Several Belarusian artists began including re-appropriated folkloric imagery and art-making techniques in response to anti-dictatorial protests, which erupted in Belarus on May 24th, 2020 following...Show moreSeveral Belarusian artists began including re-appropriated folkloric imagery and art-making techniques in response to anti-dictatorial protests, which erupted in Belarus on May 24th, 2020 following the rigged elections. Rufina Bazlova was one such artist, who documented the protest events in The History of the Belarusian Vyzhyvanka (2020-2021). This digitally-native artwork was mechanically embroidered to mimic traditional Belarusian cross-stitch embroidery on linen shirts- vyshyvankas. Using Bazlova as a case study, this paper examines how, and to what extent, the interweaving of digital and folk-storytelling in contemporary Belarusian art contributes to the representation of a post-2020 Belarusian identity, perpetuated across mass- media since 2020. In exploring this investigation through Peircean semiotics and anthropological methodologies, this thesis shows: how folkloric imagery and material heritage contribute to a distinctly Belarusian identity through their indexical and symbolic meaning, which also gives them anti-colonial agency; and how their contemporary re-contextualisation within the digital creates a historical continuity between former oppositional identities and a uniquely digital, post-2020 identity. In doing so, this research targets a common misconception of a lacking Belarusian culture and identity.Show less
The fox in Japan has an image of either a benevolent or an evil being. This thesis examines this creature and creates awareness to the origin of this image. The image of the Indian Dakini, a...Show moreThe fox in Japan has an image of either a benevolent or an evil being. This thesis examines this creature and creates awareness to the origin of this image. The image of the Indian Dakini, a voluptuous demon, merged with the image of the benevolent kami Inari in Japan. Looking at stories about the fox, the thesis proves that this image of the fox could better be described as one of an 'in-between' animal, neither good nor bad in being. The fox acts according to the situation it is in and is mostly just a mischievous animal.Show less
In this thesis, I argue that the folklore in Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath is an active part of the landscape in which the protagonists live (Alderley Edge,...Show moreIn this thesis, I argue that the folklore in Alan Garner’s The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and The Moon of Gomrath is an active part of the landscape in which the protagonists live (Alderley Edge, Cheshire). I use Jung and Macfarlane to define the concepts of mythology and ecocriticism. Chapter 1 focuses on locality and the concepts of time and place. Bakhtin’s chronotope links archaeology to the imagination and to literature, which results in an analysis of the development of magic through place and time. This leads to the conclusion that Garner uses maps as time-machines. Chapter 2 applies my research to The Weirdstone of Brisingamen and discusses how the book uses landscape descriptions to create an awareness of local folklore and nature. All mythical creatures have their own place in the landscape, and the protagonists are pulled into the magical world through exploring this landscape. In chapter 3 applies these concepts to The Moon of Gomrath, in which not only the mythical creatures live in the landscape, but the landscape itself comes to life as the Old Magic, based on moonlight and natural energy, is woken. Both novels allow readers to be immersed in the landscape of the area without being there, and confirm that nature speaks to the imagination.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Film- en literatuurwetenschap (BA)
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De doppelgänger is een bekend figuur uit de literatuur, mythologie en folklore van alle tijden. Dubbelgangers treden doorgaans op als doodsbodes en een ontmoeting met een dubbelgangerfiguur geldt...Show moreDe doppelgänger is een bekend figuur uit de literatuur, mythologie en folklore van alle tijden. Dubbelgangers treden doorgaans op als doodsbodes en een ontmoeting met een dubbelgangerfiguur geldt dan ook als een slecht voorteken. In het werk van de Zweedse auteur August Strindberg keert het dubbelgangermotief opvallend vaak terug. In dit onderzoek wordt de evolutie en narratieve functie van het dubbelgangermotief in Strindbergs werk geanalyseerd. Waarom treedt juist dit motief zo vaak op bij Strindberg en op welke manier verhoudt het zich tot dubbelgangers in andere literaire werken?Show less
