Tourist destination Bali is internationally known for its dynamic culture and the resilience it has shown over the years with the increase of mass tourism from all corners of the globe. The...Show moreTourist destination Bali is internationally known for its dynamic culture and the resilience it has shown over the years with the increase of mass tourism from all corners of the globe. The Balinese people are often praised for their ability to adapt perfectly and at the same time not losing grip over their own cultural identity, despite the demanding environment due to the large influx of foreigners. The relatively new, yet popular philosophy of Tri Hita Karana (aspiring harmonious relationships) lies at the basis of the versatile attitude towards tourism of the Balinese people. The now omnipresent and most famous brands Facebook, Twitter, Instagram have worked their way into everyday life and have become a vast medium for the spread of information, entertainment and various other forms of content and are therefore widely represented in the tourist industry. It is through these social media networks that representations about a certain tourist destination are created and shared with a mass audience. Tourists often seek authentic experiences of traditional culture that are intensively promoted by government institutions, local tourist offices and other social media platforms such as travel blogs made by tourists from all over the world. “How does social media contribute to the construction of (staged) authenticity within Balinese culture and what is the significance of this in light of the Balinese philosophy Tri Hita Karana?”. The answer is best seen in the creation of the Kecak dance and the developments of the Tirta Empul temple. While the Kecak dance has been created as entertainment for tourists, it is very often presented as a traditional, cultural and historic performance, which becomes evident through the Instagram and travel blogs of tourists. The Balinese are thus effectively staging the dance as something authentic to their culture. However, it serves as good example of the Balinese Tri Hita Karana, by adapting in order to create a harmonious relationship between tourists and Balinese. Thus, one could in turn suggest that the Kecak dance can be seen as something authentic Balinese. The Tirta Empul temple is subject to the same process of harmonization, where tourists are allowed to enter and partake in the temple’s rituals. However, this temple is something inherently authentic, traditional, cultural, historic and sacred to Bali from the start, making the acceptance of unknowing tourists, who prioritize the aesthetic over substantive meaning, into this place a source of de-authentication. This also becomes clear when looking at the Instagram posts and travel blogs. Nevertheless, the same process of Tri Hita Karana that allows these tourists in this place, can be argued to turn such adaptation to foreigners into something authentically Balinese.Show less
Twelve centuries after his death, the Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi has become the best-selling poet in the United States and gathered a massive popularity globally, following the English...Show moreTwelve centuries after his death, the Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi has become the best-selling poet in the United States and gathered a massive popularity globally, following the English translations of his works. Today, numerous brands owe their name to Rumi. Although this trend started in the United States, in the Netherlands, too, the iconic figure of Rumi has been commodified. The aim of this thesis is to elaborate on how Rumi's contested identity is being claimed so as to befit brand identities in the Netherands. An in-depth Analysis of two cases within the Netherlands where Rumi's name served as an identity marker for marketing purposes will aid answering the question.Show less
This thesis researches the impact of tourism gentrification on the authenticity of a place. The research entails a comparison of the history of modern tourism and the history of gentrification....Show moreThis thesis researches the impact of tourism gentrification on the authenticity of a place. The research entails a comparison of the history of modern tourism and the history of gentrification. This analysis of gentrification is realised with the case study of Amsterdam’s city centre. Furthermore, the negotiation of authenticity is used to analyse the impact of tourism gentrification in Amsterdam. This is accomplished through analysing the policies set out by the Amsterdam municipality and is realised by understanding tourism incentives.Show less
The ability to print objects in three-dimensions is a new form of copying that has recently entered the art world. Even though we are familiar with the replication of art, there is a rising...Show moreThe ability to print objects in three-dimensions is a new form of copying that has recently entered the art world. Even though we are familiar with the replication of art, there is a rising awareness of the existence of replicating famous artworks through 3D printing for it offers something new compared to previous replication methods (e.g. photography and film). With 3D technologies it is possible to replicate both texture and the visual qualities of art at a high resolution including every minor detail at a very fast pace. Moreover, the prints are made of polymer, a material resistant to environmental changes. With the rapid speed at which technology has been developing in the twenty-first century it will only be a matter of time before 3D prints become more accurate, cheaper to manufacture and – because of the internet and social media – accessible to almost everyone. It is inevitable that a large quantity of high quality one–to–one replications of original artworks will be introduced on the art market, in museums and in people’s homes. This thesis tries to investigate what the existence of indistinguishable prints will mean for the perception and authenticity of the original artwork and whether or not 3D printing can be used in the advantage of the original as a tool to conserve the original. Furthermore this thesis touches upon the possibility of the authentication of the replica and what this will mean for the original work of art in the present and future.Show less
