This piece of research looks at contemporary Chinese poetry through the lens of translation. The theoretical framework acting both as a premise and as the background for the whole project, which...Show moreThis piece of research looks at contemporary Chinese poetry through the lens of translation. The theoretical framework acting both as a premise and as the background for the whole project, which ties contemporary Chinese poetry and translation together, is the idea of world literature as defined by David Damrosch. By considering specific poems by Bei Dao and Yang Lian, this work aims at defining the crucial role of translation in determining the "trajectory" of texts within world literature.Show less
This thesis raises the following research question: How does Zheng Xiaoqiong narrate the experience of the female migrant worker and their views on marriage in her anthology Female Workers: A...Show moreThis thesis raises the following research question: How does Zheng Xiaoqiong narrate the experience of the female migrant worker and their views on marriage in her anthology Female Workers: A Record? Reading Zheng Xiaoqiong’s Female Workers, I argue that her work is a form of agency because she communicates the experience of female migrant workers different to existing mainstream narratives. My aim is to show how poetic representations can provide alternative perspectives on the experience of female workers.Show less
In 2003, China’s Ministry of Culture published the ‘Interim Regulations on the Administration of Internet Culture’: a list of rules concerning all cultural products on the internet, including music...Show moreIn 2003, China’s Ministry of Culture published the ‘Interim Regulations on the Administration of Internet Culture’: a list of rules concerning all cultural products on the internet, including music. On August 10th, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture used article 16 on the Interim Regulations on the Administration of Internet Culture to censor a total of 120 Chinese songs from the internet. The ministry labeled the 120 songs as blacklisted, because their content was seen as ‘endangering social morality’, according to article 16. A key point of censorship and morality in music in China is that the Chinese government’s rules and regulations for what is considered moral and immoral in music are phrased in very generic terms, leaving room for interpretation. That leaves us with the question, can the blacklisting of the 120 songs be meaningfully related to these rules and regulations? This thesis explores the complex relationship between music, morality and politics in contemporary China by performing a discourse analysis on the banned songs and the legislations regarding internet culture.Show less
Against the broader background of the remembrance culture of the Second Sino-Japanese War in China, I will focus on the depiction of Japan and the Japanese by comparing four movies from different...Show moreAgainst the broader background of the remembrance culture of the Second Sino-Japanese War in China, I will focus on the depiction of Japan and the Japanese by comparing four movies from different moments in time and with different socio-historical contexts, and their reception through various platforms including social media: Tunnel Warfare (Di Dao Zhan地道战) from 1965, Red Sorghum (Hong Gaoliang红高粱) from 1987, Devils on the Doorstep (Guizi Lai Le鬼子来了) from 2000 and The Flowers of War (Jinling Shisan Chai金陵十三钗) from 2011. This thesis asks the following research question: How do depictions of Japan and the Japanese in Chinese films about the Second Sino-Japanese war develop over time?Show less
