Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
In this thesis, I focus the issue of alienation and estrangement of identity in the situation of Japan's cultural confrontation with the West, as (re)presented in the works of contemporary Japanese...Show moreIn this thesis, I focus the issue of alienation and estrangement of identity in the situation of Japan's cultural confrontation with the West, as (re)presented in the works of contemporary Japanese literature, from a postcolonial perspective. I refer to Frantz Fanon's theoretical narrative of the psychological alienation of (former) colonial subjects to construct my analytical framework, to examine the works of Fukuzawa Yukichi, Tawada Yōko and Mizumura Minae. In the case of Fukuzawa, one of the leading intellectuals in Meiji Japan, I unfold the complexity of local intellectual response to the invasion of Western civilization, to offer an overview of the historical background. In the case of Tawada and Mizumura, two distinctive figures in contemporary Japanese literature characterized by their transcultural writing that transgresses conventionally defined boundaries, I examine the theme of alienation and the distortion of identity in a situation where a Japanese is placed in confrontation with the overwhelming force of Western culture, as presented in their works.In my analysis, I hope reveal the resemblance between the situation that the authors in question deal with and the experience of the black population as is portrayed in Fanon's text, which hopefully would draw attention to the complicated picture of (post)colonial experience in Japan.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis analyses the legitimation strategies of the Chinese authorities on social media platform Sina Weibo during the COVID-19 epidemic. Through a combination of computational and qualitative...Show moreThis thesis analyses the legitimation strategies of the Chinese authorities on social media platform Sina Weibo during the COVID-19 epidemic. Through a combination of computational and qualitative methods, it first highlights how Weibo’s digital design directly benefits central information control objectives. It then builds upon a theoretical model of disaster legitimacy strategies to demonstrate how official media make use of this design in their legitimation strategies. These strategies include age-old and highly familiar nationalistic frames, a recurring emphasis on positive energy, and strategic engagement and disengagement. This combination not only legitimises the authorities’ actions, but also delegitimises critical discourses. Nonetheless, this power is not absolute, and this thesis also presents instances in which actors “within” the system present challenges for the central authorities and force them to manage and re-frame ambiguous discourses.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis assesses several 13th- and 14th-century Chinese and Tibetan histories which detail the Mongol conquests of these regions, scanning their contents and form for subjective views by their...Show moreThis thesis assesses several 13th- and 14th-century Chinese and Tibetan histories which detail the Mongol conquests of these regions, scanning their contents and form for subjective views by their respective authors. It finds that Tibetan historians, for several reasons, do not detail fighting or military expeditions in Tibet itself. Chinese authors, on the other hand, use their writing about the Mongols for several historic apologetics, as well as pejorative remarks against the Mongols themselves or other peoples, such as the Jurchen. In all, this topic remains vastly understudied and requires the attention of more scholars.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
On the 17th of April 2019, Indonesia held the general elections. The President Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) won 55,5% of the vote, beating the former general Prabowo Subianto representing Gerindra Party...Show moreOn the 17th of April 2019, Indonesia held the general elections. The President Joko Widodo (“Jokowi”) won 55,5% of the vote, beating the former general Prabowo Subianto representing Gerindra Party for the second time, the first in 2014. Less than two weeks after the victory, the re-elected President announced its intention to relocate the nation's capital from Jakarta, located in Java island, to a greenfield site on the island of Kalimantan. In this thesis, I use Twitter communication emanating from the Indonesian Ministry of National Development Planning and the office of the President to dissect the official rationale for this historic initiative and to investigate on the political and ideological discourse surrounding it. What is the Indonesian government trying to achieve through this project? What ideals and political priorities does it reflect? Is there consistency in the official discourse? My analysis is both quantitative and qualitative; it is quantitative because I used large numbers of tweets to measure the frequency which a variety of terms is used to describe both the desirable characteristics of the new capital, and the undesirable aspects of the old one. It is partly qualitative because I investigated and critically reflected on the results found on Twitter to understand better the motifs behind the decision of moving the capital, and be able to answer my research questions. The results show that Jakarta has been abandoned because it does not represent the Indonesian aspirations of modernity, reflected on the smart, sustainable and green imaginaries that the new capital will promote. Indeed, the tweet analysis revealed that these three elements are the most desirable features for the new capital of Indonesia and are the emblem of the type of modernity and progress that the Indonesian government is aspiring to. This is confirmed by the fact that the mentions to smart, green and sustainable are not clear nor justified. These terms appear to be used as buzzwords, almost as if it they were interchangeable. In conclusion, I argue that these features are all instrumental for expressing modernity and progress (Maju). This is the real objective of the government. “The city of dreams”, as