In this thesis research has been conducted regarding the following question: is it possible to translate the long Qur’anic surah sūrat al-Raḥmān into Dutch, whereby the following three criteria are...Show moreIn this thesis research has been conducted regarding the following question: is it possible to translate the long Qur’anic surah sūrat al-Raḥmān into Dutch, whereby the following three criteria are met: 1. the meaning is preserved 2. the oral and aural aspect is conveyed 3. the translation is presented in natural and accessible Dutch. To meet the criterion of aurality and orality the translation must meet the testible criteria of rhyme, metre, parallelism, lexical echoes, conciseness, the relation between the sound of words and the atmosphere of a verse or surah, and repetition, which are the most important linguistic structures underlying orality and aurality. Recognizability for Muslims is part of the criterion of meaning. A translation method according to these criteria has been used in the testcase and the translation process has been described. The above resulted in a translation that met the criteria of the research question.Show less
Over the course of the last century, the Japanese population has left their humble hometowns and moved to large population centres. Now Japan experiences one of the worst population declines in the...Show moreOver the course of the last century, the Japanese population has left their humble hometowns and moved to large population centres. Now Japan experiences one of the worst population declines in the modern era and especially the countryside is shrinking at a rapid rate. This has prompted the government to implement measures to slow down the depopulation of the countryside and boost local economies. One of these measures is the furusato nozei tax system, which distributes a part of people’s inhabitant taxes towards other municipalities than the one they live in so that people may donate a share of their taxes to their hometown or any other municipality. This system may be tied to a general feeling of nostalgia that the Japanese people have towards their hometown or other places that generally evoke a sense of nostalgia as people have become desensitized with their current lives that sharply contrast with the calm and peaceful image of the Japanese countryside. Within the furusato nozei system, municipalities advertise themselves as the ‘ideal hometown’ by catering to peoples’ emotions towards those towns that people feel a certain connection with, but how do these emotions of nostalgia emerge in practice within the program? Do municipalities utilise nostalgia as a tool to draw in donations, and in what ways do they do this? Furusato on itself means something like ‘hometown’ or ‘native place’, but does this materialise in the self-marketing schemes of certain municipalities? By looking at two municipalities’ homepages and other websites, this paper determines that symbols of nostalgia are indeed drawn upon in the self-marketing schemes to gain more revenue in the program in the form of images, phrases, etc. These symbols evoke warm and nostalgic feelings and in a way reflect the state of the towns. Moreover, one may identify two ‘types’ of furusato on these homepages: either ‘emotional longing to one’s hometown’ or ‘nostalgia towards an older version of Japan in general’, which materialise to various degrees depending on the image that the towns want to impose on itself and the audience that they are trying to reach.Show less
In the contemporary age, e-governance as an approach to urban politics aims at strengthening the connectivity amongst various stakeholders. Avenues for discourse between governments and the public...Show moreIn the contemporary age, e-governance as an approach to urban politics aims at strengthening the connectivity amongst various stakeholders. Avenues for discourse between governments and the public are provided through digital platforms. This is done with the intent of establishing a citizen-centric environment. In South Korea, succeeding democratization in the late 1970s and 1980s, citizens as integral to public administration came to the forefront in contemporary urban life. Seoul and Incheon represent two major smart cities, for which digital technologies are the foundation. In South Korea, swift developments in e-governance have consequently resulted in a research gap. To challenge this, the study considers the primary digital government platforms of Seoul and Incheon. Through a content analysis, the effectiveness of the platforms in building social capital and citizen-centricity is deduced. Then, the outcome is interpreted through a revised ladder of citizen participation. The results signify various opportunities and flaws in its e-governance. In Seoul, connectivity as a means of boosting civic empowerment is addressed effectively. Still, citizens are limited in the co-creation process of daily urban policies. In Incheon, basic elements of open data and communication are addressed. Yet, consequences of citizen’s input remain largely unaddressed. South Korean policy makers may therefore take note of these repercussions to establish a more effective and efficient digital platform apparatus.Show less
