Bachelor thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (BSc)
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This thesis explores the role of nostalgia in shaping regional identity and political behavior in Eastern Germany, focusing on the rise of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). It...Show moreThis thesis explores the role of nostalgia in shaping regional identity and political behavior in Eastern Germany, focusing on the rise of the far-right party Alternative für Deutschland (AfD). It examines the historical context of Eastern Germany post-1949, detailing socio-economic and political changes since reunification in 1990, and the emergence of right-wing attitudes. The concept of "Ostalgie," or nostalgia for the former East Germany (GDR), is analyzed, highlighting its socio-political impact and how the AfD manipulates these sentiments to gain support. The study investigates the party's use of historical narratives and symbols from the GDR era to foster a sense of shared identity and community among Eastern German voters. The thesis also discusses the social and political implications of the AfD's strategies, including increased neo-Nazi activity and anti-foreigner sentiments. Ultimately, it aims to understand the politicization of historical narratives and collective memory, emphasizing the need to resist extremist ideologies and promote a more inclusive society.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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Deze scriptie past Svetlana Boyms off-modern (The Future of Nostalgia, 2001) toe om in intertekstualiteit een verdiepende, nostalgische laag te duiden. Intertekstualiteit wordt ook als affectief...Show moreDeze scriptie past Svetlana Boyms off-modern (The Future of Nostalgia, 2001) toe om in intertekstualiteit een verdiepende, nostalgische laag te duiden. Intertekstualiteit wordt ook als affectief gezien in Richard Dyers definitie van pastiche (Pastiche, 2007), die in deze scriptie gebruikt wordt om het argument te verstevigen. Hierbij wordt het sci-fi subgenre van retrofuturisme in deze scriptie voor het eerst als off-modern geanalyseerd, doordat het nostalgisch als pastiche naar voorlopers verwijst om nieuwe verhaalwerelden te creëren. Mijn lezing van retrofuturisme als off-modern verklaart waarom het genre zo veel aantrekkingskracht heeft, het gaat creatief om met het verleden door met het verleden mee naar de toekomst te kijken. Het genre bevraagt hier de ‘zijpaden’ van het verloop van de geschiedenis mee. Deze nostalgische en affectieve laag gaat tegen Frederic Jameson’s lezing van intertekstualiteit als platgeslagen betekenis in (Postmodernism, 1991). Intertekstuele verwijzingen zijn off-modern door ze als ruïnes en als souvenirs te lezen, voorbeelden die Boym gebruikt. Ze zijn ruïnes doordat het overblijfselen zijn van eerdere teksten waarop nieuwe teksten gebouwd worden. Ze laten sporen achter in nieuwe teksten die ons bewust maken van hun geschiedenis en vallen daarom onder reflectieve nostalgie. Verwijzingen zijn souvenirs doordat het fragmenten zijn die de verbinding tussen het verleden en het heden expliciet maken. Ze wekken een verlangen op naar de oudere teksten. Ik leg deze metaforen uit aan de hand van de retrofuturistische videogame Fallout: New Vegas, die veel intertekstuele verwijzingen bevat. Daarnaast lees ik op het verhaalniveau het spel als interactief off-modern. Dat intertekstuele verwijzingen off-modern affect hebben is nog niet eerder uiteengezet. Deze nieuwe lezing van intertekstualiteit als off-modern maakt het mogelijk om verwijzingen op affectieve, geëngageerde wijze te analyseren.Show less
The commercialization of museums as a response to postmodern consumerism stimulates companies like Pizza Hut and the Rijksmuseum to engage with nostalgic marketing on Instagram. The current...Show moreThe commercialization of museums as a response to postmodern consumerism stimulates companies like Pizza Hut and the Rijksmuseum to engage with nostalgic marketing on Instagram. The current research aims to understand why museums are engaging in nostalgia marketing and what implications such engagement may have for the educational role of the museum today. It does so by investigating the needs and challenges faced by postmodern museums in relation to the allure of nostalgia. More particularly, this thesis examines nostalgia’s power to produce a comforting sense of continuity in one’s self-identity and a sense of social belonging. The field of nostalgia marketing is also defined and contrasted with other types of marketing strategies and further analyzed through a comparison of two museums and two commercial companies’ posts on Instagram. The conclusions point towards the usefulness of nostalgic marketing to engage museum audiences, while raising awareness of the dangers such strategies can pose for the educating role of museums.Show less
A holy place, a war monument, a tourist site, and a museum. All these words define a structure that stands today in the center of Moscow: The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Built as a...Show moreA holy place, a war monument, a tourist site, and a museum. All these words define a structure that stands today in the center of Moscow: The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. Built as a reconstruction of an 18th-century cathedral destroyed during the Soviet regime, the building became a site of heated discussions on the topics of politics, memory, and history in post-communist Russia. While many see it as a static national monument, its agency is left out of these discussions. Drawing on the theories of memory developed by Edward Casey and Katharine Hodgkin with Susannah Radstone, the multiple facets of the cathedral are discussed. By examining the role of the public, the operation of memory, and the digital space, the dichotomy between the “restorative” and the “reflective” forms of nostalgia articulated by Svetlana Boym is challenged. The ubiquitousness of the cathedral is then highlighted and its discourse complicated. Through investigating the cathedral’s current position within the socio-political situation of Russia, the thesis will conclude with a discussion on the role of monuments within the urban landscape and in forming an individual as well as national identity.Show less