In 2001, the Chinese government officially recognized Zhongdian County in Yunnan Province as Shangri-La, which is a fictional concept that signifies paradise introduced by the British author James...Show moreIn 2001, the Chinese government officially recognized Zhongdian County in Yunnan Province as Shangri-La, which is a fictional concept that signifies paradise introduced by the British author James Hilton (1933). Ever since the region has been renamed, some visitors have started to express that Shangri-La County has transformed into a theme park and has lost its authenticity. The current essay explored, by using Bryman’s (2004) theory of Disneyization as a framework, whether it can be said that the name change into Shangri-La has changed the region into a theme park. The resources of this research were scholarly literature, travel blogs and TripAdvisor reviews about Shangri-La. Of the four principles mentioned in Disneyization, that all describe a trend common to a theme park, the principles of theming, hybrid consumption and merchandising were all found to be take place in the Shangri-La region. Only performative labor, as defined in the theory, was considerably less present in Shangri-La County. However, in regard to how Chinese theme parks (like Yunnan Ethnic Folk Village) function, such as the lack of smiling service, the principle of performative labor may still apply to Shangri-La. Thus, the result indicates that Shangri-La is comparable to a theme park and that how the theory of Disneyization is defined currently has no universal validity because it takes no cultural differences in account. Furthermore, in view of Jean Baudrillard’s (1994) account of postmodernism, Shangri-La is similar to a theme park in that they both create a hyper-reality in which a highly similar but ‘unreal’ reality is experienced by visitors through the processes of simulation or simulacrum. In this sense, the Shangri-La narrative has bestowed a frame by which tourists started to percept and experience the region’s authenticity. However, considering that Western tourists are predominantly the ones seeking authenticity in Shangri-La – may it be an authentic setting or an authentic self – it is their confrontation with the touristic environments like Dukezong that sways them to evaluate the region as a theme park. The voices of the local population and Chinese tourists were not brought into account in the current research; future research should therefore explore deeper how these groups’ experience the changes in Shangri-La County.Show less
This thesis focuses on the authenticity of Cuban music and compares the internal and external perception of this music. It does this by studying both several Cuban music groups, albums and songs...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the authenticity of Cuban music and compares the internal and external perception of this music. It does this by studying both several Cuban music groups, albums and songs such as Buena Vista Social Club and La Charanga Habanera. This thesis will make its argument in three chapters. The first chapter studies and critically analyzes the BVSC album and documentary in order to discuss foreign perceptions of Cuba. It compares BVSC to a similar music project named ‘Black August Hip-Hip Collective (BAHHC), which was made during the same time and was also founded by an American. The main argument of this chapter is that the foreign perception of Cuba is incorrect and biased. The second chapter examines the internal view of Cuba. It studies and critically analyzes a Cuban music group named ‘La Charange Habanera’, who released an album in the same year as BVSC, and is quite famous within Cuba. This chapter will then compare La Charanga Habanera to both the BVSC and the BAHHC projects. The main argument of this chapter is that the internal view on Cuba differs largely than the foreign perception. The last chapter will compare all three music projects and albums and will attempt to investigate and understand the extent to which all three projects can be seen as ‘authentic’ Cuban music. It will argue that the BVSC is authentic, despite its Euro centrism, the BAHHC less so and La Charanga Habanera is most authentic. The conclusion will provide an answer to the research question and will provide a further discussion on the material that has been debated throughout the paper.Show less
This master’s thesis focusses on fake objects within a museum context. Theoretical and practical methods are combined to create a complete overview of both proposed views on fake objects as well as...Show moreThis master’s thesis focusses on fake objects within a museum context. Theoretical and practical methods are combined to create a complete overview of both proposed views on fake objects as well as the practical ways fake objects are handled within museums in order to compare theory and practice. Theoretical research focusses on the way authenticity can be determined in archaeological objects, display methods of fake objects, and views on how fake objects should be handled. Practical research took place in the National Museum of Antiquities in the Netherlands, here curators and the director of the museum were interviewed about their stance on fake objects. Would a known inauthentic object be displayed in exhibitions? What prerequisites would a fake object have to meet to be displayed? What ways of determining authenticity take priority? Are fake objects handled in any way different from authentic objects? The museum database has been thoroughly searched for fake objects and whether or not they are mentioned to be fake at all, and in the case that they are, in which category of the database they are indicated to be fake. During research, it was discovered that the use of the database is mostly unstructured which means that the term fake might be in any category. As a result, it was possible to deduce where the employees of the museum thought it was best to mention the object was fake. Comparison between the database within the museum and the one open to the public from the website of the museum also provided insight into how much of this information is available to people outside of the museum. This thesis shows there are some fundamental differences between how authentic objects, and those objects that are seen as inauthentic are handled within the museum. First and foremost, within the database.Show less