I renamed it, imagines a flawless and perfect city, symbol of the progress of the whole country; the truth is that it is only a symbol, and the country will not progress in smartness, greenness, sustainability and equality if not through real policies and measures that tackle the local problems. Besides these attributes, the government claimed that the new capital would bring to more regional equality and economic growth. In this regard, the Indonesian government has also tweeted about Brasilia and its similarities with the new Indonesian capital, praising the design and the outcome of the project; like Brasilia, the new capital is seen as a means to cope with ongoing economic imbalance among the different regions of Indonesia. Although regional equality is, of course, an issue that the government needs to tackle, the increase of GDP outside Java will not benefit the whole population unless there is a real will to tackle inequality not only geographically but also across income groups. Besides, it is essential to remember that the gap between the rich and the poor in Jakarta is substantial and moving the capital will not represent a solution to this problem. Furthermore, the comparison with Brasilia was fundamental to notice a crucial vii paradox in the project of Ibu Kota Baru: by promoting a modern and futuristic capital, Ibu Kota Baru implicitly indicates a refusal of existing conditions of Indonesia, just as like Brasilia did. To conclude, it is important to mention that this thesis is about ideology. In essence, it does not seek to analyse the hidden personal interests and oligarchic business strategies on the project of the capital, although this has been briefly pointed out. The ultimate aim is to dissect the official rhetoric and rationale that surround this project to find the political ideals and desirable features that the project reflects, and inconsistencies in the discourse.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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The term Manchu has always been a complex one. The Daiqing khans already struggled to define the Manchu community. After a century of silence, the Manchus are slowly crawling from under their...Show moreThe term Manchu has always been a complex one. The Daiqing khans already struggled to define the Manchu community. After a century of silence, the Manchus are slowly crawling from under their shells to form a new Manchu community in the contemporary world. By taking into consideration theoretical frameworks of imagined communities and transculturality, this thesis aims to define the cultural aspect(s) that help the Manchus imagine their community. It looks at different potential aspects and evaluates whether those are integrated within the social spaces (public, private, educational, occupational and virtual) of the Manchus.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis compares the texts of Vietnamese national history written in the colonial period by two competing reformist intellectuals Phan Bội Châu and Hoàng Cao Khải. Exposed to the currents of...Show moreThis thesis compares the texts of Vietnamese national history written in the colonial period by two competing reformist intellectuals Phan Bội Châu and Hoàng Cao Khải. Exposed to the currents of thought such as Social Darwinism and the theory of evolution in early twentieth century Asia, both of them realised the backwardness of Vietnam and stressed the necessity of reform. However, Phan decided to fight against the French while Hoàng chose to collaborate with them. As will be shown in this thesis, both Phan and Hoàng, despite the difference of their political stances, endeavoured to justify their respective propositions by constructing the historic past of Vietnam. As two reformist intellectuals, Phan Bội Châu and Hoàng Cao Khải regarded the introduction of Western civilisation in late nineteenth century Asia as a key moment for the Vietnamese people to get rid of their backward conditions and evolve into a civilised nation. However, they shared different opinions about the nature of this transition of Vietnam. Phan Bội Châu was inclined to view the French invasion as a “Messianic” moment which marked the “rupture” between the past and present in Vietnamese history. In his historiography, Vietnamese society in the past centuries was inherently barbarous, and this barbarousness led to the current backwardness of the country. Meanwhile, Phan Bội Châu, as an anti-French activist, emphasised that the salvation of the Vietnamese nation should never rely upon the assistance of France. He insisted that albeit France was a civilised state, it played an anti-progressive role in the process of Vietnam’s modernisation. Therefore, resisting against the French colonisation naturally became the most important step in the national salvation and rejuvenation. To justify his anti-French proposition, Phan constructed a genealogy of national heroes who, out of their inherent “anti-foreign nature”, participated in the resistance against China’s invasions in the previous millennia. Meanwhile, he included the present anti-French revolution into the glorious anti-foreign tradition of the Vietnamese nation. Hoàng Cao Khải systematically refuted Phan in Việt sử kính and Việt sử yếu. Based on the theory of the transition of models of civilisation, however, Hoàng Cao Khải argued that it was not the inherent barbarousness of the Vietnamese people but the decay of the model of civilisation that Vietnam followed in previous times that resulted in the inferior status of Vietnam in the current international competition. In Hoàng’s narrative, the history of Vietnam is depicted as a gradual and consistent process towards civilisation, in which China, because of its superiority in competition, functioned as the first model for Vietnam to follow and eventually made the later a domain of civilisation. Considering the power of France which had been demonstrated in its recent competitions with Vietnam, Hoàng suggested that France had already replaced China as the new model of civilisation for Vietnam to follow. In the face of Phan Bội Châu’s emphasis on the anti-foreignness of the Vietnamese nation, Hoàng employed the