Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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The purpose of this dissertation is to establish to what extent the wolf and the hunter in Little Red Riding Hood stories have, over time, developed into complex characters that will allow for a...Show moreThe purpose of this dissertation is to establish to what extent the wolf and the hunter in Little Red Riding Hood stories have, over time, developed into complex characters that will allow for a wide variety of masculine role models. To achieve this, four versions of the tale have been analysed and compared: “Le Petit Chaperon Rouge” by Charles Perrault, “Rotkäppchen” by the Brothers Grimm, “The Company of Wolves” by Angela Carter, and Princess of the Silver Woods by Jessica Day George. This dissertation is meant as an addition to the existing feminist discourse on gender and fairy tales and the theoretical framework exists mainly of historical context to Perrault’s version of the story, Judith Butler’s theory of gender as a construct, Alexander Boon’s definition of the hero figure as masculine role model, and Riki Lane’s views on the relation between nature and nurture. Concluded, these male role models have become more complex, but they still offer only a limited array of masculine role models accepted by contemporary mainstream culture. It is important for this to change and more research into this topic is advisable.Show less
This essay will focus on the ways in which the house, and indeed the right to own property, shaped female experience in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1843), The Spoils of Poynton (1897) and Howard’s...Show moreThis essay will focus on the ways in which the house, and indeed the right to own property, shaped female experience in The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1843), The Spoils of Poynton (1897) and Howard’s End (1910). The relationship between houses and female power will be explored through three chapters. The first will focus on The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and will examine the relevance of the house as a physical space within women’s lives. The second will look at The Spoils of Poynton in the context of female homelessness, shedding light on the importance of the female home in wielding power, as women without property are left disenfranchised throughout, as well as the precarious nature of female inhabitance of the home. The third and final chapter will examine Howard’s End in light of this. Women, able to take full ownership of the home, are able to exert control over their environment and exercise a relatively high degree of independence. Howard’s End, then, I will examine in terms of legal female ownership of the house and female inheritance. This essay will examine the role of the house in female agency within the novel, and how these novels emerge from, and form part of, the shifting political, social and legal context of the 19th Century.Show less
Focusing on second-wave feminism, this thesis explores the representation of gender and the expression of the predominant feminist ideas in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (1969),...Show moreFocusing on second-wave feminism, this thesis explores the representation of gender and the expression of the predominant feminist ideas in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), Joanna Russ’s The Female Man (1975) and Pamela Sargent’s The Shore of Women (1986).Show less
In this thesis, I am going to interrogate what might be meant by ‘feminism’ in the 1810s, what Austen might have understood by it, what we now understand by it and how we might apply those ideas to...Show moreIn this thesis, I am going to interrogate what might be meant by ‘feminism’ in the 1810s, what Austen might have understood by it, what we now understand by it and how we might apply those ideas to Austen’s fictions. I shall argue that, although Austen uses the rather conservative genre of the courtship novel, or according to Marilyn Butler, the conservative partisan novel, she employs this genre to subversively express her radical ideas (Butler 3). I shall explore the idea that Austen rarely made her views explicit in her work, due to the prejudice that was attached to feminist opinions at the time due to the life story of Mary Wollstonecraft; I shall trace the effect of Wollstonecraft’s biography on Austen in the next chapter. By investigating different aspects of the family in Austen’s novels, I shall demonstrate how Austen did express her ‘feminist’ opinions through her works, albeit subversively. In particular, I shall examine the weakness of authority figures in her novels. The weakness of these authority figures allows Austen’s heroines to exert more power and therefore have a greater sense of their own agency. I shall further argue that Austen employs the weakness of authority figures in her novels to inspire more feminist behaviour in her heroines, who are not the ‘perfect’ image of Georgian femininity but are nevertheless, as is clear to the reader, favoured over the other characters by Austen. I attempt to show that Austen’s ‘feminist’ tendencies can be seen in her praising her heroines beyond all other characters while these are the characters that display the most agency and therefore are seen to possess ‘masculine’ properties.Show less
Since the beginning of the 1980s, much debate in the jurisprudential literature on freedom of speech has been about the (alleged) right to produce and publish pornography. Law professor and...Show moreSince the beginning of the 1980s, much debate in the jurisprudential literature on freedom of speech has been about the (alleged) right to produce and publish pornography. Law professor and feminist Catherine A. MacKinnon produced an interesting argument to justify censorship: pornography itself silences women (and we are allowed to silence silencing speech). This thesis seeks to investigate this normative defence of the 'silencing of the silencing', particular in the form promulgated by Rae Langton from the 1990s on. It argues that Langton and other feminists are right to conclude that free speech implies more than a mere 'right to locution' -- there must also be a right to be heard. Yet, it puts into question the premise that that fact alone could justify a censorship. That usually constitutes an offence against the spirit of autonomy, one of the main reasons to accept free speech in the first place.Show less
