Debates about the ownership of cultural heritage have been ongoing between colonizer and colonized countries. It has only been recently that the Netherlands has been reflective of its colonial...Show moreDebates about the ownership of cultural heritage have been ongoing between colonizer and colonized countries. It has only been recently that the Netherlands has been reflective of its colonial history and has returned 472 looted art objects back to Indonesia that came into Dutch hands during the colonial period. However, Indonesia has been requesting the return of cultural heritage objects since the 1960s, with its aim to support a new national narrative of the Indonesian state. The Netherlands has been unwilling to return objects due to a loss of power in the colonies and a loss of cultural control. This thesis explores the colonial thought and power structures that underlie the discourse on the restitution of colonial artifacts, such as in the case study of the Java Man remains. By performing an adaptation of a Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and employing concepts such as heritage, universal value, looted, and restitution, this thesis argues that the Dutch state and institutions, such as Naturalis, claiming ownership of the looted artifacts proves to reflect the presence of a lingering colonial way of thinking, where the West is thought of as superior in terms of scientific research and architecture. The exhibition Early Humans where the Java Man remains are stored and presented, lacks information regarding the excavation of the artifacts and the colonial context they were found in. The lack of information regarding the colonial history reaffirms the power structures of the museum, linked to their colonial past of collecting. By analyzing the discourse surrounding the remains, this thesis aims to add how such colonial thinking and power structures have been reinforced through the debate of cultural heritage ownership.Show less
During a great part of the twentieth century, the Lawa Railway connected Paramaribo with the interior of Suriname. This railway had been built by the Dutch to catalyse the emerging gold industry at...Show moreDuring a great part of the twentieth century, the Lawa Railway connected Paramaribo with the interior of Suriname. This railway had been built by the Dutch to catalyse the emerging gold industry at the turn of the twentieth century. However, gold finds soon dropped and the railway never became profitable. Therefore, the railway has often been described as a failure. This thesis trancends this failure rhetoric in terms of profit and instead looks at how the Lawa Railway functioned socio-economically. Through a paradigm of Alltagsgeschichte, I unraveled how the people of Suriname have used and repurposed the Lawa Railway. I argue that they primarily used the railway in three guises: to go to school, to recreate and to enhance their livelihoods. At the same time, the train was highly important for medical care. I found, for instance, that it functioned as a policlinic on wheels as well as an ambulance. This study shows how it is possible to transcend a colonial rhetoric of failure, by closely following the 'subject of failure'. Through a story of gold-mining, vending, recreating, illnesses and hardships in the jungle, I have in a holistic way exposed the socio-economics of life in Suriname in the twentieth century and presented a narrative in which the Lawa Railway is the main protagonist.Show less
The Dutch East India Company has been ascribed many faces and many colours during its existence, and these still echo throughout the public debate and national discourse. This thesis will...Show moreThe Dutch East India Company has been ascribed many faces and many colours during its existence, and these still echo throughout the public debate and national discourse. This thesis will contribute to new directions in the historiography of Dutch Empire by focusing on the Dutch East India Company governors and the narratives they communicated in the so-called 'Memories van Overgave', how these changed between 1700-1750, how these differed between three different regions: Bengal, Ambon, and Ceylon, and what the implications are for the organisational identity of the Dutch East India Company. In order to do so, this thesis employs a new analytical framework that positions the governor in the centre of two different relations: the relation he had to the institute he was a part of, and the relation he had with the proverbial 'other' he encountered. Everything combined, this will show the multi-faceted nature of the governors, the Dutch East India Company, and that the identity of the Dutch East India Company was not static, but flexible and ever-changing.Show less
From the very start of European involvement in East and Central Africa, Westerners were fascinated by the natural places and animals they encountered in this exotic continent. Tales from famous...Show moreFrom the very start of European involvement in East and Central Africa, Westerners were fascinated by the natural places and animals they encountered in this exotic continent. Tales from famous African explorers like Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingstone gave the impression of a dark and wild continent as opposed to the orderly and civilized Europe. In the early imperialistic period of Africa, European powers tried to implement their notion of nature to their colonial territories. That is to say, a strict division between what is considered nature and what is considered not. Through (neo)colonial ties a fabrication of nature has developed and affected the Sub-Saharan African landscape for more than 150 years. Colonial imposition of European ideas like the European hunting tradition, the Romantic notions about nature, imposition of economic development and wildlife conservation all had a lasting impact on the African continent. By means of colonization, but also long afterwards, Sub-Saharan Africa has thus been highly influenced by old Western notions about Africa's nature. This thesis sets out to discuss how the Western philosophy of the relation between human and nature has dominated and continues to dominate many places in Africa as Western conceptions of what nature is and what it is not are seemingly still present to this day and age.Show less
South Korea had started the official commemoration of certain parts of the Japanese occupation period as early as 1949, four year after the liberation of 1945. While certain parts of the occupation...Show moreSouth Korea had started the official commemoration of certain parts of the Japanese occupation period as early as 1949, four year after the liberation of 1945. While certain parts of the occupation period are commemorated, others are left out. In order to gain insight with regard to how the topic of the occupation period is generally portrayed in South Korea, the author has researched how the Japanese occupation period is presented in South Korean museums specifically by using three case studies: the Seoul Museum of History, the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and Seodaemun Prison History Hall. Within these museums the author specifically focused on the information panels that these museums displayed in their exhibitions, as well as information presented in the museums’ brochures and official websites. In examining these three collections, with a specific focus on the display of ‘text’, the author attempts to answer the question: “What can the portrayal of texts included in museum exhibitions on the occupation period teach us about the way this period is presented in South Korea?”Show less
Deze scriptie gaat over de diplomatie van Europese handelscompagnieën op het eiland Ceylon in de achttiende eeuw. Hij behandelt de Britse en Nederlandse reizen naar het hof van Kandy, waarvoor...Show moreDeze scriptie gaat over de diplomatie van Europese handelscompagnieën op het eiland Ceylon in de achttiende eeuw. Hij behandelt de Britse en Nederlandse reizen naar het hof van Kandy, waarvoor gebruik wordt gemaakt van vier uitgegeven Britse reisverslagen en vier Nederlandse VOC-bronnen uit het Nationaal Archief. Er wordt gekeken naar de overeenkomsten en verschillen in diplomatieke handelingen tussen de Britten en de Nederlanders aan het Kandische hof. De belangrijkste onderzochte hoftraditie was de prosternatie, oftewel de knielende eerbetuiging. Dit ritueel was bij de Europeanen niet populair, maar vormde een belangrijke vereiste om tot de Kandische vorst te worden toegelaten. Er wordt geconcludeerd dat de Britse gezanten zich nog veel traditie moesten leren kennen, terwijl de Nederlandse gezanten al meer ervaring hadden in de omgang met het hof. Om deze reden waren de Britse hofreizen aanzienlijk minder succesvol en bleef het Nederlands-Kandische bondgenootschap tot eind achttiende eeuw in stand.Show less