analytical framework of the dichotomy between “universal principle” and “brute force” to analyse those uprisings against the China’s colonisation and argued that most of them were merely contingent responses to inappropriate policies based on the “brute force”. Moreover, by utilising the ideas of Social Darwinism to reinterpret the connotation of “universal principle”, Hoàng justifies the behaviour which employed “brute force” in the process of disseminating so-called “universal principle” and civilisation. Apart from their interpretation of the past, this thesis examines their imagination of the future as well. Based on their discussions about the issue of Champa, it points out the shared “pro-imperial” orientation of Phan and Hoàng in their opinions on the international status of Vietnam after modernisation. That is, neither Phan (despite his anti-colonialist stance) nor Hoàngrealised the underlying nature of the phenomenon of colonialism itself let alone intending to challenge or subvert the current colonial order. The world they envisioned in which a decolonised Vietnam situated is still established upon asymmetrical relations of power.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
closed access
With the rapid proliferation of New Confucian studies since the mid 1980s, it has become an unquestioned dogma that one particular event at the beginning of 1958 marks a watershed in the movement’s...Show moreWith the rapid proliferation of New Confucian studies since the mid 1980s, it has become an unquestioned dogma that one particular event at the beginning of 1958 marks a watershed in the movement’s development. This event is the publication of the Manifesto that Mou Zongsan 牟宗三, Tang Junyi唐君毅, Xu Fuguan 徐復觀, and Zhang Junmai 张君劢 co-signed and published almost simultaneously in the two journals Minzhu pinglun民評論 (Democratic Tribune) and Zaisheng再生(National Renaissance) with the title “为中国文化敬告世界人士宣言─我们对中国学术研究及中国文化与世界文前途之共同认识” (Wei Zhongguo wenhua jinggao shijie renshi xuanyan –women dui Zhongguo xueshu yanjiu ji Zhongguo wenhua yu shijiewen qiantu zhi gongtong renshi; translated in English as “A Manifesto on the Reappraisal of Chinese Culture – our Joint Understanding of the Sinological Study relating to World Cultural Outlook.”). Its main purpose is to benefit Western intellectuals in 'aiding them to appreciate Chinese culture'. In order to do so, the authors employ a strategic terminology, which allows them to build a consistent cross-cultural dialogue between Western and Chinese philosophy by means of an unprecedented discourse on 'Chinese Rationalism' (中国心性之学 Zhongguo xinxing zhi xue). Interestingly, the latter is described by the authors as “the essence of Chinese Culture” and, beside its comparative value, it represents the most comprehensive configuration of Confucianism in the context of 20th century. Academic interest in Chinese Studies and Chinese Philosophy should take into account the articulation of Chinese Rationalism in the Manifesto of 1958 as representing a paradigm of post-comparative dialogue that exemplifies the underlying philosophical continuity beyond consistently different traditions of thought.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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Studies have so far focused on China’s cultural tradition as the country’s soft power resource. However, to make the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative a success, Beijing is required to also have...Show moreStudies have so far focused on China’s cultural tradition as the country’s soft power resource. However, to make the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative a success, Beijing is required to also have an attractive set of political values. This thesis investigates how this need for political soft power translates to the realm of international education, in which the Party-state is pushing for closer cooperation among the countries along the Belt and Road. To this end, official Chinese documents and media reports are studied, with a focus on education initiatives in Kazakhstan. By arguing that soft power behaviour is central to soft power building, this thesis has come to several conclusions. First, Beijing is actively deploying educational cooperation within the Belt and Road Initiative as a means to strengthen its soft power. Second, alongside China’s cultural tradition, political values are relied upon to increase China’s attractiveness, indicating that Beijing attempts to specifically build up its political soft power. Remarkably, these political ideals are primarily related to China’s domestic governance and less to Beijing’s global governance principles.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
In 1997, Yang Yi杨义(b. 1946) published his groundbreaking Chinese Narratology (中国叙事学, 1998), in which he expounded his ideas about a Chinese narratology that developed and manifests itself...Show moreIn 1997, Yang Yi杨义(b. 1946) published his groundbreaking Chinese Narratology (中国叙事学, 1998), in which he expounded his ideas about a Chinese narratology that developed and manifests itself separately from Western narratology. I will take Yang’s narratology framework as a starting point, with a focus on Yang’s understanding of narrative structure, and do a close reading of the novel The Lantern Bearer (带灯, 2013) by Chinese author Jia Pingwa 贾平凹(b. 1952) (the English translation by Carlos Rojas was published in 2017). I do this in order to answer the following research question: How does Yang Yi’s narratological approach of narrative structure compare to a “Western”-narratological approach of narrative structure? In my analysis, for Western narratology, I will focus on Mieke Bal’s (1997) Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. I will argue that Yang’s idea of narrative structure allows for a reading that would not be possible by using only Bal’s theory of narrative structure. As a case study, I will investigate how the narrative structure of Jia Pingwa’s novel The Lantern Bearer relates to narrative structures found in traditional Chinese fiction from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) period.