This piece of research looks at contemporary Chinese poetry through the lens of translation. The theoretical framework acting both as a premise and as the background for the whole project, which...Show moreThis piece of research looks at contemporary Chinese poetry through the lens of translation. The theoretical framework acting both as a premise and as the background for the whole project, which ties contemporary Chinese poetry and translation together, is the idea of world literature as defined by David Damrosch. By considering specific poems by Bei Dao and Yang Lian, this work aims at defining the crucial role of translation in determining the "trajectory" of texts within world literature.Show less
This thesis describes the military and economic strategies of the Kuomingtang (KMT), the Communist Party of China (CCP) and Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War.
China's economic growth in the last decades has slowed down due to a decrease in productivity. Automation has presented itself as an opportunity for China to obtain a stronger global economic...Show moreChina's economic growth in the last decades has slowed down due to a decrease in productivity. Automation has presented itself as an opportunity for China to obtain a stronger global economic position. While automation certainly seems to be able to provide many opportunities, it also brings many challenges for the Chinese government. This thesis discusses the opportunities and challenges that automation in China presents, and concludes that the Chinese government seems to have taken effective measurements against the challenges of automation on the long run, but possibly has not addressed the short term problems of automation such as job displacement enough.Show less
This thesis raises the following research question: How does Zheng Xiaoqiong narrate the experience of the female migrant worker and their views on marriage in her anthology Female Workers: A...Show moreThis thesis raises the following research question: How does Zheng Xiaoqiong narrate the experience of the female migrant worker and their views on marriage in her anthology Female Workers: A Record? Reading Zheng Xiaoqiong’s Female Workers, I argue that her work is a form of agency because she communicates the experience of female migrant workers different to existing mainstream narratives. My aim is to show how poetic representations can provide alternative perspectives on the experience of female workers.Show less
In dit werkstuk vergelijk ik het werk van Bei Dao en Yang Lian na de Culturele Revolutie (1976-1980) en na het Tiananmenprotest (1989-1991). Ik tracht hun gedichten te duiden aan de hand van de...Show moreIn dit werkstuk vergelijk ik het werk van Bei Dao en Yang Lian na de Culturele Revolutie (1976-1980) en na het Tiananmenprotest (1989-1991). Ik tracht hun gedichten te duiden aan de hand van de historische en cultuursociologische context. Mijn centrale bevinding is dat de poëzie uit deze periodes meer helderheid en referentialiteit bevat dan de rest van het werk van beide dichters, en gelezen kan worden als reactie op de historische gebeurtenissen.Show less
In 2003, China’s Ministry of Culture published the ‘Interim Regulations on the Administration of Internet Culture’: a list of rules concerning all cultural products on the internet, including music...Show moreIn 2003, China’s Ministry of Culture published the ‘Interim Regulations on the Administration of Internet Culture’: a list of rules concerning all cultural products on the internet, including music. On August 10th, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture used article 16 on the Interim Regulations on the Administration of Internet Culture to censor a total of 120 Chinese songs from the internet. The ministry labeled the 120 songs as blacklisted, because their content was seen as ‘endangering social morality’, according to article 16. A key point of censorship and morality in music in China is that the Chinese government’s rules and regulations for what is considered moral and immoral in music are phrased in very generic terms, leaving room for interpretation. That leaves us with the question, can the blacklisting of the 120 songs be meaningfully related to these rules and regulations? This thesis explores the complex relationship between music, morality and politics in contemporary China by performing a discourse analysis on the banned songs and the legislations regarding internet culture.Show less
