Despite the fact that China is well-known for its lengthy literary history, children’s literature is a relatively young concept which was only introduced in the 20th century – much later than in...Show moreDespite the fact that China is well-known for its lengthy literary history, children’s literature is a relatively young concept which was only introduced in the 20th century – much later than in most Western countries. However, in this short period of time, children’s literature has been able to flourish in China and has become an indispensable part of its enormous publishing market today. In this thesis, the current Chinese children’s literature market is explored in depth by not only looking at existing written sources, but also by conducting fieldwork in four bookstores in Beijing. This fieldwork can be divided into three separate categories, namely mapping of the bookstores, observing its products and costumers, and interviewing 42 Chinese parents. By analyzing how the Chinese children’s literature market as portrayed in written sources is reflected in these bookstores, this research has shown that the children’s literature market is indeed a booming business, but it has also shed light on other aspects of the market, such as the fact that there are still very serious problems that need to be solved in order to guarantee the ongoing success of children’s literature in China.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Nederlandse taal en cultuur (BA)
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In deze scriptie is onderzoek gedaan naar de beeldvorming rond Kenau Simonsz. Hasselaar in de negentiende eeuw. Hierbij wordt aandacht besteed aan de maatschappelijke opvattingen en de culturele...Show moreIn deze scriptie is onderzoek gedaan naar de beeldvorming rond Kenau Simonsz. Hasselaar in de negentiende eeuw. Hierbij wordt aandacht besteed aan de maatschappelijke opvattingen en de culturele veranderingen die in de negentiende eeuw aanwezig waren.Show less
Deze scriptie onderzoekt de constructie van autoriteit in krantenberichten en online forumdiscussies over de risico’s en gevaren van xtc-gebruik. Het corpus bestaat uit zowel regionale als...Show moreDeze scriptie onderzoekt de constructie van autoriteit in krantenberichten en online forumdiscussies over de risico’s en gevaren van xtc-gebruik. Het corpus bestaat uit zowel regionale als landelijke krantenartikelen en discussies van de forums Scholieren.com en Drugsforum.info die gaan over xtc-gebruik. Aan de hand van teksteigenschappen als referentiële strategieën, transiviteit en ethostechnieken, is onderzocht hoe autoriteit in het xtc-discours wordt geconstrueerd. Deze bevindingen zijn vervolgens gekoppeld aan theorieën over het vernaculaire web, ideologie en de risicomaatschappij. Uit de discoursanalyse blijkt dat het vernaculaire en institutionele discours twee aparte werelden zijn die vanuit een andere optiek naar de risico’s en gevaren van xtc-gebruik kijken. In het vernaculaire discours heerst de ideologie dat xtc-gebruik acceptabel is, zolang iemand maar op de hoogte is van de risico’s en gevaren en verantwoord gebruikt. De discussiedeelnemers praten over risico’s op individueel niveau en doen dit aan de hand van hun eigen ervaring; ze hebben geen deskundigen nodig. In het vernaculaire discours is er geen sprake van een xtc-probleem; daar gaat het over verantwoord en plezierig xtc gebruiken. In het institutionele discours wordt xtc-gebruik vooral gezien als maatschappelijk probleem en zijn het deskundigen die iets over de kwestie mogen zeggen en autoriteit krijgen. Er is weinig aandacht voor informele verhalen en als er een xtc-gebruiker aan het woord komt, wordt hij veelal overschaduwd door een expert.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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Het archetype van de superheld wordt in publicaties over dit onderwerp vaak beschreven aan de hand van Joseph Campbell zijn theorie over de klassieke held en de monomythe. De verscheidene vormen...Show moreHet archetype van de superheld wordt in publicaties over dit onderwerp vaak beschreven aan de hand van Joseph Campbell zijn theorie over de klassieke held en de monomythe. De verscheidene vormen waarin een superheld kan voorkomen wordt door deze theorie niet erkend. In mijn scriptie heb ik getracht aan te tonen dat dit archetype ook kan afwijken van de karakteristieken die het zijn toegekend en gekeken of de titel superheld dan nog van toepassing is of dat de superheld beter antiheld genoemd kan worden.Show less
This thesis follows in the great popularity of first Suzanne Collins’s “Hunger Games” trilogy and later Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” trilogy, both works of dystopian fiction aimed at young adults....Show moreThis thesis follows in the great popularity of first Suzanne Collins’s “Hunger Games” trilogy and later Veronica Roth’s “Divergent” trilogy, both works of dystopian fiction aimed at young adults. This thesis will argue that the identities of the female protagonists of these trilogies are both formed, moulded, by their respective oppressive (dystopian) societies, but that they eventually take their own fates and that of their societies in their own hands in order to change it for the better, thus becoming active agents in their own lives. Although Katniss Everdeen remains a pawn of the system which requires her to perform various (gender) roles until the very end, her conclusion signifies that she has learned to discriminate between the real and the appearance of the real: she kills President Coin, the next evil dictator, and allows a peaceful and stable future for herself as well as for the entire nation. Similarly, Tris Prior is for a long time confined to thinking according to her society’s faction system, but she ultimately recognizes the fallibility of this system which only creates prejudice, social division, and limits identity formation. Tris is essential in taking down this faction system and allowing her society a chance to start afresh.Show less