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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Why was the Obama administration unable to lessen strategic distrust and tensions in the Sino-American trade relationship, despite its intent to build a constructive relationship with China under...Show moreWhy was the Obama administration unable to lessen strategic distrust and tensions in the Sino-American trade relationship, despite its intent to build a constructive relationship with China under the Pivot to Asia? The mistake of the administration, according to this academic work, was not the wish to cooperate and engage with China, but the problematic execution of its proclamations as a result of domestic politics. The Obama administration sent confusing and conflicting signals towards the Chinese government: while its official discourse primarily emphasised cooperation and engagement, domestic resistance pushed the policymaking process towards implementation of foreign policy that suggested intentions of containment. The Obama administration seemed unable or unwilling to follow through on its words, leading to a discrepancy between the stated aims and the concrete results of the Pivot to Asia initiative. As a result, the United States failed to convince Chinese sceptics that it genuinely wanted to cooperate, and that it did not have nefarious hegemonic aspirations. Thus, ultimately, the failure to gather domestic support for engagement with China rendered the Obama administration unable to reduce strategic distrust in the Sino-American relationship.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
The thesis analyses grassroots-government interactions in the formation and the development of the dagong 打工 poetry scene of Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. Dagong poetry is a wide...Show moreThe thesis analyses grassroots-government interactions in the formation and the development of the dagong 打工 poetry scene of Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. Dagong poetry is a wide and eclectic literary genre, written by Chinese rural migrant workers, often referred to as Chinese subalterns, who move to the cities to make a living, because of a lack of economic opportunities in the countryside. I use Bourdieu’s theory of the literary field to survey three main types of agents involved the dagong poetry dynamic and its discourse: (1) grassroots activists, (2) party-state-affiliated cultural policy institutions, and (3) intermediaries, meaning various individuals who advance the interactions of (1) and (2), and may be considered as belonging to both groups. By surveying textual sources, including literary journals, websites and public WeChat accounts, and through qualitative interviews with poets, critics, literary scholars and other agents involved in dagong poetry discourse, I provide in depth case studies of some of most important dagong poetry-related persons and organizations in the Delta region dagong poets’ community. The thesis shows that party-state cultural policy institutions play a significant role in formation and development of a literary community that began as a grassroots movement. Their far reaching influence is present in many aspects and is mainly executed through negotiation with grassroots groups, in which a crucial role is played by top-down and bottom-up intermediaries that are very helpful for attracting financial, political and also discursive support for the dagong poets’ community, but also ensure that dagong poetry discourse remains controlled and in line with government’s cultural policy.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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During the final years of the Yuan dynasty, a group of poets gathered in a district near the northern part of Suzhou’s city walls. This group became later known as the “Ten Friends of the North...Show moreDuring the final years of the Yuan dynasty, a group of poets gathered in a district near the northern part of Suzhou’s city walls. This group became later known as the “Ten Friends of the North City Wall” (Beiguo shi you 北郭十友). This thesis analyzes the friendship and social relationships of four of these friends. It challenges the significance of their literary gatherings in the north city wall district, while it focuses on the variety of other locations – estates, gardens, monasteries, scenic and historical sites - where their relationships were acted out. In the Yuan-Ming transition, when civil war and political instability greatly reduced opportunities for distant travel and social networking, these various places in and around Suzhou allowed them to maintain a social network through time and space.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis aims at gaining a deeper understanding of the relation between yoga and death in the early Śaiva tradition of the Pāśupatas, based on two Pāśupata texts: the Pāśupatasūtra and the...Show moreThis thesis aims at gaining a deeper understanding of the relation between yoga and death in the early Śaiva tradition of the Pāśupatas, based on two Pāśupata texts: the Pāśupatasūtra and the Skandapurāṇa. The thesis presents an analysis and interpretation of textual passages that treat the last moment of the life of a Pāśupata ascetic in order to find out whether or not his death can be interpreted as a form of ‘self-induced yogic death’. The inquiries start with introducing the philosophical and religious environment wherein the Pāśupatasūtra and the Skandapurāṇa were written. After that, the relation between yoga and death in upaniṣadic and epic sources is treated, thereby referring to early manifestations of utkrānti (rising upwards, ‘yogic suicide’). The pivot of this thesis is a translation, analysis and discussion of fragments of the Pāśupatasūtra and the Skandapurāṇa. With regards to both texts I discuss the possibility of interpreting the death of a Pāśupata as a self-induced yogic death. This is followed by a conclusion. Following the analysis of the primary sources, it will become clear that yoga and death stood in a much closer relation than one might expect; this thesis claims that the death of a Pāśupata can be interpreted as an early form of self-induced yogic death.Show less
