Leiden University Student Repository

Schröder, Wouter (2021)

Deshima Whispers: Information Alteration in Dutch East India Company Records (1718-1731)

Master thesis | History (MA)

This thesis investigates the records of the Dutch Factory in Japan (NFJ) of the Dutch East India Company (VOC) to determine the stability of information that was produced and processed by VOC servants in the early eighteenth century. To accomplish this, the information on a single event was compared using several different VOC genres that played a key role in transferring the news from Japan via Batavia to the Dutch Republic. It led to a surprising result. Rather than undergoing significant changes, the contents initially recorded by servants remained consistent when copied into new VOC genre documents.

Deshima

VOC

Dutch East India Company

Information

Genre

Documents

Author

Schröder, Wouter

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Colonial and Global History (including Maritime History)

Supervisors

Bes, L.P.J.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en