This thesis analyzes two American novels as interventions in the cultural memory of slavery. By considering Toni Morrison's seminal novel Beloved (1987) and Nathan Harris's contemporary text The...Show moreThis thesis analyzes two American novels as interventions in the cultural memory of slavery. By considering Toni Morrison's seminal novel Beloved (1987) and Nathan Harris's contemporary text The Sweetness of Water (2021) as documents of cultural memory, this thesis argues that they contribute to an understanding of the history of slavery and reflect cultural changes in how it is remembered publicly.Show less
Over the past few centuries, multiple historiographical traditions have clashed over the study of Kerala history. Epistemological groups proposed here include archetypal historians who created...Show moreOver the past few centuries, multiple historiographical traditions have clashed over the study of Kerala history. Epistemological groups proposed here include archetypal historians who created original written histories with mythological elements, positivist historians who reject the mythological nature of the local histories, and post-structuralist historians who try to reconcile the useful historical data to be found in positivist and archetypal works. What has been lacking in this field has been a comparative study to explore the similarities and differences between these epistemologies, which this modest project seeks to present in the context of the historiographical 'journey' of Kerala's Cheraman Perumal legend. Concluding that there is a need for further post-structuralist study of the Cheraman Perumal, this project seeks to act as a call to action as an outsider to the field, to show why historians specializing in Kerala's history should be exploring the varied historiographical epistemologies to fill in the gaps in Kerala's history through previously ignored sources, specifically those of the Cheraman Perumal story.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
closed access
This thesis analyses the development of Ryukyuan narratives of political legitimacy under the influence of the imperial Chinese tributary system. For centuries, the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was...Show moreThis thesis analyses the development of Ryukyuan narratives of political legitimacy under the influence of the imperial Chinese tributary system. For centuries, the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was annexed by Meiji Period Japan in 1879 and is today divided among Japan's Okinawa and Kagoshima Prefectures, formed an important linking bridge between China and Japan, East Asia's two dominant political entities. Based on a close reading and partial translation of relevant passages from several historical documents, most notably the kingdom's two official histories Chūzan Seikan and Chūzan Seifu, the thesis investigates the socio-political shift in succeeding conceptualisations of Ryukyuan kingship, the monarch's political legitimacy, and the country's state doctrine that occurred from the late fifteenth and early sixteenth to the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.Show less
This paper sheds light on the fallacies and deficiencies underlying historicist methodology in the field of historiography. Through a case study of the canon of East African colonial history it is...Show moreThis paper sheds light on the fallacies and deficiencies underlying historicist methodology in the field of historiography. Through a case study of the canon of East African colonial history it is demonstrated that historicists methodology, which takes written documentation as the prime source of historical evidence, fails to adequately reconstruct a truthful, multifaceted and inclusive picture of East African colonial history as much of East African history is transmitted orally rather than in print. The historicists' erroneous claim to objectivity, scientific predictability and universal truths based on findings in written primary sources, is deconstructed by use of an alternative historiographical methodology: New Historicism. This paper shows how oral sources can be adequately historicised through a New Historicist lens, thus granting more complete narratives of East African colonial history. In short, it will be argued that the existing documentation of East African colonial history fails to adequately historicise the narratives of local subjectivities (the actual people who experienced colonial oppression) due to Eurocentric overemphasis on the appropriation of written sources rather than incorporating and establishing the value of the many ‘local subjective narratives’ preserved in oral traditions.Show less
