In the People's Republic of China, the state takes a didactic approach towards the diffusion of media and forbids the depiction of homoerotic relationships on the big and small screen. Chinese web...Show moreIn the People's Republic of China, the state takes a didactic approach towards the diffusion of media and forbids the depiction of homoerotic relationships on the big and small screen. Chinese web series "The Untamed" (Chen Qing Ling 陈情令) however adapts a web novel containing an explicit homoerotic romance to public acclaim. This exploratory study examines how the directors of this series navigated government censorship and conveyed the homoerotic subtext between the two protagonists. In order to answer this, the thesis makes use of visual discourse analysis (divided into the layers of the image, the soundscape and the montage) on shot protocols as outlined as in Schneider (2012) while also building upon the theoretical frameworks of Van Leeuwen (1996; 2008), Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006) and Iedema (2004). The analysis is contextualized by a literature review spanning the topics of the history of homosexuality in China, the importance of representation and television, homosexual representation in the Chinese media landscape to end with the topic of the state approach to media and censorship mechanisms of web series. The thesis concludes that the directors successfully depicted homoerotic subtext by using a wide range of audio-visual and narrative techniques while leaving enough space for deniability, which might bring about more adaptations of such materials and influence public opinion about homosexual individuals.Show less
This thesis examines Manchester Art Gallery's 2018 Artist Takeover by Sonia Boyce in terms of curation. The removal of J W Waterhouse's painting Hylas and the Nymphs caused a media sensation and...Show moreThis thesis examines Manchester Art Gallery's 2018 Artist Takeover by Sonia Boyce in terms of curation. The removal of J W Waterhouse's painting Hylas and the Nymphs caused a media sensation and public backlash. This thesis analysis the context, causes and response to the event in terms of political interpretations of historic collections, fourth wave feminism, censorship and the influence of media on current day curatorial interventions. Ultimately the event can be seen as representative of a number of issues relevant to current day curation and has great value as a case study.Show less
Research master thesis | Asian Studies (research) (MA)
open access
This thesis analyses the legitimation strategies of the Chinese authorities on social media platform Sina Weibo during the COVID-19 epidemic. Through a combination of computational and qualitative...Show moreThis thesis analyses the legitimation strategies of the Chinese authorities on social media platform Sina Weibo during the COVID-19 epidemic. Through a combination of computational and qualitative methods, it first highlights how Weibo’s digital design directly benefits central information control objectives. It then builds upon a theoretical model of disaster legitimacy strategies to demonstrate how official media make use of this design in their legitimation strategies. These strategies include age-old and highly familiar nationalistic frames, a recurring emphasis on positive energy, and strategic engagement and disengagement. This combination not only legitimises the authorities’ actions, but also delegitimises critical discourses. Nonetheless, this power is not absolute, and this thesis also presents instances in which actors “within” the system present challenges for the central authorities and force them to manage and re-frame ambiguous discourses.Show less
This thesis focuses on the relation between Prime Minister Abe’s nationalist policy and how this has an influence on the rapidly declining press freedom in Japan, seeking a more comprehensive view...Show moreThis thesis focuses on the relation between Prime Minister Abe’s nationalist policy and how this has an influence on the rapidly declining press freedom in Japan, seeking a more comprehensive view of the role prime minister Abe plays in declining press freedom and the relation between declining press freedom and the Japanese broadcasting system. This thesis poses the following research question: To what degree does prime minister Abe’s use of a nationalistic policy agenda influence the rapid decline of press freedom in Japan since 2012, and how does this relate to the Japanese broadcasting system? As opposed to the general academic consensus which puts the blame of declining press freedom almost solely with Prime Minister Abe and his nationalistic tendencies this thesis argues and shows by using gatekeeping theory and identifying the Japanese government as gatekeeper and the Japanese media industry as being gated, that while prime minister Abe is a factor, the underlying problem that allows the decline in press freedom are the several ingrained weaknesses in the Japanese broadcasting system that make it so that officials in power and the government can abuse this to in effect maintain a stronghold over the media regardless of ideology or political position. Such weaknesses include the broadcasting law, ownership of broadcast licensing and the use and abuse of Kisha clubs.Show less
It has been five years since Xi Jinping introduced the concept of ‘Chinese Dream’ and it is still a hot topic, also online. While some scholars regarded this new concept of the Chinese Dream as a...Show moreIt has been five years since Xi Jinping introduced the concept of ‘Chinese Dream’ and it is still a hot topic, also online. While some scholars regarded this new concept of the Chinese Dream as a positive development for China, others considered it as a rather strategic narrative of the CCP to influence the image of China domestically and international (Boc, 2015; Callahan, 2015; Mahoney, 2013; Lu, 2015; Wang, 2016). However, most academic researches concluded that the concept ‘Chinese Dream’ is rather vague and does not imply for who it is meant (Li, 2015). As bloggers are also a part of the ‘citizen intellectuals’ that can reshape the future of China, I analyzed the blogposts of common users on the microblogging platform Sina Weibo and how they perceive this concept (Callahan, 2013; Gleiss, 2015). This thesis concludes that even though the government gives space to talk about the Chinese Dream, the narrative online is still lead by the Chinese government rhetoric.Show less