Deze scriptie heeft de verbeelding van de stad Beijing geprobeerd te analyseren aan de hand van het boek Beijing Doll van schrijfster Chun Sue. Allereerst is besproken op welke manier Beijing wordt...Show moreDeze scriptie heeft de verbeelding van de stad Beijing geprobeerd te analyseren aan de hand van het boek Beijing Doll van schrijfster Chun Sue. Allereerst is besproken op welke manier Beijing wordt (en werd) verbeeld in literatuur, waarbij regelmatig een vergelijking met Shanghai is gemaakt. Hoofdstuk 3 heeft het boek Beijing Doll geanalyseerd en geconcludeerd dat er twee hoofdzakelijk Pekinese hoofdthema's zijn: de focus op onderwijs en identificatie met een muzikale subcultuur (punk). Hoewel elementen dus duiden op haar Pekinese karakter, kan er niet zwart op wit worden gesteld dat Beijing Doll een typische 'Beijing roman' is, aangezien er verschillende overeenkomsten met literatuur uit Shanghai aan te wijzen zijn.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
In 1997, Yang Yi杨义(b. 1946) published his groundbreaking Chinese Narratology (中国叙事学, 1998), in which he expounded his ideas about a Chinese narratology that developed and manifests itself...Show moreIn 1997, Yang Yi杨义(b. 1946) published his groundbreaking Chinese Narratology (中国叙事学, 1998), in which he expounded his ideas about a Chinese narratology that developed and manifests itself separately from Western narratology. I will take Yang’s narratology framework as a starting point, with a focus on Yang’s understanding of narrative structure, and do a close reading of the novel The Lantern Bearer (带灯, 2013) by Chinese author Jia Pingwa 贾平凹(b. 1952) (the English translation by Carlos Rojas was published in 2017). I do this in order to answer the following research question: How does Yang Yi’s narratological approach of narrative structure compare to a “Western”-narratological approach of narrative structure? In my analysis, for Western narratology, I will focus on Mieke Bal’s (1997) Narratology: Introduction to the Theory of Narrative. I will argue that Yang’s idea of narrative structure allows for a reading that would not be possible by using only Bal’s theory of narrative structure. As a case study, I will investigate how the narrative structure of Jia Pingwa’s novel The Lantern Bearer relates to narrative structures found in traditional Chinese fiction from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) period.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
The thesis analyses grassroots-government interactions in the formation and the development of the dagong 打工 poetry scene of Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. Dagong poetry is a wide...Show moreThe thesis analyses grassroots-government interactions in the formation and the development of the dagong 打工 poetry scene of Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. Dagong poetry is a wide and eclectic literary genre, written by Chinese rural migrant workers, often referred to as Chinese subalterns, who move to the cities to make a living, because of a lack of economic opportunities in the countryside. I use Bourdieu’s theory of the literary field to survey three main types of agents involved the dagong poetry dynamic and its discourse: (1) grassroots activists, (2) party-state-affiliated cultural policy institutions, and (3) intermediaries, meaning various individuals who advance the interactions of (1) and (2), and may be considered as belonging to both groups. By surveying textual sources, including literary journals, websites and public WeChat accounts, and through qualitative interviews with poets, critics, literary scholars and other agents involved in dagong poetry discourse, I provide in depth case studies of some of most important dagong poetry-related persons and organizations in the Delta region dagong poets’ community. The thesis shows that party-state cultural policy institutions play a significant role in formation and development of a literary community that began as a grassroots movement. Their far reaching influence is present in many aspects and is mainly executed through negotiation with grassroots groups, in which a crucial role is played by top-down and bottom-up intermediaries that are very helpful for attracting financial, political and also discursive support for the dagong poets’ community, but also ensure that dagong poetry discourse remains controlled and in line with government’s cultural policy.Show less
Against the broader background of the remembrance culture of the Second Sino-Japanese War in China, I will focus on the depiction of Japan and the Japanese by comparing four movies from different...Show moreAgainst the broader background of the remembrance culture of the Second Sino-Japanese War in China, I will focus on the depiction of Japan and the Japanese by comparing four movies from different moments in time and with different socio-historical contexts, and their reception through various platforms including social media: Tunnel Warfare (Di Dao Zhan地道战) from 1965, Red Sorghum (Hong Gaoliang红高粱) from 1987, Devils on the Doorstep (Guizi Lai Le鬼子来了) from 2000 and The Flowers of War (Jinling Shisan Chai金陵十三钗) from 2011. This thesis asks the following research question: How do depictions of Japan and the Japanese in Chinese films about the Second Sino-Japanese war develop over time?Show less