This thesis focuses on the role of the Indonesian propagandist Sutomo (or Bung Tomo) during the Indonesian revolution in Surabaya, 1945, questioning the Dutch and Indonesian different perspectives...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the role of the Indonesian propagandist Sutomo (or Bung Tomo) during the Indonesian revolution in Surabaya, 1945, questioning the Dutch and Indonesian different perspectives and memory. Nowadays in Indonesia Sutomo is remembered as a hero, yet in the Dutch historiography he is often portrayed as a war criminal, responsible for inciting the masses to kill Dutch, Eurasians and other minorities. One Dutch testimony in particular holds him accountable for the brutal massacre in the Simpang Club. This case-study analyses the different views on Indonesian anti-colonial violence during the so-called "Bersiap-period" and how Bung Tomo became the personification of these brutalities for the Dutch memory in particular. How does the latter relate to the Indonesian positive memory of him? As such, the topic of this thesis also relates to the growing academic attention to the Bersiap, in which terminology (should we call it a genocide) and the possible trigger (why did it happen) are the main topics of discussion. The first section provides a brief historical outline from the pre-war colonial situation to the Japanese occupation and finally the capitulation on August 15th, 1945. To give a clear understanding of the variety of social and political factors that led to the violent outburst of the Bersiap. The second section traces the basic history of Sutomo and his place in Surabaya and the first two months of the revolution in September and October 1945. This includes an analysis of the horrible events inside the Simpang Club. The third section pays attention to the period after he established his organization BPRI, when he became internationally known as radio-maker, actively countering Dutch propaganda. This section aims to explore the possibility of a Dutch slander campaign against him and the subsequent impact of that on the later historiography and memory. The conclusion returns to the main question on how to make sense of the conflicting memories of Bung Tomo. The conclusion also touches upon the larger question regarding the responsibility for the Bersiap and whether the term genocide is appropriate in this case.Show less
Abstract in Dutch: In de negentiende eeuw speelden (wetenschappelijke) deugden een grote rol in het leven van wetenschappers zoals de kerkhistoricus Johannes Gerardus Rijk Acquoy en de Historicus...Show moreAbstract in Dutch: In de negentiende eeuw speelden (wetenschappelijke) deugden een grote rol in het leven van wetenschappers zoals de kerkhistoricus Johannes Gerardus Rijk Acquoy en de Historicus Robert Fruin. Deugden zoals onpartijdigheid, waarheidsliefde en ijver golden als belangrijke karaktereigenschappen en werden door leerlingen en collega’s geroemd, onder andere in necrologieën. Deze deugden droegen bij aan de vorming van de geesteswetenschappen in de negentiende eeuw omdat zij een kader vormden waarin wetenschappers houvast vonden terwijl de manier waarop zij werkten veranderde. Het cultiveren van bepaalde (epistemische) deugden stelde hen er toe in staat als waardevolle wetenschappers te functioneren. De scriptie onderzoekt welk ideaalbeeld van Fruin en Acquoy hun deugden, epistemisch, moreel, politiek en anders, er gevonden kan worden in de necrologieën geschreven door hun collega’s en leerlingen kort na hun overlijden en wát dit zegt over manier waarop we de functie van deze verschillende deugden, epistemisch en anders, zien binnen de wetenschappelijke wereld van de geesteswetenschappen in de tweede helft van de negentiende eeuw. In tegenstelling tot Herman Paul zijn suggestie dat deugden als onpartijdigheid, waarheidsliefde en ijver deel uitmaakten van een geleerdenethos, stelt deze scriptie dat de geleerde deugden niet alleen in wetenschappelijke context functioneerden, maar ook en juist, werden ingezet buiten die context. De scriptie stelt bovendien dat deze deugden, die zo’n belangrijke plaats innamen in de verwetenschappelijking van de geesteswetenschappen, niet alleen buiten een wetenschappelijke context functioneerden maar daar mogelijkerwijs ook oorspronkelijk gecultiveerd waren; in de burgerlijke wereld van de negentiende eeuw.Show less
Three remarkable minds shaped the computer world as we know it today. Douglas Engelbart invented the man-machine interaction system and Theodor Holm Nelson laid out the basic structure of hypertext...Show moreThree remarkable minds shaped the computer world as we know it today. Douglas Engelbart invented the man-machine interaction system and Theodor Holm Nelson laid out the basic structure of hypertext, which serves as the underpinning principle of the Internet. Both men were inspired by Vannevar Bush, the science advisor to president Roosevelt during World War II and an influential information theorist after that. The question is, were these authors already thinking about the future of humanism as an intellectual discipline? As it turns out, formative ideas for humanism in the computer were already present from the outset.Show less
This thesis investigates the authorship of the Dutch Beke continuation (written ca. 1420-1432). The chronicle is studied within the historical culture of the Low Countries and specifically the...Show moreThis thesis investigates the authorship of the Dutch Beke continuation (written ca. 1420-1432). The chronicle is studied within the historical culture of the Low Countries and specifically the episcopacy of Utrecht during the first half of the fifteenth century. Through the discourse the author displays, it is argued that he was working for the city council of Utrecht.Show less