This thesis focuses on whether the DPJ government framed its recent security policy regarding China concerning the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute. By analyzing the dominant realist narrative and...Show moreThis thesis focuses on whether the DPJ government framed its recent security policy regarding China concerning the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute. By analyzing the dominant realist narrative and alternative ways to perceive the policy, an overview is given of some notable works on the subject. A discourse analysis is used on the political discourse after the Boat Collision Incident of 2010 and the Purchase Incident of 2012. Based on the results of these case studies, this thesis maintains the position that the DPJ government did not frame the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute in order to advance a broader security policy. Instead, Tokyo tends to shelve the dispute and focus more on maintaining good bilateral relations with China.Show less
The origin of the research idea of this thesis comes from a feature discovered through fieldwork on Bugis, a Western Malayo-Polynesian language. In this language, two different word orders are...Show moreThe origin of the research idea of this thesis comes from a feature discovered through fieldwork on Bugis, a Western Malayo-Polynesian language. In this language, two different word orders are possible: in the basic order, different affixes occur on the verb and the arguments, while the non basic order receives no marking. The goal of this thesis is to examine some unrelated languages in order to find out if, with different word orders, there is any difference in marking. Seven languages belonging to different families and areas have been chosen for this purpose: Tuvan (South Siberian Turkic), Lao (Tai, Tai-Kadai), Figuig Berber (Berber, Afroasiatic), Itonama (Amazonian isolate), Savosavo (Papuan), Madurese (Western Malayo-Polynesian, Austronesian) and Santali (Munda, Austroasiatic). The obtained results indicate that most languages show some different marking with different word orders, and a few languages that do not, have a rigid word order that does not allow changes. The changes in marking are not as obvious as in Bugis except in Madurese, which shows a high interaction between marking and word order. Moreover, the fact that clauses with the basic word order receive more marking occurs also in Figuig Berber. Further research with many more languages would be needed in order to discover if this feature may be common cross linguistically, given that the low number of the studied languages does not allow cross linguistic generalisations.Show less
This thesis focuses on the theme of growing up in the novels Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. By analyzing this theme and also by comparing the Walt Disney film adaptations to the...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the theme of growing up in the novels Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. By analyzing this theme and also by comparing the Walt Disney film adaptations to the novels, this thesis will argue that these children’s novels present the reader with contradictory points of view. The theme of growing up which is built into the novels provides the reader with different perspectives. These leave the reader with several questions and uncertainties, which is problematic because it does not fit well with the different functions of children’s literature. Although children’s literature is difficult to define, scholars suggest that it has an entertaining function with educational aspects, which children can use to develop themselves. In the case of Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, this function is neglected in a way; although literature can be ambiguous and raise questions, Peter Pan and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland provide the reader with numerous questions and uncertainties regarding the struggle of growing up. That is why these novels can be considered “impossible” within the field of children’s literature.Show less
Within his account of the Islamic Revolution, The Priest and the King, Desmond Harney, a former British diplomat in Teheran, made reference to the “old Iranian conviction of ‘the hand of the...Show moreWithin his account of the Islamic Revolution, The Priest and the King, Desmond Harney, a former British diplomat in Teheran, made reference to the “old Iranian conviction of ‘the hand of the English’ (dast-e Englis-ha).” The most obvious manifestations of the British presence in Iran during the 1970s were the British Foreign Office (FCO) and the BBC Persian Service (BBCPS). The BBCPS was significant as a media enterprise, in relation to the heavily censored domestic Iranian media, but also due to the part it played in the triangle which existed between the BBCPS, the British FCO and the Shah. The Shah believed that it was, in part, the BBC that had instigated, or at least promoted, the unrest which resulted in the 1979 revolution. Was this paranoia on the part of the Shah, or was it justified? A consideration of archival sources in the BBC written archives and the FCO archives during the decade preceding the Iranian Revolution helps to elucidate the complex relationship which existed between the BBCPS and the British FCO, while also providing some sort of answers as to why the Shah felt so threatened by the activities of a foreign media institution.Show less
Deze scriptie bevat een onderzoek naar de relatie tussen de gebruikte redevormen van conversatie- en gedachterepresentatie en de mate van complexiteit van kinderliteratuur. Van drie recente...Show moreDeze scriptie bevat een onderzoek naar de relatie tussen de gebruikte redevormen van conversatie- en gedachterepresentatie en de mate van complexiteit van kinderliteratuur. Van drie recente kinderboeken zijn de indirecte rede, vrije indirecte rede, directe rede en vrije directe rede aangewezen en is vastgesteld bij welk personage de redevorm hoort. Naar aanleiding van de ontstane personagestructuren van de kinderboeken is gekeken of het belangrijk is voor de analyse van kinderliteratuur of er een onderscheid gemaakt moet worden tussen de redevormen van conversatierepresentatie en de redevormen van gedachterepresentatie.Show less
