This dissertation explores the ways in which affective responses to disabled bodies are represented and how this invites us to read these bodies aesthetically. I argue that this affective impact... Show moreThis dissertation explores the ways in which affective responses to disabled bodies are represented and how this invites us to read these bodies aesthetically. I argue that this affective impact can be understood as an affordance, a term I use to describe how the appearance of and interaction with disabled bodies produces affective responses such as fear, wonder, or disgust. I study the relationship between representation and affective reactions through literature and other art forms. Through close readings of literary texts and works of art, this dissertation offers an alternative to so-called model thinking—an approach that emphasizes categorization. Instead, I propose a reading that focuses on how bodily capacities are culturally and socially translated into (dis)abilities. Unlike taxonomic approaches that categorize and generalize, this method allows moving from the particular to the private. Works of art, although prone to generalization, emphasize their unicity and resist categorization. By analyzing how different art forms represent disabled bodies, the dissertation brings a new dimension to understanding our emotional responses and the aesthetic appreciation of bodily diversity. Show less
The Bibliotheca Enchusana or Librije of Enkhuizen is one of the oldest libraries that are still preserved in situ in the Netherlands and can rightfully be called a unique book historical monument.... Show moreThe Bibliotheca Enchusana or Librije of Enkhuizen is one of the oldest libraries that are still preserved in situ in the Netherlands and can rightfully be called a unique book historical monument. In this dissertation the history of the Librije is reconstructed through a new scholarly catalogue, which is based on a hands-on examination of all the books from the library’s holdings. The catalogue contains extensive bibliographical descriptions as well as information about the physical evidence of every book’s unique history, such as inscriptions of former owners, binding details, and manuscript annotations. Together with information from archival documents, the new catalogue helps to better understand the holdings of the Librije, their origin and history, as well as the use and function of the library since its foundation. Subsequently, this dissertation explores how the specific character of Enkhuizen influenced the Librije and how the role of the library changed throughout history. Show less
This thesis researches the profession of the upholsterer – or ‘kamerbehanger’ in Dutch – and the role they played in the creation of interiors in the Dutch Republic, in the long eighteenth century ... Show moreThis thesis researches the profession of the upholsterer – or ‘kamerbehanger’ in Dutch – and the role they played in the creation of interiors in the Dutch Republic, in the long eighteenth century (1680-1810). Its research centers on the cities of Amsterdam, The Hague and Haarlem. A total of 234 shops or individual upholsterers working there in this period were found. Hopefully, the index of their names included in this thesis will advance future research. The first chapter describes the way the profession developed, as well as how upholsterers learned the trade, worked, kept their shops and advertised. In the following four chapters, the relation between upholsterer and client is explored in-depth through case studies from the period 1680-1810.Upholsterers provided bed and wall hangings, curtains of all sorts, upholstered furniture and other textile wares. They were a relatively small but diverse group working in the luxury industries, with about 10 shops at any one time in Amsterdam and in The Hague, and about 1-5 shops in Haarlem. Some upholsterers did not have a shop but worked their trade from a single room, or worked for others. Most kept a small shop. For some, this was indeed the best profession (‘le meilleur métier’). Upholsterers such as a Pierre Courtonne or Johannes Deel, working for the Stadholders and the elite of their day, were able to amass fortunes of 20,000-50,000 guilders and played a role in designing interiors. Succes was dependent on factors such as seed money, an up-to-date knowledge of current fashions, and maintaining good relations with clients. Most shops went from father to son, and most of the upholsterers working in the Republic were locals. Only a small percentage were foreign-born, and even though France exercised a large influence on the luxury market in the eighteenth century, this is not reflected in the number of French upholsterers settling in the Republic. Only at the end of the century can an increase in their number be seen, and a handful of ‘French upholsterers’ settle in Holland. They seem to have had an advantage over their Dutch colleagues in that they were able to purchase the latest French wares directly through their connections.Regarding the relationship with their clients, it has been found that most upholsterers played the role of advisor and facilitator, when helping their clients buy a new interior or furniture. All-in-all, the case studies show how upholsterers would balance their client’s quest for the newest and most fashionable furniture and interiors with their budget and the available goods. Show less
