De casus die deze scriptie verkent is die van reactie van gebruikers van de Japanse ondertiteling van de film The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring, welke leidde tot een aanpassing van...Show moreDe casus die deze scriptie verkent is die van reactie van gebruikers van de Japanse ondertiteling van de film The Lord of the Rings; The Fellowship of the Ring, welke leidde tot een aanpassing van deze onderiteling voor DVD-uitgave van de film. Deze gebeurtenis kan worden gezien als een aanwijzing dat de geldende conventies voor het Japanse vakgebied van filmvertaling aan vernieuwing toe zijn.Show less
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
This essay presents a study of 31 kanshi poems by the Heian poet/scholar/official Sugawara no Michizane (845-903) written during his governorship in the province of Sanuki (poems 183-213). Taking...Show moreThis essay presents a study of 31 kanshi poems by the Heian poet/scholar/official Sugawara no Michizane (845-903) written during his governorship in the province of Sanuki (poems 183-213). Taking issue with common approaches to Michizane and his writings, I deal with the material in four different ways in order to show the problems inherent in these practices, while simultaneously attempting to provide alternative inroads to Michizane's oeuvre. These four issues are: 1. the discrepancies between modern and premodern 'poethood', which usually remain unquestioned but are here complicated by zooming in on Michizane the scholar and the official instead; 2. the limited scope of biographers, for whom the period in Sanuki central in this essay is peripheral to Michizane's identity; 3. a strongly selective attitude towards Michizane's writings, which I avoid by taking the entire oeuvre attributed to one single year; and 4. what I call the 'biographical fallacy', where biographers take details found in Michizane's oeuvre about his life at face value. Instead, I understand his literary compilation as a consciously subjective collection of works that was designed to portray a desirable Self. By focussing on Michizane's use of the three different personae - that of poet, scholar, and administrative official - I show how the original compositions compiled into one new work are made to take on new meaning, which act, rather than a portrayal of historical fact, constitutes a politically motivated act intended to convey a specific self-representational message, disseminated by Michizane at the time, just before the exile to Kyushu, when his position at court was rapidly deteriorating, and which can thus be seen as one bid in the political game in the high echelons of court power.Show less
This thesis explores how the media mix, the Japanese equivalent of the media franchise, influences the entertainment experiences of its fan audiences through a case study. It not only analyzes in...Show moreThis thesis explores how the media mix, the Japanese equivalent of the media franchise, influences the entertainment experiences of its fan audiences through a case study. It not only analyzes in what ways the anime media mix of Yuri!!! on ICE functions as a system, in which media content is dispersed and consumed in different media forms, but it also explores the ways Yuri!!! on ICE is experienced as a world of its own that is interrelated with various other existing worlds, such as the world of professional figure skating, the online and temporary (event) spaces centered on fan culture and its communities, and the various existing cities on which the world of Yuri!!! on ICE is based. By analyzing not only a specific franchise, but also the variety of texts that relate with it from different theoretical perspectives, this thesis looks for gaps that can be filled in between different but related theories on media, semiotics, culture and space, particularly on the (re)construction of arbitrarily systematized worlds (both actual and virtual) through cultural production, signification and play.Show less
This essay analyses Oiwa, the female vengeful ghost protagonist of the kabuki play Tōkaidō Yotsuya kaidan, written by Tsuruya Nanboku IV in 1825. Due to its popularity, Oiwa has been a widely...Show moreThis essay analyses Oiwa, the female vengeful ghost protagonist of the kabuki play Tōkaidō Yotsuya kaidan, written by Tsuruya Nanboku IV in 1825. Due to its popularity, Oiwa has been a widely discussed topic by experts of the field, but there is a fundamental issue to reconsider if we are to achieve a better understanding of this character: why did she turn into a vengeful spirit? By applying the theoretical concept of intertextuality, i.e. by considering the relations between Yotsuya kaidan and other texts such as its sources and other plays from Nanboku’s repertoire, this thesis challenges the consolidated opinion that Oiwa turned into this frightful creature out of jealousy towards her unfaithful husband. Although jealousy is impossible to exclude, it argues that key to unravelling the motivations behind Oiwa’s revenge is the status of Yotsuya kaidan as the parody of the famous dramatization of the forty-seven ronin’s tale Kanadehon Chūshingura (1748). As propaedeutic to the making of this point, this work also looks at a less discussed side of Oiwa’s character, that as a daughter, wife and mother of a samurai household at the end of the Edo period.Show less
Yosano Akiko (1878-1942) is een van de beroemdste schrijfsters uit Japan. Zij schreef o.a. gedichten en vertaalde Klassiek Japanse literatuur naar Modern Japans. Echter schreef zij ook...Show moreYosano Akiko (1878-1942) is een van de beroemdste schrijfsters uit Japan. Zij schreef o.a. gedichten en vertaalde Klassiek Japanse literatuur naar Modern Japans. Echter schreef zij ook feministische essays en kinder- en meisjes verhalen. Vooral haar shōjo shōsetsu (meisjes verhalen) worden in Engels -en Japanstalige literatuur nauwelijks behandeld, omdat zij worden bestempeld als broodschrijverij. In deze scriptie laat ik door een analyse Akiko's shōjo shōsetsu 'Tamaki no ichinenkan' (Tamaki's Jaar) zien dat dit beeld van haar shōjo verhalen te simplistisch is omdat dit verhaal niet zomaar de shōjo-gendernormen uit de Meiji-periode reflecteert, maar een afspiegeling was van het vrouwbeeld en de levensstijl die Akiko in haar essays aanprees. Deze verhalen kunnen worden gezien als een uitwerking van haar feministische essays voor jonge meisjes, en hadden dus duidelijk een ideologische boodschap. Middels dit verhaal bood Akiko een alternatief voor de gendernorm (die tevens de standaard was in shōjo shōsetsu) van ‘de shōjo als ryōsai kenbo (goede vrouw en wijze moeder)-in-spe’.Show less
This thesis describes the comparative relationship between the yakuza and (Italian) mafia, and the movies that represent them. Special attention is given to the women within this groups, as they...Show moreThis thesis describes the comparative relationship between the yakuza and (Italian) mafia, and the movies that represent them. Special attention is given to the women within this groups, as they are often portrayed as passive and uninvolved. Both the movies and the literature confirm this marginalization of women, though for different reasons: the movies refer to the male audience of the movies, where strong women would not appeal to the main audience, while the literature refers to the male dominance of the crime world. Changes in the sex ratio of the crime world as well as the movies (that represent criminals) are, for now, a thing of the future.Show less
How can Yoshimoto Banana’s novel Goodbye Tsugumi be understood through the lens of feminist literary theories such as post-feminism and gender? This thesis first analyses the current discussion of...Show moreHow can Yoshimoto Banana’s novel Goodbye Tsugumi be understood through the lens of feminist literary theories such as post-feminism and gender? This thesis first analyses the current discussion of the novel. Then it moves onward with a new approach using feminist theory, and dissect the importance of relationships and surroundings of the two main female characters, Maria and Tsugumi. The reflection includes their emotions and how the present and past are dealt with.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
2020-08-31T00:00:00Z
The contemporary Japanese author Murakami Haruki is world-renowned for his work as a novelist, essayist and translator. This study examines how his celebrity authorship is fabricated in the...Show moreThe contemporary Japanese author Murakami Haruki is world-renowned for his work as a novelist, essayist and translator. This study examines how his celebrity authorship is fabricated in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. It poses the hypothesis that his celebrity authorship is inherently paradoxical, as the author seems to be invested in a multiplicity of subject positions.Show less
