This paper proposes another axis of understanding for the Minamata case study by analyzing the philosophical intricacies of the Japanese culture in contrast with Japan's politics and industrial...Show moreThis paper proposes another axis of understanding for the Minamata case study by analyzing the philosophical intricacies of the Japanese culture in contrast with Japan's politics and industrial goals. Instead of offering a technical solution to such a far-reaching event, it looks at the hidden potential of Japanese cultural practices in transforming the way politics consider the priorities of human development and how local communities’ expectations can be met when their lifestyle is taken into consideration. In that sense, the Minamata incident reveals to be more than a local disaster but also to a larger extent the illustration of a societal and philosophical discordance.Show less
This thesis explores whether ecological considerations are capable of influencing translation choices and thus form a valid area of special attention for translators in their translation practice....Show moreThis thesis explores whether ecological considerations are capable of influencing translation choices and thus form a valid area of special attention for translators in their translation practice. The existing scholarly literature that has investigated the relationship between translation and ecology has either defined ecology rather narrowly (Hu; Scott) or conceived of a translation ecology that remains theoretical and passive, in spite of the urgency and the severity of the ecological predicament that peoplekind finds itself in (Cronin). A practical and ethical approach to language ecology by Stibbe provides concrete methods to judge the ecological stance of texts by and identify linguistic features in texts which cluster to form ecological ‘stories’. The study identified occurrences of these linguistic features in the ecologically beneficial text Sightlines by Kathleen Jamie and explored ways in which they could be translated into Dutch, making use of Vinay and Darbelnet’s translation procedures to analyse the translation shifts. The analysis showed that ecological considerations may conflict with other features of the text that the translator may want to preserve in the translation, such as style, internal cohesion and grammatical correctness. Giving precedence to ecological considerations may thus produce a different target text than when leaving these considerations out of the translation process. The implication is that there is a way of doing ecotranslation and that preserving the ecologically beneficial world view of a source text is a valid purpose in translation.Show less
The concept of the Green Economy has inspired a great deal of discussion and has become highly politicized. Adversaries of the concept, such as the Belgium authors and ecological activists Anneleen...Show moreThe concept of the Green Economy has inspired a great deal of discussion and has become highly politicized. Adversaries of the concept, such as the Belgium authors and ecological activists Anneleen Kenis and Matthias Lievens (The Myth of the Green Economy,2012), argue that the concept of a Green Economy is merely a myth created by profit seeking businesses and overly rational neoliberals: it is merely the result of wishful thinking. In this thesis it will be examined whether the concept of the Green Economy is truly just a myth. In order to examine this issue a general research question is formulated: “What are the possibilities and restrictions of ecological sustainability in a free market economy?” In order to finds answers the following subquestions will be adressed. The first question is: which subjects currently dominate the discourse on the concept of the Green Economy? The second question is: which green-economic solutions do prominent authors on the subject matter put forward regarding the Green Economy and ecological sustainability? And the third and last sub-question is: to what extent are the proposed solutions maintainable regarding the current state of the economy? Having examined and evaluated these questions, and having adressed the possible themes, concepts, and regulations associated with the Green Economy, the general research question will be answered in the concluding section of this thesis with cautious optimism.It is important to note that, due to the limited space of this BA thesis the review of the discourse is not exhaustive. Similarly, the regarded proposals are not a complete enumeration of all possible solutions, but a selection of the most significant ones. Nevertheless, I have aimed to provide the reader with a detailed insight into the existing discourse of the Green Economy.Show less