In the past decades, great improvements have been made in relation to the societal position of women. However, non-Western women artists are still forced to face double colonization due to the...Show moreIn the past decades, great improvements have been made in relation to the societal position of women. However, non-Western women artists are still forced to face double colonization due to the application of patriarchal and Orientalist discourses in relation to the interpretation of their art, and the artists themselves. Since the 1980s, Chinese women artists have experienced increased recognition both in the mainland and internationally, however, they are still not freed from orientalism and patriarchy. This research focuses on the reality of China and—through close reading—examines the interviews with two Chinese women artists, Chen Lingyang and Lin Tianmiao which are then juxtaposed with claims of scholars, art critics, and curators. By incorporating the insights from theories of feminism, postcolonialism, and intersectionality, the presence of structural discourses can be revealed and used to identify ongoing oppression directed towards Chinese women artists. The thesis aims to contribute to the discussion about Chinese women artists and to challenge this oppressive reality which can potentially lead to an effective change in terms of avoiding patriarchal and Orientalist interpretations of these artists and their works.Show less
This paper engages in the debate on the banning of the burkini in coastal resorts in France in 2016. It uses this case study to assess whether there has been a change in attitudes towards Muslim...Show moreThis paper engages in the debate on the banning of the burkini in coastal resorts in France in 2016. It uses this case study to assess whether there has been a change in attitudes towards Muslim women in the country. The findings suggest that whilst perceptions remain similar there is now more open opposition towards women wearing Islamic veils. The history of France’s relationship with Islam, especially in regards to women, is used to put into perspective the 2016 bans. The differences between these prohibitions in comparison to previous laws regarding Islamic veils in France, but also the underlying similarities are analysed. Furthermore, the case study of France will be expanded EU-wide and will deliberate on the future of such restrictions to female Muslim dress.Show less
This thesis describes the evolution of the characters of Guinevere and Morgan le Fay throughout Arthurian literature in the Middle Ages and the twentieth century, and analyses how Guinevere and...Show moreThis thesis describes the evolution of the characters of Guinevere and Morgan le Fay throughout Arthurian literature in the Middle Ages and the twentieth century, and analyses how Guinevere and Morgan le Fay are depicted in the television series "Merlin" and "Camelot", comparing the shows' versions to their counterparts from medieval and modern times and elaborating on how they fit into the contemporary trend of portraying "strong females characters" in modern fantasy.Show less
In the late sixties and early seventies the myths of motherhood, the stereotypical ‘eternal feminine’ and a caricutural or dismissive understanding of women’s physiology were elements of an...Show moreIn the late sixties and early seventies the myths of motherhood, the stereotypical ‘eternal feminine’ and a caricutural or dismissive understanding of women’s physiology were elements of an underlying ideology which hampered the achievement of full equality for women. This thesis investigates the subversive nature of these myths in a literary analysis of three dystopian novels by women authors published in this period. It also draws on the key ideas of major women theorists central to feminism’s ‘second wave’. Examining the dystopias of Angela Carter’s Heroes and Villains (1969), Pamela Kettle’s The Day of the Women (1969) and Emma Tennant’s The Time of the Crack (1973), I argue that that the possibilities open to the female characters to (re)claim their womanhood are not only undermined by their inability to recognize the deceptive facets of the myths of femininity fabricated in patriarchal societies, but also by their own unwillingness to renounce the dubious privileges that these myths bestow on the stereotypical female.Show less
Master thesis | Theology and Religious Studies (Master)
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This MA-thesis deals with a highly fascinating topic in the domains of religious, literary, and cultural history. It is ambitious in its attempt to approach the topic of marriage and divorce in the...Show moreThis MA-thesis deals with a highly fascinating topic in the domains of religious, literary, and cultural history. It is ambitious in its attempt to approach the topic of marriage and divorce in the fin de siècle from the perspective of contemporary fiction in close alliance with religious and social dimensions of the issues. Given the fact that, as far as the topic of marriage and divorce goes, religion is quite understudied in literary research, this is an effort to bring these disciplines together in one thesis. Central to the thesis is the work of the prominent Dutch feminist Cecile de Jong van Beek en Donk who underwent a radical change from feminism to orthodox Catholicism. Whereas the first novel discussed in this thesis (Hilda van Suylenburg, 1897) has been the object of literary and feminist studies, the second novel (Bij de waskaarsen, 1929/30), stemming from the novelists’ Catholic phase of life, has been largely neglected up till today. To discuss these two interesting novels together is quite an original aspect of this thesis.Show less