This thesis explores the use of narrative patterns in Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire (third century AD), a work that covers in eight books the period between the death of Marcus Aurelius,... Show moreThis thesis explores the use of narrative patterns in Herodian’s History of the Roman Empire (third century AD), a work that covers in eight books the period between the death of Marcus Aurelius, in 180, and the accession of Gordian III, in 238. Drawing from narratological studies and literary theory, this dissertation provides a detailed analysis of the shape, function, and scope of the literary strategies used in the History. Aspects of Herodian’s narrative style that have often been criticized in modern scholarship (abundance of repetitions and formulae, indiscriminate use of classical models, excessive dramatization of events and characters) are re-examined through close readings of selected episodes. This is an investigatigation into the inner workings of Herodian’s storytelling and historiographical methods, in an effort to show that truth is not opposed to fiction, but both are key elements of the intellectual process inherent to the production of a historical text: through amplification, thematization, and arrangement, fiction, or invention, supplies raw facts with a density essential to any sort of deeper historical understanding. The narrativization of historical material is at the heart of this study. Show less
This dissertation discusses the concept of the inverted world as a philosophical commonplace and as a belated baroque aesthetic principle in modernity. The inverted world is at once a response to... Show moreThis dissertation discusses the concept of the inverted world as a philosophical commonplace and as a belated baroque aesthetic principle in modernity. The inverted world is at once a response to the critique of capitalist modernity as well as a consequence of its essential social relations. Show less
This thesis explores the memory culture of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). More specifically, it considers representations of traumatic events in the recent history of this region in the... Show moreThis thesis explores the memory culture of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI). More specifically, it considers representations of traumatic events in the recent history of this region in the context of Saddam Hussein’s counter-insurgency campaign, code-named Anfal, and the chemical attacks on Halabja, which both targeted the Kurdistani population. Embedded in the field of Memory Studies, the thesis mainly analyzes how these events are remembered, commemorated, imagined and represented in the present, with the word “present” referring to the era that roughly spans the last twenty years, beginning with the US-led invasion of Iraq, which resulted in the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.To analyze the KRI’s memory culture, the thesis develops interpretations of four very different objects of study. Two of these are museums in the region: Amna Suraka: In Order Not to Forget, in the city of Sulaymaniyah, and the Halabja Monument and Peace Museum. Thirdly, the thesis focuses on textbooks used at Kurdistani primary and secondary schools, produced by the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) with help of UNESCO. Fourthly, the thesis develops close-readings of Kurdistani writer Bachtyar Ali’s 2010 novella My Uncle Jamshid Khan whom the Wind always Carried with Itself and his 2005 novel The City of White Musicians, which are embedded in critical analyses of approaches to Kurdistani literature and of the relationship between literature and memory culture.The thesis combines analyses of these four very different objects and in that way presents a unique multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary, and hitherto undeveloped perspective on the region’s memory culture. This perspective also results in the introduction of interpretations that contribute more generally to the fields of Memory Studies, Museum Studies and Trauma Studies. The concepts are introduced in this thesis to describe the specific way in which representations of the KRI’s past (1) apostrophically address a non-existing independent and national Kurdistan and (2) are haunted by traumatic memories of victims who, under Saddam’s regime, disappeared and have never been found.Following a concise summary of what has been argued in the four chapters, the brief conclusion embeds the thesis in the field of Peace Studies by reflecting on Aleida Assmann and Linda Shortt’s claim that memory can be an agent of change. This thesis, it is concluded, can be understood as a humble attempt at designing such exploration for a specific area in this region. Show less
This thesis compares the uses of the classical underworld descent, or katabasis, in three contemporary English-language authors, women and/or Black writers, as an instrument to express their... Show moreThis thesis compares the uses of the classical underworld descent, or katabasis, in three contemporary English-language authors, women and/or Black writers, as an instrument to express their poetics. It focuses on one central text from each author, contextualizing its use of katabasis within the author's larger oeuvre. For this analysis, use has been made of Conceptual Metaphor Theory and cognitive theory of allegory, theories of metaliterature and intertextuality, and transgeneric narratology. Katabasis has proven to hold a central position in the oeuvre of all three authors, albeit in very different ways. In the work of Boland and Naylor, the motif is omni-present. Boland maps katabasis onto the moment of poetic creativity, in which access to the female underworld is attempted, but nevertheless remains barred. Naylor's work combines the various regions of Dante's afterlife with western esotericism, offering a somewhat happier prospect for women and writing. For Walcott, on the other hand, katabasis is omni-present in his magnum opus Omeros only, and is applied as a final reckoning with his literary critics. Thus, for all three authors katabasis has proven to be used as an instrument to appropriate the western literary canon and to define their poetics. Show less
