This thesis examines China’s cultural (foreign) policies. Taking a sample of three different case studies, this thesis aims to find an answer to the question of how China is using cultural heritage...Show moreThis thesis examines China’s cultural (foreign) policies. Taking a sample of three different case studies, this thesis aims to find an answer to the question of how China is using cultural heritage as a means to becoming a modern imperial power. A possible reason for the Chinese government to do this is that the current global power dynamic is shifting eastwards, away from the U.S., and towards China. Over the three case studies, which all fall into a different type of imperialism, it becomes clear that the cultural heritage policies China employs are not just soft power, but indeed are cultural imperialism.Show less
This study investigates the shifts in spiritual aura shamanistic objects experience when they transfer to a museum. Combining literature research and analysis of shaman paintings across three...Show moreThis study investigates the shifts in spiritual aura shamanistic objects experience when they transfer to a museum. Combining literature research and analysis of shaman paintings across three museums, this research explores how the display, objects, and other contributing factors create the shifts in spiritual aura. The literature research finds that shamanism has a deep spiritual connection with the objects used. When these objects are displayed in museums several factors may change this aura. The findings of the research, consisting of three museums in the Netherlands and South Korea, demonstrate that the shifting aura depends heavily on the museum’s purpose and how the exhibition is curated. Depending on how space, time, purpose, and context of the objects are dealt with spiritual aura alternates. By highlighting these factors, museums can better convey and honor culturally sensitive objects that hold deep spiritual meaning.Show less
This thesis analyses the impact of the colonization era of Japan on South Korea, and how this impacts the economic relations between these two countries over the last decade. Furthermore, this...Show moreThis thesis analyses the impact of the colonization era of Japan on South Korea, and how this impacts the economic relations between these two countries over the last decade. Furthermore, this thesis will look into the events that took place during the colonial era, such as the comfort women issue and the forced labor issue.Show less
This thesis explores the unusual cultural phenomenon that is South Korea’s high suicide rate. Although influential, South Korea’s competitive society, lack of attention to mental health and...Show moreThis thesis explores the unusual cultural phenomenon that is South Korea’s high suicide rate. Although influential, South Korea’s competitive society, lack of attention to mental health and cultural stigma cannot fully account for why this rate is so high. Therefore, a different aspect must be looked at, namely, The Werther Effect. Through the analysis of the case study of Choi Jin-Ri (Sulli), this research demonstrates how the K-Pop industry may be causing celebrities to take their own lives, thus through mechanism of the Werther Effect, aiding the increase of South Korea’s national suicide rate.Show less
Born in the wake of the Second World War, moulded by the polarisation of the Cold War and diametrically opposed to its Northern counterpart, South Korea’s domestic history and the arising memory...Show moreBorn in the wake of the Second World War, moulded by the polarisation of the Cold War and diametrically opposed to its Northern counterpart, South Korea’s domestic history and the arising memory issues are among the issues that were deemed worthy of addressing by the conception of the 2005 Truth and Reconciliation Commission of South Korea (TRCK). The truth-seeking activities of a truth and reconciliation commission tap into the larger debate on transitional versus punitive justice. This thesis will argue that South Korean politics are polarised along the same moral issues as the debate around the merits of a truth and reconciliation commission and that in the crossroads of the goals of a truth and reconciliation commission and the South Korean political context it tried to operate in lies a reflection of the structural problems of a truth and reconciliation commission.Show less
