With the demise of communism as a unifying ideological force, the contemporary Chinese leadership is in a rather dire situation. As economic performance alone proves insufficiently capable of...Show moreWith the demise of communism as a unifying ideological force, the contemporary Chinese leadership is in a rather dire situation. As economic performance alone proves insufficiently capable of binding all citizens in the PRC territory to its political center, China's leaders have turned to nationalism for the solution. A major problem with promoting nationalism as a state-sponsored and state-guided ideology is that it too easily slides down to just being chauvinism for and by the majority Han ethnicity. The danger here is that this will alienate China's numerous so-called ethnic minorities. This thesis looks at one of the possible solutions to this existential problem to the Chinese nation state. The promotion of "zhonghua minzu" as a method of detaching ethnic connotations, and attaching more political connotations, to Chinese nationalism is the focus of the present work. It deals with efforts by the Chinese leadership since the rise of Xi Jinping to the position of Chairman to instill a sense of being Chinese in all China's citizens without depending on rhetorics of common blood, language, or religion. The author has tried to assess, and to an extent predict, the meassure of success these policies may have in keeping the PRC a unified nation and state.Show less
Of all the conflicts which erupted throughout the twentieth century the Second Sino-Japanese War ranks amongst the most controversial, as it is to this day the source of much debate and deeply...Show moreOf all the conflicts which erupted throughout the twentieth century the Second Sino-Japanese War ranks amongst the most controversial, as it is to this day the source of much debate and deeply affects the dynamics of power in East Asia. After the end of World War II, Japan was forced to abandon its imperialist ambitions as well as many parts of the imperial cult as a sign of scission between Imperial Japan and the post-war modern nation that was to rise from its ashes. Although coming to terms with its troubled past was an essential step for Japan's reconstruction as a modern state and the normalization of its relations with other East Asian nations, in recent years an increasingly nationalist revisionist trend has emerged. This thesis is concerned with examining this Japanese war-memory problem, which is an issue which has grown exponentially in importance in recent years.Show less
This thesis explores the way in which a realistic representation of a specific martial art in a martial arts movie is conveyed and to what extent this serves nationalistic purposes. The focus is to...Show moreThis thesis explores the way in which a realistic representation of a specific martial art in a martial arts movie is conveyed and to what extent this serves nationalistic purposes. The focus is to introduce a new approach of categorizing the performative body of the actor. The fashion in which the display of skill is portrayed, determines not only credibility of the performance, but also determines whether or not a martial arts movie can serve as a platform for a rediscovery of lost cultural heritage. The realistic depiction of a specific indigenous martial art such as Wingchun in Wilson Yip’s Ip Man (2008) as: (a) effective, (b) truthful to the martial art techniques in real-life, and (c) built on a story of national pride, serves nationalistic purposes. I argue in this thesis that we have been witnessing the emergence of a new trend in martial arts cinema: effective realism.Show less
The question of Russian national identity has become quite significant again after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Especially after Vladimir Putin came to power and the country regained its...Show moreThe question of Russian national identity has become quite significant again after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Especially after Vladimir Putin came to power and the country regained its political and military strength, the Russian state embarked on the (sometimes ambiguous) road of nation-building. Scholars of nationalism and Russian national identity have tried to analyze this ‘Russian Question’, whereby most concluded that there is not a coherent Russian national identity. In this sense, it is useful to look at national identity in some of Russia’s specific regions. This thesis analyzes this process in the case of Russia’s most-western region, Kaliningrad. This so-called exclave has only been part of Russian since the Second World War and due to its German history and geographical distance from homeland Russia, it occupies a special position inside the country. In the process of nation-building by the Russian state, officials cannot solely use ‘common’ Russian markers of identity but also have to take Kaliningrad’s ‘particular’ circumstances into account. This thesis therefore argues that the Russian nation-building process in Kaliningrad lies ‘between commonality and particularity’. It will analyze this two-sidedness through the symbolic, military and anti-Western dimensions of nation-building in Kaliningrad; the speeches and statements of Russian officials in this light are used as the main points of analysis.Show less
This work gives an insight on the importance of nationalism versus economic development in the politics of the project of the Nicaragua canal. An analysis has been made on the importance of the...Show moreThis work gives an insight on the importance of nationalism versus economic development in the politics of the project of the Nicaragua canal. An analysis has been made on the importance of the concepts nationalism, economic development and state sovereignty in the current project. Existing theory on the terms have been used as a reference for the current academic and public debate of the actual project. It is important to see this thesis as an introductory approach on some of the most important concepts of the politics of a complex and historical project.Show less
