The 2017 Cool Japan exhibition held at the Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden had to translate the Cool Japan phenomenon in their exhibition. This phenomenon refers to the popularity of Japanese media...Show moreThe 2017 Cool Japan exhibition held at the Volkenkunde Museum in Leiden had to translate the Cool Japan phenomenon in their exhibition. This phenomenon refers to the popularity of Japanese media and the subsequently created image of Japan as a young, creative and harmless country. The exhibition took many key aspects of the dominant associations created by the phenomenon and used those in their exhibition structure. The exhibition was meant to recontextualize these images by providing cultural and historical context. This thesis tracks the actual contextualization of the exhibited images on two levels of meaning making. Firstly, it analyzed the exhibition on the level of sensuous experience, in which it was questioned how the exhibited objects were presented, both on their own and in relation to each other. It questioned the impact an object had and how it impacted the interpretive processes of the visitor. Secondly, it analyzed the exhibition on a textual level, questioning whether the supplied narratives would provide recontextualization. It also questioned what information was delegated to what type of text and whether nuance got lost in the object texts that often go unread. This thesis found that indeed the needed nuance and context often got lost in the exhibition’s bombast and distribution of key information in object texts. This leave the visitor the possibility of only reinforcing the often stereotypical impressions of Japan, fueled by the Cool Japan phenomenon. However, the exhibition did provide a platform for a multitude of different voices and perspectives. This created a more circumspect view of the many actors involved in the production, consumption and reconstruction of the Cool Japan phenomenon. It is an example of an ethnological exhibition that recognizes a complex web of (interpretive) communities that are all involved, one way or another, with such a cultural phenomenon.Show less
Perdiep Ramesar zoog als verslaggever bij Trouw jarenlang verhalen uit zijn duim. Na 5,5 jaar werd hij door de leiding van Trouw ontmaskerd. Na zijn ontslag verschenen opiniestukken, columns en...Show morePerdiep Ramesar zoog als verslaggever bij Trouw jarenlang verhalen uit zijn duim. Na 5,5 jaar werd hij door de leiding van Trouw ontmaskerd. Na zijn ontslag verschenen opiniestukken, columns en redactioneel commentaar over de kwestie, in Trouw en in andere kranten. In dat metadiscours – journalistiek over journalistiek - worden verschillende strategieën van paradigm repair gebruikt – het journalistieke paradigma wordt verdedigd. Trouw zelf probeert de imagoschade te repareren door haar eigen kwaliteiten te roemen en haar zelfreflectie te benadrukken, maar ook door verantwoordelijkheid te nemen en excuses aan te bieden. In het metadiscours van de Nederlandse kranten is echter meer te vinden dan alleen pogingen om de schade te repareren: er klinkt ook kritiek op het journalistieke paradigma en de kwestie heeft bij Trouw zelf geleid tot de aanstelling van een ombudsman.Show less
