Master thesis | Classics and Ancient Civilizations (MA)
open access
This thesis examines the language, style and in particular the vocabulary of the Greek author Xenophon through an analysis of his vocabulary in two passages from his book Cyropaedia, aiming to gain...Show moreThis thesis examines the language, style and in particular the vocabulary of the Greek author Xenophon through an analysis of his vocabulary in two passages from his book Cyropaedia, aiming to gain a deeper understanding of Xenophon’s unique language, style and vocabulary. To this day Xenophon is renowned for his distinctive language, vocabulary and style. Previous scholarly research has provided various explanations for the peculiarities of his language, while much has been uncovered about his linguistic traits, there are still new insights to be discovered in Xenophon’s vocabulary today. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of Xenophon's vocabulary by analysing the attestation-patterns and usage of words in his works and exploring how style and context influence this. In this thesis I want to find the answer to the question: What are the characteristics and attestation-patterns of Xenophon’s language, style and in particular vocabulary and how does he vary his choice of language, style and words in different text-types?Show less
Alliance is a central aspect of any psychotherapeutic work. With the increasing cultural diversity within therapy encounters, the importance of cultural factors for alliance became more prominent....Show moreAlliance is a central aspect of any psychotherapeutic work. With the increasing cultural diversity within therapy encounters, the importance of cultural factors for alliance became more prominent. In that light, the effects of language, as one of the complex cultural aspects, have also been investigated. Available evidence indicates that differences in language use can significantly affect clients' emotional experiences in therapy. Nevertheless, the exact mechanisms of influence between language use, emotional expression, and alliance in therapy remain under-researched. The current research study, conducted in the Netherlands, investigates the influence of non-dominant language use and emotional expression difficulties on clients' alliance perceptions. 134 Dutch and International clients aged 18 to 59 completed the survey. Three groups were identified based on the language clients used in therapy. The alliance was measured using the patient version of California Psychotherapy Alliance Scales (CALPAS-P). Clients who used a non-dominant language did not experience more emotional expression difficulties than those using dominant or multiple languages. While there was no evidence for the mediation between non-dominant language use, emotional expression difficulties, and alliance ratings, more emotional expression difficulties still predicted lower alliance ratings. Despite the lack of support for the effects of non-dominant language use on emotions and alliance, the current study still adds to the exploration of language-related intercultural differences and their dynamics in therapy. Given the study's exploratory nature, the need for future studies is emphasized.Show less
With the drastic shift started by the Meiji Revolution in 1868 and the opening of Japan’s borders also came a need to create a national Japanese identity, and one of several ways to achieve this...Show moreWith the drastic shift started by the Meiji Revolution in 1868 and the opening of Japan’s borders also came a need to create a national Japanese identity, and one of several ways to achieve this was to create a standardised national language. Ueda Kazutoshi stood at the forefront of this movement, advocating for the conceptualisation of kokugo, the national language, and in turn educational reforms which would implement this national language for the improvement and modernisation of the Japanese empire. In the book, Kokugo no tame, he goes into further detail on how to achieve this. This thesis looks at how idealistic and influenced by nationalism Ueda’s Kokugo no tame is by reading, interpreting and finally reflecting on his writings found in the book, as there is discourse on its abstract nature and its achievability. This thesis finds that Ueda’s writings were heavily influenced by the new social context of Meiji Japan and its recent victory in the First Sino-Japanese War, and that with the limitations that nationalism and racialisation bring, it also put limits on the feasibility of Ueda’s envisioned kokugo. While achievable in some ways with concrete ideas on how to implement kokugo, and indeed Ueda’s writings did set up the foundation of language standardisation, it is also the caveats made by Ueda on how kokugo should be educated under nationalist terms which made it more difficult to bring it to fruition according to Ueda’s ways.Show less