This thesis critically approaches the notion of nostalgia as a site for negotiating the way communities in Ladakh reproduce the past in the present. Multiple nostalgias are explored and the various...Show moreThis thesis critically approaches the notion of nostalgia as a site for negotiating the way communities in Ladakh reproduce the past in the present. Multiple nostalgias are explored and the various nostalgic postures are unpacked as they encounter and engage with modernity. The aim is to understand through ethnographic analysis, the temporalities within which nostalgia occurs and the interplay between nostalgia and cultural practices that provide a site to study how the past is maintained in the present.Show less
Since the late 1950s, analog technology began to be replaced by digital technology, leading to the start of the digital age. Although we are presently living in the digital age and most of our...Show moreSince the late 1950s, analog technology began to be replaced by digital technology, leading to the start of the digital age. Although we are presently living in the digital age and most of our forms of technology and communication are correspondingly digital, there has been a conspicuous proliferation and return to analog technologies in the arts and culture. With an increasing fetishization of retro and analog, photographers raised during the digital age still make use of analog photography. This thesis investigates this fetishization by examining the potentials of instant and film photography that attract digital photographers and how they approach them. The aesthetics of nostalgia and analog are construed to assess how they can be applied to the digital and to consider how they are marketed. Materiality as a potential of instant photography is subsequently considered along with how it has been used by female artists as a self-empowering tool. Further, the potential of cinematic gaze in film photography and how it applies the quirky sensibility is considered, which leads to the study of how the cinematic gaze is equally used to redefine how the female body is viewed. Thus, this thesis seeks to comprehend several potentials of analog photography such as nostalgic value, materiality and cinematic use and how they have been appropriated by society, the market and artists.Show less
The omnipresence of references to nostalgia in contemporary culture confirms its popular reputation as the strongest drug. The nostalgia market is booming: from entertainment and business to...Show moreThe omnipresence of references to nostalgia in contemporary culture confirms its popular reputation as the strongest drug. The nostalgia market is booming: from entertainment and business to politics. The very status of the emotion of affection for things past, however, remains a passionately contested notion on many fronts. What is there that can be said about the virtues of nostalgia? In brief, is nostalgia good or bad for us? I will approach these questions by exploring the answers already available in the academic discourses of psychology and historiography. There are two features particular to nostalgia: it is an emotion and it is concerned with the past; hence, psychology and historiography were selected here as the two disciplines most closely engaged with the said areas. The pool of studies from these two disciplines selected here represent strikingly opposing perspectives on nostalgia and thus an investigation of the viewpoints which they exemplify promises fertile learning grounds.Show less
With the first generations of digital natives growing up, and digitization becoming the standard in our society, questions about the effects reading digitally has on end-users is finally becoming a...Show moreWith the first generations of digital natives growing up, and digitization becoming the standard in our society, questions about the effects reading digitally has on end-users is finally becoming a priority among scholars. This thesis will examine the effects digital reading has had on the book trade and readers by looking at its quick rise (and possible fall), the development of digital literacy and the machine that drives digitalization. A comprehensive literary review will shed light on the question why people are switching to digital, clinging to printed books, or becoming a hybrid reader.Show less
A thesis about the relation between Instagram and nostalgia. Why are photographs on Instagram perceived as nostalgic and what kind of nostalgic photographs are posted on the platform?
BA Eindwerkstuk, gericht op de nostalgie achter Japanse furusato-dorpen. Ik heb me bij het maken van deze eindopdacht gericht op de vraag hoe nostalgie invloed heeft op landelijk toerisme vanuit de...Show moreBA Eindwerkstuk, gericht op de nostalgie achter Japanse furusato-dorpen. Ik heb me bij het maken van deze eindopdacht gericht op de vraag hoe nostalgie invloed heeft op landelijk toerisme vanuit de grote stad naar het platteland van Japan. Hierbij beagumenteer ik dat het platteland dienst neemt als een 'heterotopos' en dat cultureel erfgoed in bepaalde mate niet historisch correct hoeft te zijn om effect te hebben.Show less
The work of the Japanese contemporary artist Nara Yoshitomo is followed by groups of loyal fans, which consist mainly of young women. In this thesis I will investigate the relationship between the...Show moreThe work of the Japanese contemporary artist Nara Yoshitomo is followed by groups of loyal fans, which consist mainly of young women. In this thesis I will investigate the relationship between the works by Nara Yoshitomo and these young female fans. These fans feel attracted to his work and at the same time engage with his work in various ways. This situation brings forth the following questions: what elements are there in the artistic language of Nara Yoshitomo that these fans find so appealing? How do they interpret the art by Nara Yoshitomo? And what is the relationship between Nara's art and these groups of young female fans? I will answer these research questions by discussing 'Your Childhood' (2001) and 'Aomori dog' (2005), two works by this artist that involved interaction with his fans. I will interpret these works from the eyes of its fans by observing their reactions on fan sites and blogs, applying the concepts of 'shoujo', 'nostalgia' and 'transitional object'. Eventually I will conclude that Nara’s fans appreciate the cute and nostalgic visual elements in Nara’s art as ‘shoujo’ or ‘nostalgic subjects’, as these young women are known for their consumption of cute and nostalgic things in order to escape temporarily from their social obligations. However, the belief that Nara’s fans act solely as passive consumers of his art may be challenged since they also play an active role as producers around Nara’s art via a wide range of participatory actions targeting his work.Show less
