This research is about the untold history of intersexuality during a time when androgyny in juvenile boys was desirable and men performed female roles on stage. Moreover, it introduces the role of...Show moreThis research is about the untold history of intersexuality during a time when androgyny in juvenile boys was desirable and men performed female roles on stage. Moreover, it introduces the role of the body in the story about gender ambiguity in pre-modern Japan. Until now, studies on the history of gender and sexuality have focused on the role of culture in sex determination. However, this study proposes that biology was equally important. Through a critical analysis of visual material produced during Japan's pre- modern times, the intersexed character may be revealed as an essential figure for understanding the construction of gender, sex and sexuality in historical and contemporary times. In the Heian-period (794-1185), the intersexed character was presented as an absurd sexual deviant in the Yamai no Shōshi. The Genroku-period (1688- 1704) depicted intersexuality as a female deficiency in the work Kōshoku Kinmō-zui by Yoshida Hanbei, which was also reproduced around one and a half century later in Ryōsuitei Tanekiyo's Kaiin Suikōden Sho-hen. Towards the end of the Edo-perdiod (1800-1868) more graphic works of intersexed bodies appeared. Keisai Eisen's Makura Bunko invoked a gaze of shameless fascination and pity, whereas Utagawa Kunitora's Otsumori Sakazuki put intersexuality into the realm of erotic fantasy. Ultimately, this research asks the question: What do early images of intersexuality reveal about attitudes towards gender, sex and sexuality in pre-modern Japan? The answer to this question reveals how intersexed bodies, in various periods of time, were to be looked at with humour, curiosity, pity and sexual desire.Show less
The thesis explores the uses of the skull-cup and the thighbone trumpet in Tibet, their employment from the pre-Buddhist religion to Tibetan Buddhism. It also compares their symbolism as deity's...Show moreThe thesis explores the uses of the skull-cup and the thighbone trumpet in Tibet, their employment from the pre-Buddhist religion to Tibetan Buddhism. It also compares their symbolism as deity's attributes in the Buddhist and pre-Buddhist religious art of Tibet.Show less
This thesis explores the relationship between feminism and popular culture in Malaysia. It looks at the different media of popular culture and analyses the different expressions of feminism in...Show moreThis thesis explores the relationship between feminism and popular culture in Malaysia. It looks at the different media of popular culture and analyses the different expressions of feminism in these media. The evolution of feminism during the different phases is examined and the role of ethnicity and class in understanding the complex and multifaceted movement is evaluated. I argue that there is a growing sense of feminism in popular culture, but that it is restricted to specific popular culture categories-that of independent media- and upper class women. This growing sense of feminism results in entrepreneurialism and individuality among upper class women of primarily Malaysian ethnicity.Show less
Propaganda exists in many shapes and sizes: pamphlets, stories in newspapers and magazines, film, leaflets or speeches on the radio. Around the world, this type of psychological warfare has been...Show morePropaganda exists in many shapes and sizes: pamphlets, stories in newspapers and magazines, film, leaflets or speeches on the radio. Around the world, this type of psychological warfare has been used to convince the enemy that their cause is lost and the home front that they are on the winning side.The same was the case in Southeast Asia during the Asia-Pacific War, where Japan propagated a Great East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere. For this thesis I will examine Japanese propaganda in Indonesia and - more specifically - if this propaganda has developed or contributed to Indonesian national consciousness.Show less
The purpose of this research is to show how Asian countries appear to be aestheticized in documentary photographs, often considered as reliable evidence of reality, and to understand to what extent...Show moreThe purpose of this research is to show how Asian countries appear to be aestheticized in documentary photographs, often considered as reliable evidence of reality, and to understand to what extent this is influencing the knowledge “Western” countries have on Asia. Starting from the analysis of current theories on photography and art, I will see how they can be applied to documentary photography, regarded as a practice that only aims at informing the public. Then, tracing back to colonial photography, I will show how documentary photography appears to present an aesthetic of its own, which has had a fundamental role in the structuring and circulation of fantasies, sentiments and ideas between “Western” countries and Asia. Besides, I will determine to what extent this aestheticization of Asian countries has been fostered by contemporary magazines, such as National Geographic. Finally, through the analysis of some of the most iconic images by the documentary photographer Steve McCurry, I wish to show how in the name of artistry, the documentary practice is failing in providing the viewer with visual documents.Show less
