This thesis sheds light on the political motivations that lay at the basis of the dogmatic condemnations of Salafi Wahhabis of demonstrations against unjust Muslim rulers as engineered by Ash'aris....Show moreThis thesis sheds light on the political motivations that lay at the basis of the dogmatic condemnations of Salafi Wahhabis of demonstrations against unjust Muslim rulers as engineered by Ash'aris. It consults an enormous number of primary sources on which the selective justification of Salafi Wahhabis base these dogmatic condemnations of their Ash'ari components. As a result, the dogmatic condemnation by Salafi Wahhabis of Ash'aris as innovators due to the latter's justification of demonstrating against the unjust ruler is put in an international political context.Show less
Documentaries have a history of being the mouthpiece of the Chinese government; an important medium to present a good image of the country. The Party knows that at the same time a critical...Show moreDocumentaries have a history of being the mouthpiece of the Chinese government; an important medium to present a good image of the country. The Party knows that at the same time a critical documentary can do harm. Nevertheless, especially economic reasons have made the government less rigid on documentary making—the times that the only documentaries in the country were pure Party propaganda is over. Internet has been another influence that weakened Party control. Crowdfunding gives the crowd the possibility to gather together, share ideas and financially support the creation of products. Although through crowdfunding of documentaries a different voice can be heard, the existence of these websites does of course not mean the disappearance of censorship. Therefore we cannot expect a big shift in the democratic potential of documentaries just because of the better possibilities for active audience participation through crowdfunding. Research on recent prohibited documentaries showed most of the banned documentaries regard suppression by the government of citizen rights: the government wants to prevent an upsurge of social tensions. The fact that the documentaries of the case study that address social issues are allowed to be shown across the country backs this. Crowdfunding in China thus does offer more people the opportunity to voice their opinion through documentaries, also critical opinions, but it does not increase the democratic potential in Chinese documentary art.Show less
An edition of a treatise on the Ten Commandments based on Princeton, University Library, Garrett 143, fols. 1r-22v, one, as yet unpublished, of the twenty-seven versions of treatises on the Ten...Show moreAn edition of a treatise on the Ten Commandments based on Princeton, University Library, Garrett 143, fols. 1r-22v, one, as yet unpublished, of the twenty-seven versions of treatises on the Ten Commandments still extant. The aim of this edition is to offer insight into the many distinctive elements that may be involved in an edition rather than just the philological side to editing.Show less
The Three Kingdoms hero Guan Yu has long been a very interesting subject of study due to his gradual rise from the status of tragic hero to that of deity. Over the course of this image-building...Show moreThe Three Kingdoms hero Guan Yu has long been a very interesting subject of study due to his gradual rise from the status of tragic hero to that of deity. Over the course of this image-building process he has accumulated a number of different titles and functions. This thesis seeks to contrast this image has taken shape through the literary and religious realms in which he played a role.Show less