The aim of this research was to find out whether a history of musical education could predict verbal fluency, when corrected for musical skills. Because the performance on verbal fluency tasks...Show moreThe aim of this research was to find out whether a history of musical education could predict verbal fluency, when corrected for musical skills. Because the performance on verbal fluency tasks seems to correlate with musical training (Silvia et al., 2016; Fennell et al., 2020; Zuk et al., 2014), this researched focused on proving the hypothesis that people who have had musical education perform better on verbal fluency tasks. Verbal fluency was measured by the performance on a phonetic verbal fluency task that was delivered digitally. Musical skills were measured by the performance on the Swedish Musical Discrimination Task (SMDT) (Ullén et al., 2014). Participants who indicated on the Musical Coping and Responsivity Scale (Ridell Di Lorenzo & Schaeffer, 2021) that they had at least 6 years of continuous musical education and were currently practicing an instrument were considered having a history of musical education. 127 participants (N = 127) completed the research. Of these, 98 participants did not have a history of musical education and 29 did. Verbal fluency was found to correlate significantly with the scores on the SMDT and with the years of musical education. Furthermore, musical skills were a predictor of verbal fluency, but having a history of musical education was not. When corrected for musical skills, a history of musical education could not predict verbal fluency.Show less
In this paper, ‘Internet memes’ will be analysed from the perspective of Ferdinand de Saussure’s model of linguistics and Roland Barthes’ theory of Post-Structuralism in order to prove that ...Show moreIn this paper, ‘Internet memes’ will be analysed from the perspective of Ferdinand de Saussure’s model of linguistics and Roland Barthes’ theory of Post-Structuralism in order to prove that ‘Internet memes’ are a kind of language. I will argue that ‘Internet memes’ can be seen as a language by comparing it to language structures as described in de Saussure’s model of linguistics. This comparison will showcase the similarities between regular language structures and the structures that ‘Internet memes’ are built from. Furthermore, by using the theory of Post-Structuralism, I will argue that ‘Internet memes’ as a language have an influence on culture and cultural practices such as art. Consequently, Holly Sweet’s Vine Tarot is used as a case study, or more specifically the card called The Lovers, which corresponds with the Two Bros Vine by Anthony Padilla, to show that ‘Internet memes’ are indeed as layered and complex as any language, and therefore influence cultural practices.Show less
Gender differences in academic performance have been debated for decades, mainly due to inconsistencies in research findings. It is prevalent that boys achieve higher grades in masculine subjects...Show moreGender differences in academic performance have been debated for decades, mainly due to inconsistencies in research findings. It is prevalent that boys achieve higher grades in masculine subjects and girls perform better in feminine subjects. This study aims to determine how these gender differences in school performance are related to self-perceived abilities. Moreover, it investigates whether the self-perceived abilities differ for boys and girls depending on the subject and whether it could explain the prevalent gender differences in school performance. In this context, self-perceived ability is defined as a judgment of personal capacity to execute given types of educational assignments. To test the hypothesis that gender is related to school performance and corresponding self-perceived ability mediates this relation, Dutch families with teenage children were home visited. In the home visits, among other things, questionnaires were conducted. About 95 families participated and provided information concerning recent school grades of their children and self-perceived abilities. The study chose three academic subjects: mathematics (typically coded masculine), language (typically coded feminine), and geography (neutral) to investigate. Three mediation analyses were performed to examine the relation between gender, self-perceived abilities, and school performance. Self-perceived abilities partly mediated the relation between gender and academic performance in language but not for mathematics and geography. Although not all hypotheses were confirmed, this study is an eye-opener for possibly creating more understanding of the emergence of gender differences in school performance. School performance has been considered a precondition for later academic success and, more generally, pursuing successful life paths. Therefore, the educational system should encourage opportunities in learning regardless of student gender. More future studies on the subject should be engaged.Show less