This thesis takes as its subject Octavia Butler’s science fiction trilogy Lilith’s Brood which it reads in the context of the neo-slave narrative, using the theoretical framework of posthumanism as...Show moreThis thesis takes as its subject Octavia Butler’s science fiction trilogy Lilith’s Brood which it reads in the context of the neo-slave narrative, using the theoretical framework of posthumanism as its angle of inquiry. Most criticism concerning Lilith’s Brood fails to adequately address the discursive tension in the work between these two competing discourses: posthumanism and the neo-slave narrative. The alien invasion in Dawn for example is figured in highly contradictory terms. On the one hand it is cast in the historically grounded and emotionally charged, racialized terms of American slavery and oppression, on the other hand it is embraced as an occasion for a long overdue, radical transformation of the humanist subject into a posthuman one. The question of how these two discourses conflict and interact with each other is one that this thesis engages at length by analyzing the way Lilith’s Brood reconfigures three foundational concepts that are found in humanist philosophy – rationality, autonomy, and authenticity. According to posthumanism these virtues on which the humanist subject is founded delineate a narrow and exclusionary concept of the human. In Lilith’s Brood however they are reconfigured in order to extend to non-human creatures as well. At the same time this reconfiguration of subjectivity also more accurately describes the human condition when it is exposed in the light of posthumanism and stripped of its humanist pretentions. Each chapter takes one of the novels in the trilogy and demonstrates how it deconstructs one of these foundational concept: autonomy, authenticity and rationality. At the same time the themes of slavery and subjection run as a red thread throughout the work, at times corroborating Lilith’s Brood’s posthumanist message, at times problematizing it. In keeping these themes foregrounded the trilogy gives full expression to the struggle and danger that accompanies change, bravely acknowledging troublesome conclusions such as the inevitable inequality that haunts all power relations and the necessity of sacrifice.Show less
Recent decades have seen the development of a post-colonial museum praxis in which research and authority is shared between indigenous people and museums. With these new developments suggestions of...Show moreRecent decades have seen the development of a post-colonial museum praxis in which research and authority is shared between indigenous people and museums. With these new developments suggestions of collection management en restoration possibilities have made questions of authenticity within these ethnographic objects necessary. Authenticity is a concept which cannot be limited to several criteria, since questions concerning authenticity of objects van only be answered within their own cultural context. Developed definitions of authenticity are culture specific, and the application of western notions of authenticity to ethnographic objects poses difficulties. Since there is not one definition of authenticity which can be applied to ethnographic objects, research must be performed on an object per object basis, which makes this kind of research a costly one. This is emphasised by several museum professionals who have practical experience with these questions from a museum context. They emphasised the importance of cultural background and open communication with indigenous people in discovering the authenticity of collections and planning for future management. Questions of authenticity can only arise when there is the possibility that there is inauthenticity. Those inauthentic objects were at first thought to be hybrid objects; objects made within indigenous culture but using materials external to that society. The interviewed disagreed and stressed the importance of these objects in the understanding of contact between indigenous communities and cultural change within this modern world. Application of both the theories of authenticity and the opinions of the interviewed to two case-studies confirmed the difficulties of the concept of authenticity within ethnographic objects. From the case-studies it became clear that the objects could not be considered authentic on the criteria presented by Lowenthal in 1992. Although the concept of authenticity of context seemed to provide the best opportunities, it still did not consider the fact that in modern museum practice indigenous communities reengage with their ancestral objects in museum collections. This makes clear that for application to ethnographic objects new considerations of authenticity are necessary. As Gustaaf Verswijver stated during the interview, if indigenous people consider an object as authentic within their own cultural context, this view should not be contested within a museum context. The application of concepts and theories of authenticity to museum is a complex matter, but studies which are focussed on this topic will enrich not only knowledge about collections but also might be used to strengthen bonds between museums and source communities. Therefore it should be more common in museums to research all aspects of their collections authenticity.Show less
Master thesis | Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology (MSc)
open access
Set in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia, this thesis has examined the commoditization of the Ju/'hoansi San culture through cultural tourism. Tourists visit the Ju/'hoansi in order to...Show moreSet in the Nyae Nyae Conservancy in Namibia, this thesis has examined the commoditization of the Ju/'hoansi San culture through cultural tourism. Tourists visit the Ju/'hoansi in order to experience their traditional culture. They can experience how the Ju/'hoansi do hunting and gathering, observe their traditional dances and do bushwalks with them. However, what effect does this have on the culture, and more specifically on its authenticity? What does it mean that many Ju/'hoansi are no longer living the traditional life? Are they still interested in their own traditional culture? These and other questions will be discussed in this thesis. In this thesis I have mainly focused at the perspectives and perceptions of the Ju/'hoansi themselves.Show less
The relationship between archaeological heritage and the general public has been a recurrent theme in the archaeological discipline, were an increasing reliance on revenue streams in heritage...Show moreThe relationship between archaeological heritage and the general public has been a recurrent theme in the archaeological discipline, were an increasing reliance on revenue streams in heritage settings leaves archaeologists to wonder how to present archaeology in an accessible, visual, and imaginative manner to the public. The complexities of several visualisation media are discussed in a heritage setting: illustrations, scale models, theme parks and museums and digital media (3D models, serious gaming and Virtual Reality). It is found that the authenticity and interactivity are recurrent themes in archaeological visualisation. The first proves to be rather negotiable, and the latter has proven itself to be a powerful way to capture the attention of the audience. Finally, it is concluded that archaeology has a lot to gain from visualisation for the public, and although archaeologists and other heritage professionals focus mostly on 3D models and Virtual Reality, it would seem this is also true for the more traditional types of visualisation. This reminds us that all forms of visualisation are merely tools available to the archaeologist and heritage experts to select as needed and solve a particular heritage visualisation problem.Show less