The ‘Comfort Women’ issue is an ongoing discourse that continues to shape the unstable relations between Japan and Korea. Since the 1990's, Korean women who were coerced into sexual slavery by...Show moreThe ‘Comfort Women’ issue is an ongoing discourse that continues to shape the unstable relations between Japan and Korea. Since the 1990's, Korean women who were coerced into sexual slavery by Japan during World War II have come forward to fight for recognition of the war crimes committed by Japan. The contestation of various nationalist historical remembering however has sidelined feminist issues regarding the brutality women faced in order to prioritize state nationalism. This article extends McClintock’s critique of the term ‘post-colonialism’ and historical linearity to analyze the restraints of a singular embedded history that does not allow space for other historical experiences to be legitimized. This article examines how the state, organizations, and 'comfort women' survivors propagate a specific historical rhetoric in the redress movement against Japan where they are constrained to a post-colonial ‘condition’ that does not look beyond the nation nor takes into consideration the harm done to women’s’ bodies themselves.Show less
The year 2014 was the year when a slowly simmering conflict between the West and Russia dramatically escalated. This conflict has been framed as a return to the hostilities of the Cold War; however...Show moreThe year 2014 was the year when a slowly simmering conflict between the West and Russia dramatically escalated. This conflict has been framed as a return to the hostilities of the Cold War; however the conflict has much older roots that pre-date the Soviet regime (1917-1991) by centuries. The relationship between Russia and its European rivals has been one of antagonism and grudging cooperation since the eighteenth century. Yet, it is not Russia’s historical foreign relations that are the focus of this study, but Russia’s current ambitions and the weapon it uses to undermine its Western rivals, namely encouraging the growth of nationalism and the far right in Europe, while Russia pursues an Eurasionist project with former Soviet states. Within the European Union anti-Western nationalism driven by the radical right and Russian influence is most visible in France, Hungary and Greece. This paper will analyse the extent and motivations of this relationship and how this relates to Russia’s Eurasian geopolitics.Show less
This thesis, by means of a case study shows how conflicts such as the Shida Night Market case in Taiwan show how various actors use framing to influence media and politics. This thesis has not only...Show moreThis thesis, by means of a case study shows how conflicts such as the Shida Night Market case in Taiwan show how various actors use framing to influence media and politics. This thesis has not only investigated what framing attempts were made, and how they were formulated, but also what gave certain framing attempts strong resonance while others remained weak. In the case of Taiwan this thesis shows that the definition of culture is an important aspect when gaining popular support, and culture is both defined as a remnant of Japanese colonial rule, or as Taiwan's attempts to be(come) something else than Mainland China but still have a cultural background that is Chinese. This in turn shows how Taiwanese nationalism is defined and shaped, and how it is utilized in certain situations.Show less
In 1876 a new school for industrial arts was founded in St. Petersburg after the foundation of several schools alike throughout Europe. The school was named the Baron Stieglitz Central School of...Show moreIn 1876 a new school for industrial arts was founded in St. Petersburg after the foundation of several schools alike throughout Europe. The school was named the Baron Stieglitz Central School of Technical Drawing, named after the Stieglitz family. Baron A.L. Stieglitz wanted to commemorate his father’s successes in the commercial and industrial businesses and donated one million rubbles to the Russian state. With this money he wanted to found the design school and upon his donation he heard back from Emperor Alexander II himself. The patriotic Stieglitz not only wanted to commemorate his father, but was sincerely involved with the education of Russian students in the arts and crafts. This thesis will focus on the Baron Stieglitz Museum which was attached to the school. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century a lot has happened in Russia on cultural, political and industrial grounds. This thesis will examine whether or not these factors have influenced the Baron Stieglitz Museum. The research questions which will be answered throughout this thesis are: How have cultural and political factors of the nineteenth and early twentieth century Russia determined the outline of the Baron Stieglitz Museum and its collection? What was the position of the Stieglitz Museum within the context of the other European decorative art museums of the nineteenth century? In Europe, several decorative art museums were founded after the International Great Exhibition of 1851 held in London. It turned out that the Industrial Revolution and the abolishment of the guilds had had more impact on the decorative arts than anticipated. Aesthetically and technically there was a decrease in quality. The newly founded schools were supposed to educate craftsmen and future artists. Collections of decorative art were assembled which served the students as proper examples from which they could learn and develop their own objects. These collections expanded and came to stand on their own which required new museum buildings. The decorative art museums and schools from London, Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg and Moscow have been examined in this thesis. These five have influenced the development of the St. Petersburg school and museum of Baron Stieglitz architecturally and educationally. This thesis will begin with a historiography which shows that not much research has been carried out on this subject other than in Russia. Then, chapter