; the awakened mind intent on enlightenment for the benefit of others (Dunne, 2004, pp. 178–179). In the famous Mongolian poem “Ülemj ikh” (“The Most Excellent”), attributed to the 19th-century poet and monk Danzanravjaa (see below), the phrase is used to evoke a heightened emotional and spiritual state, praising either the beloved or the sacred, and blending Buddhist devotional intensity with literary refinement (Bawden, 2019, pp. 201–203; Bareja-Starzyńska, 2020, p. 134). Danzanravjaa (1803–1856), a revered poet, playwright, and lama of the Gobi region, is celebrated for blending Buddhist thought, social critique, and aesthetic philosophy in his literary works. His poetry often transforms the vast Gobi landscape into a symbolic space for meditative insight, impermanence, and spiritual longing, using natural imagery to reflect inner states (Sodnom, 1981, pp. 45–48; Tudev, 2003, pp. 22–26). Academic scholarship by Mongolian researchers has emphasised his role in elevating Gobi culture through verse that fuses tantric poetics with local oral traditions (Gombojav, 2015, pp. 113–117; Mönkhbat, 2019, pp. 141–144). His famous poems such as “The Limitless Praise” (Ülemj ikh) reveal how the Gobi is not merely a setting but a metaphysical landscape of devotion and philosophical reflection (Gombojav, 2015, p. 115). ↩︎

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FURTHER READING

In terms of “epistemology,” Landscape 08: Women and re-place-ing Mongolian Buddhism introduces the “Three Modes of Contribution” framework, a specialised qualitative tool chosen to map how Mongolian women have revitalised spiritual traditions. Although published in 2019, it still illuminates the “strategically-situated ethnography” I use today.

Landscape 09: Modes of Contribution introduces a tool for mapping cultural and social contributions within Khalkha Mongol society. It explains how to navigate the “messy ethnography” of fieldwork to create a structured “ontological positioning.”

Refer to Mongolian Poetry 21: From the Landscape of the Mind, I Seek You as a primary example of my approach to “translation practice.”

See Letter from Mongolia 13: Setgel in Translation for another “research methodology” article. It explores “situated interpretation” and the challenges of multilingual ethnography, specifically how to translate the complex Mongolian concept of setgel. It demonstrates how a researcher can be more like “a keeper of passage” than simply a translator.

Intermedia 04: The Wish to Make One’s Way Towards a Distant Enlightenment represents the multimodal/intermedia methodology and approach I have adopted for this online research archive. The framework is “deliberately interdisciplinary,” and the Intermedia series demonstrates how it is possible to integrate visual and sonic practice into academic research to capture “expressive worlds” that text alone cannot reach.

Artscape 07: During the socialist times (2018) is an early piece of my post-Soviet art history research. It exemplifies one method of interpreting visual representations to navigate the complex history of Mongolian graphic art and social realism, providing a historical context for “Writing Cultural Difference.”

Refer to the “ABOUT” page of CPinMongolia for the context and situated core to my ethnographic methodology.

See OTHER STUDIES: Professional and Scholarly Practices for an explanation of my methodology. It bridges my past professional expertise in the Australian Higher Education and Government sectors with my Mongolian fieldwork. It also details the scholarly approaches and specialised skills, such as qualitative analysis and interdisciplinary translation, brought to the project.

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REFERENCES

Bareja-Starzyńska, A. (2020). Poetics of Devotion in Mongolian Buddhist Literature. University of Warsaw Press. p.116, pp. 118–120, pp.132-134

Bawden, C. R. (2019). Modern Mongolian Literature in the Twentieth Century. Routledge. Pp.201-203, pp. 242–243

Chudetskaia, T. (2021). “Reviving Female Monasticism in Mongolia: Authority, Gender, and Transmission.” In M. Jonutytė & A. Bareja-Starzyńska (Eds.), Women in Mongolian Buddhism: Historical Perspectives and Contemporary Developments (pp. 125–140). Harrassowitz Verlag. pp. 129–130

Dreyfus, G. B. J. (2003). “Is There Such a Thing as Buddhist Philosophy?” Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, 26(2), 165–182.

Dunne, J. D. (2004). Foundations of Dharmakīrti’s Philosophy. Wisdom Publications. pp. 178–179

Elverskog, J. (2021). The Buddha’s Footprint: An Environmental History of Asia. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 97–98

Gombojav, D. (2015). Danzanravjaa’s Poetic Cosmos: Tantric Imagery in the Gobi Tradition. Ulaanbaatar: Institute of Literature and Art. pp. 113–117

Humphrey, C. (2012). Ritual and Economy in Inner Asia: Thirty Years of Fieldwork. NIAS Press. pp. 144–149

Mönkhbat, B. (2019). The Literary Voice of the Desert: A Study of Gobi Imagery in Danzanravjaa’s Verse. Mongolian Academy of Sciences Press. pp. 141–144

Pedersen, M. A. (2011). Not Quite Shamans: Spirit Worlds and Political Lives in Northern Mongolia. Cornell University Press. pp. 64–66, pp. 70-72

Sodnom, B. (1981). Selected Works of Danzanravjaa: Literary Analysis and Historical Context. Ulaanbaatar: State Publishing. pp. 45–48

Tserenpil, D. & Kullmann, R. (2005). Mongolian-English Dictionary. Routledge. p. 211Tsultemin, U. (2021). A Monastery on the Move: Art and Politics in Later Buddhist Mongolia. University of Hawai‘i Press. pp. 97–100

Tillemans, T. J. F. (2011). Scripture, Logic, Language: Essays on Dharmakīrti and His Tibetan Successors. Wisdom Publications.

Tudev, S. (2003). Mystic and Critic: The Literary Legacy of Danzanravjaa. Ulaanbaatar: Mongolian Writers’ Union Press. pp. 22–26

End of transcript.

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