Hollywood has been the leading film industry in the cinematic universe for the past several decades. China on the other hand, has been one of the fastest rising economies during these same decades....Show moreHollywood has been the leading film industry in the cinematic universe for the past several decades. China on the other hand, has been one of the fastest rising economies during these same decades. China is one of the biggest markets for Hollywood to gain more exposure and income. However, the Chinese government has been known to influence society through the use of censorship. To research how Hollywood film studios cater towards the strict censorship laws of the CCP various (scholarly) sources media are studied. It is important to study the relationship between Hollywood and China because Chinese censorship influences what we see in all kind of films around the world.Show less
This thesis discusses the usage of animals as a means of satire in artwork of the late Edo period (1603-1868) . The research question is: What is the role of images of animals in satirical art of...Show moreThis thesis discusses the usage of animals as a means of satire in artwork of the late Edo period (1603-1868) . The research question is: What is the role of images of animals in satirical art of the late Edo period? I hypothesize that artists used animals in their prints to symbolize certain characters or events in a way that they could avoid censorship by the strict government. I also hypothesize that there is a reason for the choice to use certain specific animals and their symbolism to criticize certain events and historical characters. By examining sources that describe the artists life in Edo, texts about law (enforcement) and analyzing and interpreting works of art this thesis will establish a framework in which the reader will be able to understand the world of art in Edo Japan and the tools artists used to express certain opinions.Show less
China is under one-party authoritarian regime which requires the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to maintain legitimacy and social stability. In order to achieve that, the CCP and Chinese government...Show moreChina is under one-party authoritarian regime which requires the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) to maintain legitimacy and social stability. In order to achieve that, the CCP and Chinese government has been controlling public opinions towards the government and the regime. Since the intervention and popularization of internet into China, internet has broadened Chinese netizens’ outlook and deepen the understandings of the world. Weibo, the Chinese microblog, among online communities, is one of the most popularized internet virtual platforms in China. As an epitome of Chinese society in network age, the development and functions of microblog has no doubt changed not only daily life of Chinese citizens but also substantially changed the way of public participation mode and supervision mode of public affairs. The impact of microblog on possible social transformation and democratization in China has been a hot topic discussed by scholars but the verdict is yet to be reached. In addition, Chinese government realizing the importance and impact of online public opinion also joined the tide of microblog development and is adapting to the digital era to guide public opinion and do propaganda on microblog. Whereas, comparing to microblog’s impact utilizing by netizens, the impact and efficiency of government strategy on microblog is seldom discussed heretofore.Show less
Reading is an activity that is realised in a specific place and period by individuals with different backgrounds, interests, expectations, and degrees of literacy. Reconstructing reading and its...Show moreReading is an activity that is realised in a specific place and period by individuals with different backgrounds, interests, expectations, and degrees of literacy. Reconstructing reading and its different practices throughout history is therefore an elaborate task. This paper proposes the use of the 'reading spaces' model as a methodology to outline the reading possibilities for various social groups in specific historical periods and places. The study goes beyond the basic divide of the literate and the illiterate by considering a wider context and analysing the elements that can foster or limit reading. These influences have been determined through a review of existing historical reading studies and can be summarised into education, profession, socio-economic conditions, culture, and the legal and political system of any certain period. This particular approach to reading studies was developed as a method to study the activity of reading in seventeenth-century New Spain. The paper provides a theoretical framework for the reading spaces model as a basis and it then examines the various differentiators and conditions that influence reading in seventeenth-century colonial Mexico. Finally, it presents the analysis of three book inventories from that period and compares them to their corresponding reading spaces.Show less
This thesis explores the relationship between censorship of the authoritarian government of early modern Japan and the sharebon and kibyoshi sub-genres of gesaku literature, with reference to M.E....Show moreThis thesis explores the relationship between censorship of the authoritarian government of early modern Japan and the sharebon and kibyoshi sub-genres of gesaku literature, with reference to M.E. Berry's notion of the private public sphere (1998), and compares the situation of these literary sub-genres with the situation of ukiyo-e prints.Show less