two discussed the foundation of the school and museum and the historicist architecture. Also, Russia’s development of a national style, the kustar art movement and its connection to the Baron Stieglitz Museum will be treated. Chapter three discusses the European context of the decorative art museums and in what way the schools and museums in London, Vienna, Berlin, Hamburg and Moscow have inspired the Baron Stieglitz Museum and School. Chapter four elaborates on the collection of the Baron Stieglitz Museum with a focus on eighteenth century French furniture, unique tapestries, five paintings by G.B. Tiepolo and a collection of Russian tile stoves. Chapter five gives more information about the changing politics at the beginning of the twentieth century and what the consequences were for the Baron Stieglitz Museum. Finally, in chapter six, an epilogue is provided where more information about the current state of affairs at the Baron Stieglitz Museum is given and chapter seven gives a conclusion where the research questions are answered. The chapter about the collection is devoted to its formation as it was before the 1920s.The collections of Baron A.L. Stieglitz and A.A. Polovtsov were the start collections of the museum, but unfortunately it is not known what they consisted of. The objects were not acquired systematically, but came to the museum through donations or bequests. Also A.A. Polovtsov and M.E. Mesmacher made large acquisitions which they bought mostly abroad. They had good relationships with several antiquarians from whom they bought regularly. They also bought at auctions which probably had been the case with the five large Tiepolo paintings. The Baron Stieglitz Museum has been formed through events that took place in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Nationalism has been of importance to the foundation of the school, since Stieglitz was sincerely concerned with the development of the crafts in Russia. It has also been of importance to the architecture of the museum building. After the Napoleon wars the patriotic feelings of the people were stimulated and when their confiscated objects returned home (after being part of the Musée Napoleon) national museums were founded. The historicist style has been frequently employed to illustrate the summits of history in one building. Halls in museums were decorated in different styles to suite the objects on display. When the visitor went through the museum he was able to determine his own national legacy and compare it to those of the other countries all over the world. The South Kensington Museum was founded after it turned out that the objects of France, presented at the Great Exhibition, were superior to those of all other countries. England believed they should have been the best nation instead. The South Kensington Museum is throughout the nineteenth century considered the most important school and museum and has served as an example for many design schools and decorative art museums that followed. The Baron Stieglitz Museum has never been able to reach the level that the South Kensington Museum and the other museums had in the European economical market. The Baron Stieglitz Museum focused mainly on the national Russian market. The position the Baron Stieglitz Museum held within the other European decorative art museums has been minor even though the collection and building were not inferior to those of the others. Political factors have been of lesser influence to the Baron Stieglitz Museum as the cultural factors. Nationalism and the results of industrialism have played a major role and were the main reasons for the foundation of the school and museum. They have influenced the Baron Stieglitz Museum in a positive way. The political factors on the other hand caused the downfall of the museum. Due to the wars and the changing perspectives in Russia, the museum and its collection were neglected. At some point, the museum needed money to pay for restoration, but was not able to. In 1923 it was decided that the collection came under the supervision of the State Hermitage and in 1927 it was decided that all 12.000 objects should be transferred to the main premises. At the State Hermitage they were divided among the departments and other museums. After the Second World War, some objects returned but only the least valuable ones and copies of original works. The Baron Stieglitz Museum in its original form had ceased to exist two decades earlier: a new museum had come in its place.Show less
My aim is to have a more nuanced analysis of the differing Japanese positions and views on Indonesian nationalism versus the black and white image that scholars and others often present by using...Show moreMy aim is to have a more nuanced analysis of the differing Japanese positions and views on Indonesian nationalism versus the black and white image that scholars and others often present by using the Indonesian language policy as an example. The scholarly approaches so far have been limited in discussing these more clearly. I will argue that the Japanese side lacked unity on what could be said to have been a very ambiguous policy and ideological area. The growing presence of Indonesian nationalism during the Japanese occupation is a possible factor of influencing the local authority's views, but I will argue that the nationalists' room for influence was limited.Show less
Mary Tudor was the first queen regnant of England from 1553-1558. Different images developed during the nineteenth and twentieth century in general history books of England and in biographies about...Show moreMary Tudor was the first queen regnant of England from 1553-1558. Different images developed during the nineteenth and twentieth century in general history books of England and in biographies about Mary. She is portrayed either as "Bloody Mary", or a tragic figure, or recently as a strong, independent queen. In this thesis we describe these different images from several perspectives: Mary as a Catholic, Mary as the first queen regnant of England and a woman, Mary as a English or Spanish, and Mary placed between the other Tudors.Show less