This thesis describes the linguistic innovations of pronominal self-reference and particle usage of cisgender women and third-gender (transgender, non-binary) speakers in Thailand, using Thai talk...Show moreThis thesis describes the linguistic innovations of pronominal self-reference and particle usage of cisgender women and third-gender (transgender, non-binary) speakers in Thailand, using Thai talk shows and series as a source of data. The study finds that both groups of speakers innovate self-reference strategies and index their gender/sexual identities through gender-neutral pronouns, zero anaphora, kinship terms, nicknames and the frequent use or avoidance of feminine forms. Additionally, the study looks into how other people refer to women and third-gender persons in a discursive context.First, this paper begins with an introduction to the relevant theoretical framework regarding language, gender/sexuality, and identity. Following that is background information concerning the current reconceptualizations of gender/sexual identities in Thailand. Next, the traditional Thai pronominal reference strategies and gendered status particles are introduced, followed by the case study about the pronominal self-reference strategies and other particle choices made by cisgendered women, transgender women, and non-binary persons in Thai talk shows and series. I conclude with a discussion of these innovative linguistic practices in the context of changing gender roles in Thailand, and of how speakers use these features to establish new gender identities in day-to-day interaction.Show less
Experimental approaches to sentence processing focus on localizing areas responsible for language comprehension in the brain oftentimes disregarding the role of time in both the construction and...Show moreExperimental approaches to sentence processing focus on localizing areas responsible for language comprehension in the brain oftentimes disregarding the role of time in both the construction and deconstruction of linguistic structure. Inspired by predictive coding and cue integration, this thesis proposes a theoretical framework for sentence processing where the hierarchical structure of language and its evolution over time profoundly influences its processing leading to time-contingent weighted integration of information. Essential to this theory is the assumption that the reliability of the internal representations generated by each level of linguistic analysis influences the gain of the predictions formulated by the other levels. Multivariate Pattern Analysis was used to compare the gain of semantic and phonological processing at two different timepoints in a sentence. Experiment 1 was the design of an EEG Multivariate Pattern Classification experiment where the classification accuracy of a phonological and semantic classifier for words in early and late positions in a sentence would be compared. We expected classification accuracy of the phonological classifier to be constant regardless of word position and a higher classification accuracy for the semantic classifier at later time points relative to the phonological classifier. Experiment 2 was a Representational Similarity Analysis of nouns in early and late positions from MEG audiobook data. When correlating Phonological and Semantic models with the data, no significant time windows were found. However, the presence of uncorrected clusters suggests the implementation of nested timescales as variations in temporal integration frequency.Show less
How did the distinct cultural, ethnic, and linguistic groups, who originated from valleys separated by natural barriers, and their cultural traditions, become one 'homogenous' constitutional monarchy?
This research considers Ellsworth Kelly’s Red Green as an artistic disruptive practice that contributes to the deconstruction of some of the hidden structures that form society as a group of...Show moreThis research considers Ellsworth Kelly’s Red Green as an artistic disruptive practice that contributes to the deconstruction of some of the hidden structures that form society as a group of individuals with a shared identity and common history. Ludwig Jäger’s approach to disruption has been the trigger to believe that the colours red and green could be unveiling the raw medium that relies under Kelly’s final message. However, the problem arises when realising that the message depends on the individual who reads it and their concepts of colour. For this, the paper has elaborated on colours’ faculty to evoke emotions by focusing on their cultural associations, which might have shaped those feelings like collective experiences with coloured objects or different definitions of colours. Here language becomes of great importance for the investigation. Besides, for the purpose of narrowing the context of disruption, imagined scenarios of disruption have been taken into account, allowing the concept of imagination to support the research. For this, the notions of the colours red and green have been explored in order to provide a deeper understanding of Ellsworth Kelly’s Red Green while considering the extent to which imagination plays a role in disruption. Then, the paper evidences the reciprocal relationship between language and imagination and reaches the conclusion that language ensures the continuation of society’s power structures. Nonetheless, it is suggested that language could be, at the same time, the tool that allows the creation of new imagined scenarios.Show less
