This paper will examine how the North Korean people can participate in the possible process of obtaining justice for the crimes against humanity committed in the DPRK. In particular, it focuses on...Show moreThis paper will examine how the North Korean people can participate in the possible process of obtaining justice for the crimes against humanity committed in the DPRK. In particular, it focuses on how other countries have dealt with this issue in the past and what should be taken into account when talking about the unique case of North Korea. The goal of the study is to include the voice of North Koreans in the debate on victim participation in (transitional) justice.Show less
This study examines the unsuccessful peace negotiations that occurred during the Imjin War (1592-1598). Having recently unified Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched an invasion of the Korean...Show moreThis study examines the unsuccessful peace negotiations that occurred during the Imjin War (1592-1598). Having recently unified Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi launched an invasion of the Korean peninsula in 1592. With the fighting deadlocked, a ceasefire was concluded followed by intermittent bilateral peace talks between Japan and Ming China for the next three-and-a-half years, while simultaneous negotiations between Japan and Chosŏn Korea lasted merely nine months. The thesis applies D.G. Pruitt’s ‘readiness theory’ to help explain why both diplomatic channels ultimately collapsed, but also identifies a wide range of contextual factors that undermined the peace process. These factors include: fundamental disagreements over the war’s outcome; problems of miscommunication and deception; a lack of unity on all sides; diplomatic inexperience, and ignorance of the other sides’ political situation. It adopts a trilateral approach in order to understand the conflicting perspectives of the three combatants. Moreover, it reveals significant individual and institutional rivalries within each camp. The thesis draws on primary source materials in classical Chinese and classical Japanese, as well as recently published studies in Japanese and English.Show less
This thesis analyzes how the sudden surge of Tsukioka Kōgyo’s Noh prints relates to the popularization of Noh during the Meiji and Taishō periods. Within the context of the decline and revival of...Show moreThis thesis analyzes how the sudden surge of Tsukioka Kōgyo’s Noh prints relates to the popularization of Noh during the Meiji and Taishō periods. Within the context of the decline and revival of Noh, I examine how Kōgyo’s prints evoke characteristics of Noh culture through privileged perspectives on various aspects of the performance, and through the depiction of the actors rather than the stories. I argue that Kōgyo’s prints thus contributed to the promotion of modern Noh and the shaping of the public’s opinion about Noh theater in modern 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 will examine the ways in which the concept of victimhood is produced by victims’ groups connected with the Aum affair and how it was received by Japanese media in terms of a renovated...Show moreThis thesis will examine the ways in which the concept of victimhood is produced by victims’ groups connected with the Aum affair and how it was received by Japanese media in terms of a renovated mutual understanding between victims and journalists, which resulted in an improvement of the victims’ treatment on information channels. The research takes into consideration the experience of three support groups (Chikatetsu Sarin Jiken Higaisha no Kai, Kanariya no Kai and RSC) that will be used as case studies to analyze the evolution and the impact they had both on victims’ lives and information media. It aims to investigate the role of NPOs and victims’ group activities in influencing public opinion regarding victims’ redressing issues. Furthermore, it intends to explore victims’ struggle against the proliferation of New Religious Movements derived from the disbanding of Aum Shinrikyō and constituted mainly by its former members, such as Hikari no Wa 光の環 and Aleph アレフ, which are suspected of harboring the same doctrines that led Aum to be a danger for Japanese society. In doing so, victims used memory, both individual and collective, as a tool to make their case and highlight their instances even when the attention towards the Aum affair declined in Japanese media. Memorial constructions regarding the incidents, commemorative events, documentaries and victims’ groups’ activities accounts established a legacy that goes beyond the individual experience as a victim or a perpetrator, rather producing a collective instance of victimhood.Show less
In this thesis I will discuss the politics behind Japanese anime and manga. In particular, I will try to elucidate the motivations behind the use of Nazi-inspired characters and Nazi symbolism in...Show moreIn this thesis I will discuss the politics behind Japanese anime and manga. In particular, I will try to elucidate the motivations behind the use of Nazi-inspired characters and Nazi symbolism in popular fiction. My research will be loosely structured around Hiroki Azuma’s infamous “Otaku; Japan’s Database Animals”, in which he discusses the effects of postmodernity on the way in which fiction is produced and consumed. Starting with Hiroki Azuma’s theory on the decline of a “grand narrative” and the increased importance of “moé” in fiction, it is my goal to see if Azuma’s theory holds up against the large variety of Nazi representations in contemporary Japanese popular culture.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