Het werk 'A Little Taste Outside of Love' (2007) van de Afro-Amerikaanse kunstenaar Mickalene Thomas bekeken vanuit het perspectief van de (fe)male gaze, het tweede- en derdegolfs feminisme en in...Show moreHet werk 'A Little Taste Outside of Love' (2007) van de Afro-Amerikaanse kunstenaar Mickalene Thomas bekeken vanuit het perspectief van de (fe)male gaze, het tweede- en derdegolfs feminisme en in vergelijking met het werk van andere hedendaagse Afro-Europese en Afro-Amerikaanse kunstenaars.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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Eén van de meest geadapteerde boeken uit de literaire canon is Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Naast traditionele bewerkingen, zijn er recentelijk ook bewerkingen verschenen die het verhaal naar...Show moreEén van de meest geadapteerde boeken uit de literaire canon is Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. Naast traditionele bewerkingen, zijn er recentelijk ook bewerkingen verschenen die het verhaal naar de 21ste eeuw verplaatsen. Ik wil twee van deze bewerkingen onderzoeken, namelijk de young adult romans Catherine van April Lindner en The Heights van Brian James. Hierbij wil ik me richten op het personage Isabella Linton.Show less
Within the filmic landscape, the male gaze has always had the upper hand. Films are generally made by men, for men and although this may seem as something from the past, it is still the case. There...Show moreWithin the filmic landscape, the male gaze has always had the upper hand. Films are generally made by men, for men and although this may seem as something from the past, it is still the case. There is an imbalance between the presence of women and men in film, how they are presented and, more importantly, who the films are made for. Within this thesis I want to explore this further and see how this lack of equality has influenced the possibility for identification with the characters on screen by the female spectator. With this I want to focus on the female (super)hero as she is up and coming, but struggling to truly settle in within the male genres of film. I want to try to discover whether her presence has made a difference for the female spectator and if she is someone to they can identify with, as this has for the most part been difficult to do in the past. Moreover, I want to look at what female heroes have been important over the past decade and whether they have changed the gender imbalance or have kept it intact, only seemingly changing things on the surface but not on a deeper level. What possibility for identification have they been able to offer to the female spectator?Show less
In her book Borderlands (1987), Gloria Anzaldúa reconstructs the mythology of the indigenous people of the U.S. to serve her feminist purpose of empowering women. More particularly, Anzaldúa means...Show moreIn her book Borderlands (1987), Gloria Anzaldúa reconstructs the mythology of the indigenous people of the U.S. to serve her feminist purpose of empowering women. More particularly, Anzaldúa means to inspire Chicana women to rebel against the double oppression they endure from Mexican-American (Chicano) culture as well as from the dominant American society. Anzaldúa finds a way to transform the borderlands, the marginal space in which Chicana women live, into a space that grants herself and other women the power to construct their own identities. She recreates legends and mythical figures from ancient Aztec culture that other Chicana women can relate to and draw strength from. Sandra Cisneros, one of the Chicana writers inspired by Anzaldúa, in her short story sequence Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories (1991) draws on Anzaldúa’s reconstructed feminist mythology. By connecting these legends with the female protagonists in her story, Cisneros enables empowerment for the latter.Show less
Revolutions against racism, militarism and sexism organized by the New Left characterized the political landscape in the United in the sixties and seventies of the last century. Within these groups...Show moreRevolutions against racism, militarism and sexism organized by the New Left characterized the political landscape in the United in the sixties and seventies of the last century. Within these groups of the New Left, women played an important part and stood side by side along their male companions. Their voices, however, are overlooked and their experiences have only been researched in general terms. This paper focuses on the American Weather Underground organization and discloses the personal opinions and experiences of three Weatherwomen, Susan Stern, Cathy Wilkerson and Bernardine Dohrn, through autobiographies and video recordings. At the hand of the new social movement theory, a multi-faceted approach for a more thorough and less-biased understanding of this radical left-wing organization, it becomes clear that the activities of the Weather Underground were not that progressive towards women’s issues as they claimed to be.Show less
Upon first impression, the so-called anti-feminist ranting in lines 2414 to 2428 of the fourteenth century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight appears patently misogynistic; however, in analyzing...Show moreUpon first impression, the so-called anti-feminist ranting in lines 2414 to 2428 of the fourteenth century poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight appears patently misogynistic; however, in analyzing the poem as a whole using Dominique Battles's pre-Conquest and post-Conquest dichotomy together with a close analysis of the linguistic and specifically the semantic qualities of the speech in relation to the rest of the text, it is possible to view this ostensibly anti-feministic diatribe in a new light. In this thesis, it is argued that this uncharacteristically gruff speech that the otherwise courteous Sir Gawain articulates can be placed in the category of cursing or swearing, where the literal meaning of the words are given less valuation than the underlying semantic conveyance of an emotional and psychological catharsis.Show less