Visual perception is combinatorial: we perceive objects as composites of their physical features, rather than whole entities (for example, a green square and a red square are seen as objects with...Show moreVisual perception is combinatorial: we perceive objects as composites of their physical features, rather than whole entities (for example, a green square and a red square are seen as objects with similar forms, rather than two unrelated shapes). Language is similarly combinatorial: sentences can be decomposed into words, describing aspects of meaning as separate entities. In this study we used artificial language and a visual search paradigm to examine whether combinatorial language can influence low-level visual perception. We predicted that items with combinatorial names (syllables referring to the features of the items) will initially take longer to learn than those with non-combinatorial labels (arbitrary names), but will become easier to identify over time. We also predicted that combinatorial names will be remembered better. There was no significant interaction of block and condition for reaction time and accuracy. As predicted, recall was higher for combinatorial labels in the combinatorial to non-combinatorial ones. We also found an interaction effect between set size and condition, which demonstrates that combinatorial labelling is processed differently than non-combinatorial labels. Overall, our findings support the idea that learning combinatorial labels is more cognitively demanding and requires more conscious computation compared to the associative recall of non-combinatorial labels.Show less
(Domesticated) animals play a remarkable role alongside human characters in the novel 'De geluiden van de eerste dag' (1975), by Dutch author Anton Koolhaas. In dominant anthropocentric discourses...Show more(Domesticated) animals play a remarkable role alongside human characters in the novel 'De geluiden van de eerste dag' (1975), by Dutch author Anton Koolhaas. In dominant anthropocentric discourses subjectivity (the active, desire driven perception and experience of reality) and individuality of non-human animals often get erased. However, this doesn't seem to be the case in 'De geluiden van de eerste dag'. In this thesis, I aim to formulate an answer to the question: 'Does the novel 'De geluiden van de eerste dag', by Anton Koolhaas, represent and thematize an anti-anthropocentric human-animal-relationship?' This study shows that the novel attributes agency and subjectivity to non-human animals, while (to a certain extent) respecting their species-specific susceptibilities, modes of communication and behavior. Overall the novel takes an ethical stance against mechanical animal exploitation and promotes an empathic relationship to other animals. I draw specific attention to the way aggression is connected to agency, the constitution of the subject and to the creative act of taking up space (Umwelt). I also emphasize how language and anthropomorphism (in and via literature) contribute to the constitution of subjectivity, agency and individuality of non-human and human animals.Show less
The dissertation argues that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, George Orwell’s 1984, and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale comment on the interdependence between language and identity through...Show moreThe dissertation argues that Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, George Orwell’s 1984, and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale comment on the interdependence between language and identity through their respective fictional dystopic regimes’ exploitation of language and the consequential identity development of their nonconformist characters.Show less
Bachelor thesis | South and Southeast Asian Studies (BA)
closed access
It is a sensitive question for many Tibetans nowadays what the use and thereby the survival of the Tibetan language could or could not mean for the preservation of a Tibetan cultural identity and...Show moreIt is a sensitive question for many Tibetans nowadays what the use and thereby the survival of the Tibetan language could or could not mean for the preservation of a Tibetan cultural identity and the survival Tibetan Buddhism.Show less
Elaine Scarry’s The Body in Pain: the Making and Unmaking of the World (1985) proposed an analysis of pain and the concepts of language, imagination, subjectivity, social isolation. This thesis...Show moreElaine Scarry’s The Body in Pain: the Making and Unmaking of the World (1985) proposed an analysis of pain and the concepts of language, imagination, subjectivity, social isolation. This thesis examines the link between language and pain in relation to Scarry’s assumption that it is extremely hard to accurately describe sentient pain in verbal and written forms of expression. Despite pain’s resistance to language, language holds the healing potential of softening pain. The process of “externalization” (the act of externalizing one’s pain into the material world outside the painful inner existence) is a starting point from which the treatment of pain can begin. However, in order to carry out the externalization, one has to express pain in language. I employ three case studies in order to determine whether Scarry’s assumption about pain’s resistance to language can be overcome: Leo Tolstoy’s novel The Death of Ivan Ilyich, Alphonse Daudet’s collection of personal notes In the Land of Pain and a scientific instrument– the McGill Pain Questionnaire. The thesis employs a multidisciplinary approach to pain in which cultural, social and biological aspects are taken into account. It also seeks to re-evaluate the single label of ‘pain’ and proposes to view pain as a multitude of experiences.Show less
This thesis investigates through terminological and historical research violence metaphors used in photography language, such as 'the camera as the gun' and 'the photographer as the hunter.'
