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
In the course of history, the once reverent and humble man, subordinated to natural forces has changed his relationship to his natural environment, leading to our current geological age, in which...Show moreIn the course of history, the once reverent and humble man, subordinated to natural forces has changed his relationship to his natural environment, leading to our current geological age, in which human activity is the dominant force on climate, earth’s geology and ecosystems. The depiction of man’s relationship to nature has been expressed in countless representations of landscapes within the discipline of the arts, nevertheless, the Land Art movement, which originated around the 1960s in the US took this artistic approach to the theme of the landscape on a whole new level, by incorporating their vision into already existing, physical landscapes. American artist Alan Sonfist was one of the first artists to engage with those human-centred changes in our behaviour with nature, by producing Time Landscape in the city of New York. The project had been proposed to the municipality of New York City already in the year 1965, however, it took almost thirteen years to realise due to difficult negotiations. Time Landscape, a project which still exists in downtown Manhattan today and recently turned fifty years old, is an attempt to recreate a pre-colonial forest that once existed on the same site before man’s interference into the natural landscape. Serving on the one hand as a memorial to extinct species of plants, vanished due to urbanisation, and on the other hand as a visual inspiration for renewing the city’s natural environment, it is an artwork that reflects ecological concerns towards the well-being of the planet, which has been endangered by a changing relationship between man and nature.Show less
Bachelor thesis | Griekse en Latijnse taal en cultuur (BA)
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In dit eindwerkstuk heb ik geprobeerd het gedicht De reditu suo van Rutilius Namatianus te koppelen aan theorieën over landschap, aan de hand van de vraag, hoe Rutilius omgaat met het landschap...Show moreIn dit eindwerkstuk heb ik geprobeerd het gedicht De reditu suo van Rutilius Namatianus te koppelen aan theorieën over landschap, aan de hand van de vraag, hoe Rutilius omgaat met het landschap waar hij doorheen reist. Op twee verschillende niveaus heb ik geprobeerd te beschrijven hoe deze omgang in De reditu suo plaatsvindt. Op macroniveau zien we een aantal contrasten, die als een soort thema’s door het gehele gedicht lopen. Analyse op microniveau biedt de mogelijkheid om de afzonderlijke plaatsen die Rutilius bezoekt los te halen uit de langere lijn van het reisnarratief, en zo te bekijken hoe de plaatsen als mnemotopen functioneren.Show less
The thesis argues that the concept of landscape fails to do justice to the experience of it. Through an analysis of the concept and of its origins, it locates the presuppositions of the concept in...Show moreThe thesis argues that the concept of landscape fails to do justice to the experience of it. Through an analysis of the concept and of its origins, it locates the presuppositions of the concept in its understanding of self and world. A phenomenological approach reveals that current understanding of landscape perpetuates the distinction of subject and object, disabling the experience of being in a landscape. Drawing on the later works of Husserl and Heidegger, the concluding chapters works towards an understanding of landscape as awareness of earth.Show less
Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
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The aim of this thesis is to achieve a wide study of Sheik Abd el Qurna during the XVIII Dynasty, not only through traditional approaches –quantitative analysis and prosopographical research–, but...Show moreThe aim of this thesis is to achieve a wide study of Sheik Abd el Qurna during the XVIII Dynasty, not only through traditional approaches –quantitative analysis and prosopographical research–, but also through the landscape archaeology perspective in order to understand the development and the importance of this area. In order to do so, the methodological approach must be multidisciplinary. Quantitative analysis will be applied in order to understand the architectural development of the tombs. The prosopographic analysis will contribute to the identification of social relations and influences within the necropolis. Lastly, the landscape archaeology perspective will help us to understand the necropolis as an holistic element within ancient Egyptian beliefs. Understanding the necropolis as a whole, where all tombs shaped a large complex that ended up working as a sacred space, is necessary in order to give a semiotic meaning to landscape; a perspective not deeply studied yet. The symbolic complexity of Ancient Egyptians has been widely studied through its iconography or through its artistic elements but we have forgotten their own environment. Landscape is foremost a symbolic construction, a reference system where the different activities of a community acquire sense. Landscape is not a pre-existing reality, but a social and historically shaped one. This multidisciplinary approach will contribute to the understanding of the whole necropolis and also the role that Sheik Abd el-Qurna played in its development. Linking together the great material record of the funerary area with the symbolic thinking of Ancient Egyptian will create a wider insight into the Theban necropolis.Show less
Master thesis | Theology and Religious Studies (Master)
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In this thesis social-anthropological theory about pilgrimage is applied to a case of pilgrimage in antiquity, as described in the Hieroi Logoi of Aelius Aristides, a autobiographical series of six...Show moreIn this thesis social-anthropological theory about pilgrimage is applied to a case of pilgrimage in antiquity, as described in the Hieroi Logoi of Aelius Aristides, a autobiographical series of six books. It aims to show how the theory can help understand pilgrimage in antiquity better, in this case from the viewpoint of landscape, movement and narrative. By studying the text through close reading, conclusions were formulated about the influence of the illness on Aristides' pilgrimages and about the usefulness of the theories used.Show less
Research master thesis | History: Societies and Institutions (research) (MA)
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Beginning under the Flavian dynasty, large quantities of river personifications start to appear in Roman art and coinage, a trend which lasts until the third century A.D. These images are often...Show moreBeginning under the Flavian dynasty, large quantities of river personifications start to appear in Roman art and coinage, a trend which lasts until the third century A.D. These images are often regarded as little more than fashionable decorative items. This thesis argues however that, far from being merely decorative pieces, river personifications give us a unique insight in Roman ideas on geography, imperial power and civilization.Show less
