Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
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This thesis aims to shed new light on the intersection between the Gawain cycle and its socio-political environment by focusing primarily on the monsters. By analysing the monsters in the...Show moreThis thesis aims to shed new light on the intersection between the Gawain cycle and its socio-political environment by focusing primarily on the monsters. By analysing the monsters in the narratives as cultural projections of a certain period, this thesis aims to gain insight into the feelings and anxieties that accompanied the tensions between the noble houses during the Wars of the Roses. The monsters in the narratives of the Sir Gawain Cycle challenge the Arthurian Court to reflect on different sides of nobility. As outsiders, or as ‘Others’, they try to warn the knights of the Round Table to change their values and beliefs, and they urge them to live by a type of nobility that is more focused on virtue instead of wealth and status. Each monstrous body presents a different flaw within the ideology of the Round Table, and in turn, comments upon real concerns and anxieties that existed in the late-fifteenth century border region.Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
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In this thesis, I seek to analyze the postmodern condition in history from a quantum-philosophical perspective. According to the famous physicist Niels Bohr, (our knowledge of) the quantum object...Show moreIn this thesis, I seek to analyze the postmodern condition in history from a quantum-philosophical perspective. According to the famous physicist Niels Bohr, (our knowledge of) the quantum object cannot be meaningfully separated from the instruments used to interrogate and represent the quantum object. The instrument intervenes into the quantum universe in a way that allows for comprehensible knowledge of the quantum object. In turn, Bohr presents a conception of scientific objectivity that acknowledges and incorporates this meaningful intervention. In my thesis, I present a detailed analysis of Bohr’s interpretation of quantum mechanics, connecting his insights to the issue of subjectivity in history and historiography. I present an interpretative framework, inspired by quantum-philosophical perspectives, which integrates the subjective processes of observing, constructing and writing history into a new conception of historical realism. Like Bohr’s quantum philosophy, this historical realism considers the instruments for observation and representation as inseparable from yet meaningfully constitutive of the historical object.Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
open access
this thesis argues that alternative approaches outside of the dominant deconstructive model of trauma theory are in order to more comprehensively represent the (embodied) experience of trauma...Show morethis thesis argues that alternative approaches outside of the dominant deconstructive model of trauma theory are in order to more comprehensively represent the (embodied) experience of trauma amongst women in Western society. In chapter 1 I will start out by tracing the concept of trauma back to its origins. I will pay particular attention to the narratives emanating from the medical discourse surrounding hysteria and trauma, highlighting the paradoxical and problematic conceptualization of the female subject in psychoanalysis. Furthermore, I will show, taking Alias Grace as a case study, how psychoanalysis and the dominant model of trauma theory can be a fruitful epistemological tool when applied to trauma narratives, but also what its limitations are in the face of the female trauma. Chapter 2, then, will further examine the underlying cause of these limitations and the origin of the harmful narratives perpetuated within the trauma theory discourse by exploring the relationship between the phallogocentric nature of Western society and women’s place within it. It will demonstrate why the female experience of trauma warrants additional reflection and that, in some ways, it lies beyond the reaches of the dominant model. And finally, Chapter 3 will propose three alternative approaches that aim at providing a more inclusive account of the female trauma. All three approaches will be characterized by an emphasis on the embodied experience of trauma and treat the female body as a potential site of expression.Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
closed access
In deze scriptie onderzoek ik de circulatie van toneel tussen de Republiek en Batavia in de periode 1757-1771 (de jaren waarin in Batavia een schouwburg bestond). Mijn onderzoek laat zien dat de...Show moreIn deze scriptie onderzoek ik de circulatie van toneel tussen de Republiek en Batavia in de periode 1757-1771 (de jaren waarin in Batavia een schouwburg bestond). Mijn onderzoek laat zien dat de Nederlandse toneelcultuur een wereldwijde verspreiding kende in de achttiende eeuw. Het toneel uit de Bataviase schouwburg bedient zich van strategieën om de Nederlandse koloniale macht in Oost-Indië te rechtvaardigen. Opvallend hierbij is dat het kolonialisme niet zoals in de negentiende eeuw mede-verantwoord wordt vanuit een beschavingsideaal. Kolonialisme wordt gerechtvaardigd op economische gronden.Show less
Research master thesis | Literary Studies (research) (MA)
open access
Dutch Antillean writer Boeli van Leeuwen is strikingly absent in the study of Dutch postcolonial literature, despite his status as one of Dutch' most important Caribbean authors. Till this day,...Show moreDutch Antillean writer Boeli van Leeuwen is strikingly absent in the study of Dutch postcolonial literature, despite his status as one of Dutch' most important Caribbean authors. Till this day, only a few articles have been devoted to Van Leeuwen's oeuvre. In this thesis, I aim to formulate an answer to the question: in what way do Van Leeuwen's novels 'Schilden van leem' en 'Het teken van Jona' generate meaning? Why is it that 'plain facts' are insufficient to tackle these works? In my analysis I am proposing six possible readings that account for Van Leeuwen's novels that are overflowing with meaning. By studying their use of intertextuality, allegory, irony, Relation, metafiction and 'Caribbeanness,' I attempt to make the abundance productive that the reader encounters. In my conclusion I will argue that Van Leeuwen is ultimately reflecting on knowledge itself, since his writing constantly redirects the reader, without allowing a singular interpretation. The multiple voices, languages and traditions brought forth resist the monotonous and unambiguous discourse of the referential readings. Van Leeuwens fictional reality ultimately points towards itself and demonstrates the fiction hiding behind so-called plain facts.Show less
