A book analysis for the course ‘Image of the world in the popular media’ at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, this essay was written in Dutch in 2009 as an undergraduate student. The book under discussion is ‘Japan. Presented in sketches on the morals and manners of that Empire, in particular about the citizens of the city of Nagasaki’, written by Dutch VOC-chief G.F. Meijlan and published in 1830 in Amsterdam. The book is freely … Continue reading
Posts about: Media
Essay: ‘De revolutie van 1848. Hoe een conservatieve koning in één nacht zeer liberaal werd’
In 1848 revolution spread across Europe as people massed on the streets to demand political changes. A negative political climate and a economy that was getting worse (while taxes were high) fueled demonstrations in the big cities of Europe. The revolution broke out in the city of Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily on the 12th of March 1848, quickly spreading to the south of France and the mainland of Italy. In the following … Continue reading
Essay: ‘Erasmus of Machiavelli?’
A short paper, written in Dutch, based upon a ‘what-if’ situation about Emperor Charles V, who after defeating the Protestant Alliance in 1547, faced the problem of how to govern and control his lands. This paper answers the question whether either Desiderius Erasmus or Nicolo Machiavelli would be a better advisor for Charles V by looking at the works written by Erasmus and Machiavelli. This essay was written in 2007 as an undergraduate student at … Continue reading
Essay: ‘De Japanse film door westerse ogen’
This research paper, written in Dutch, answers the question: what makes Japanese movies so different from American movies, and what is the role of subtitles in this? In order to answer this question I start by giving a history of Japanese films that were successful outside Japan: from Kurosawa’s Rashomon and Seven Samurai in the fifties to quite recent movies like Battle Royale (Batoru Rowaiaru), Ringu and Ju-on. Subsequently I look at the differences between … Continue reading
Essay: ‘Samoerai op het witte doek: opkomst en verval van het naoorlogse samoeraifilmgenre’
In this essay I explain how and why samurai-movies became popular in Japan in the fifties and sixties, and why the genre quickly went into decline in the seventies and beyond. An analysis of the situation in the Japanese movie-industry during the occupation of Japan following World War II is subsequently followed by taking a look at the defining characteristics of the samurai-movie and how the movies can be divided into five different subcategories. Lastly … Continue reading
Essay: ‘Voetbal is oorlog. De strijd naast het veld’
‘Football is war’, legendary Dutch football-coach Rinus Michels once said. While this is true sometimes, the war in football really takes place outside of the stadiums. Football-hooliganism has become a big problem in many European countries. In this essay I take a look at three examples of football wars. The first example is the famous ‘Slag bij Beverwijk’ in 1997, a arranged battle that took place between hooligans from Feyenoord en Ajax resulting in the … Continue reading