Presentation of the topic As a consequence of its vertiginous development in the last decades, China has gained a new position as an international superpower. Economic development has led to...Show morePresentation of the topic As a consequence of its vertiginous development in the last decades, China has gained a new position as an international superpower. Economic development has led to drastic social changes which had an impact on the official conception of Chinese Identity supported by the government. After the Maoist era and the reforms conducted under Deng, the old communist ideology did not suit Chinese people anymore. The government has had to find new discourses on which to base the national community. Contemporary China’s nationalism engages repeatedly with China’s glorious past and the unique value of Chinese traditional culture. Through such themes, the government aims to build a connection between contemporary Chinese society and Chinese history, in an effort to fill the lack of ideology which followed the Maoist era. Moreover, in contemporary times China’s international image has changed too; it is now one of the most powerful economies in the world, but lacks of international cultural influence. This study will investigate whether Chinese domestic cultural governance is meant to have an impact on an international level, and how such an objective would be achieved. This research will focus on the formulation and implementation of cultural governance under the president Xi Jinping, approaching the subject in a threefold analysis: theories on Chinese identity and nation-building, international network building and cultural investments under Xi Jinping, and exemplifying case studies in the Shandong province (The Confucius Temple and Kong’s Manson in Qufu, and the Shandong Province Museum in Jinan). Research Questions The questions this research seeks to answer are: how is cultural governance formulated and implemented in Contemporary China? What are the theories behind Chinese nation-building strategies that engage which traditional culture? How should the governmental support to Chinese traditional culture be interpreted? Who is the audience for such narrative and what does it aim for? How does this discourse reflect on a local level, such as the Shandong Province?Show less
In this thesis, a comparative analysis of the depiction of Kim Il Sung and the depiction of Kim Jong Il in North Korean thematic paintings (chujehwa) is conducted in order to determine how these...Show moreIn this thesis, a comparative analysis of the depiction of Kim Il Sung and the depiction of Kim Jong Il in North Korean thematic paintings (chujehwa) is conducted in order to determine how these paintings reflect the personality cults of the two leaders and whether there are any differences and similarities in the way the two leaders are depicted.Show less
Economic and bureaucratic reforms have shaped China's political economic framework since 1978. Although these reforms made long periods of economic growth possible, new challenges arose in the form...Show moreEconomic and bureaucratic reforms have shaped China's political economic framework since 1978. Although these reforms made long periods of economic growth possible, new challenges arose in the form of often collusive corruption. This dissertation will explore the relationship between economic and bureaucratic reforms and shifting types of corruption in China between 1992 - presentShow less
A study on the position and representation of the musumeyaku of the all-female Takarazuka Revue. For the greatest part of the century long history of the Takarazuka Revue, the otokoyaku, or male...Show moreA study on the position and representation of the musumeyaku of the all-female Takarazuka Revue. For the greatest part of the century long history of the Takarazuka Revue, the otokoyaku, or male-role actresses have enjoyed a monopoly of the theatre's fans' affection. In contrast, the musumeyaku remain mostly on the background. This Thesis reconsiders the musumeyaku's position and what they represent in the world of Takarazuka, and examines the femininity as represented by these actresses.Show less
Literature allows us to experience the world through different eyes, walk through faraway lands and live a life vastly different from our own, if only for a short while. Not even teenagers are...Show moreLiterature allows us to experience the world through different eyes, walk through faraway lands and live a life vastly different from our own, if only for a short while. Not even teenagers are immune to its lure, as shown by the success of youth literature throughout the world. While sales figures of this young branch of literature are astounding, it is also worth delving into its contents. Shown by websites such as The Brown Bookshelf, the Children’s Book Council Diversity Initiative and the #WeNeedDiverseBooks Campaign, there is an ongoing debate on the importance of diversity and representation of minority groups in youth literature, as people wonder what it means when our classrooms are more diverse than the characters in our youth literature. What happens if we bring this debate to China? While China is almost as large as the European continent, it is easy to mistake it for a homogenous country. In truth, China has a hugely diverse population, which begs the questions: is this diversity reflected in its just as hugely popular youth literature? When discussing minority groups in China, the first to spring to mind are the 55 ethnic minority groups. Though they make up less than 10% of the total population, combined they still account for more than a hundred million people. Their representation in Chinese youth literature will be the focus of this thesis. The first chapter will examine the current state of contemporary Chinese youth literature and how it has developed. In the second chapter, I will take a closer look at the problematic nature and context of ethnic minority groups and ethnic representation in China. The third chapter will introduce the five youth literature novels that will be the focus of this research, and a thorough discussion of the ethnic representation in these five novels will be featured in the fourth and last chapter. The main research question is: how are ethnic minority groups represented in contemporary Chinese youth literature?Show less