The corpus of Æsopian fables books has been taught to French children and teenagers for centuries. Yet little analysis looks at the production in its entirety. Therefore, within this corpus, I... Show moreThe corpus of Æsopian fables books has been taught to French children and teenagers for centuries. Yet little analysis looks at the production in its entirety. Therefore, within this corpus, I evaluated the relationship between the text, the images, and the educational purpose of various fable authors using 252 visuals, published between 1500 and 2020. Sources include picture books, board games, sheet music, posters, school materials, and even application software. All have in common the aim of pursuing or promoting an educational use of the fables. My research focuses on the role that illustrated fables play in French education.Through a sociological approach that features the concept of médiation littéraire, book history, literary analysis, the study of the layout of the books and intermedial analysis, I conclude that Æsopian fables are used as a social link between generations of French people.They became essential across primary schools in the mid-19th century. Before that, they were mostly intended for socially privileged children whose families could afford a secondary education.Regardless of the century, the illustrations which accompany fables play a role in the text’s adoption across French schools: they participate in the transmission of the genre and other kinds of knowledge Show less
This dissertation examines how in eighteenth-century Europe, naturalists sought to study, grasp and capture the world of fish. Working on the intersection of the history of science and book history... Show moreThis dissertation examines how in eighteenth-century Europe, naturalists sought to study, grasp and capture the world of fish. Working on the intersection of the history of science and book history, this research aims to shed light on how naturalists came to present themselves as authorities in an emerging field. It does so by focussing on a set of ‘fish books’, i.e., natural historical works that describe and depict fish. The first is Francis Willughby and John Ray’s "Historia piscium" (Oxford, 1686); the second Peter Artedi’s "Ichthyologia sive opera omnia de piscibus" (Leiden, 1738), and the third Marcus Élieser Bloch’s twelve volume series "Allgemeine Naturgeschichte der Fische" (Berlin, 1782–1795). These works are analysed alongside correspondences, manuscripts and natural historical collections. Together, these sources show that the development of the study of fish in this period can be best be understood as a process of continuous demarcation. This dissertation argues that the study of fish was subject to recurrent debates on subject, method and practitioner, and that such discussions were of both epistemological and social nature. In presenting their fish books, naturalists leveraged such discussions as to secure a place for themselves in the capricious environment of early modern natural history. Show less
The legal treatment of Christianity in the Roman world continues to be a source of seemingly endless cultural and historical fascination. At least partially due to numerous well-known stories about... Show moreThe legal treatment of Christianity in the Roman world continues to be a source of seemingly endless cultural and historical fascination. At least partially due to numerous well-known stories about persecution and martyrdom, the idea has persisted that the marginalised position of early Christians was unusual, or even unique, within the otherwise almost proverbially religiously tolerant Roman world. This study aims provide a more nuanced understanding by systematically analysing how early Christians were embedded in, and interacted with, the Roman legal system of the imperial period. It does so in two ways. Firstly, this project is not just concerned with the contents of Roman legal measures, but also with their origins and enforcement. By taking all stages of the legal process into account, it becomes possible to investigate the mechanisms and underlying principles that shaped these measures, and to firmly embed them in their historical context. Secondly, the legal position of Christians is compared to two contemporary religious movements, namely Jewish communities and practitioners of divination. This serves to paint a more comprehensive picture of the legal treatment of religious groups in the Roman world in general, and to more precisely locate early Christianity within the wider religious landscape. Show less
The introduction of French literature to Lithuania occurred in different periods of its history. After analysing several cases, we can draw the conclusion that the culture and literature of Western... Show moreThe introduction of French literature to Lithuania occurred in different periods of its history. After analysing several cases, we can draw the conclusion that the culture and literature of Western Europe have always been present and well received in Lithuania. French literature represented the ideal to follow, the model to imitate. As it has been one of the world's great literatures for centuries, it has greatly influenced Lithuanian culture and literature.This thesis covers the most important periods of Lithuanian history: the Renaissance, the Republic of the two Nations (Poland and Lithuania), the occupation by Czarist Russia, Independence in the period between the two world wars, the Soviet occupation and the restoration of Independence in 1990. Show less
In 1686, the French Jesuit and writer René Rapin wrote his treatise Du grand ou du sublime, in which he proclaimed French king Louis XIV as being the most sublime person. To do this, he used the... Show moreIn 1686, the French Jesuit and writer René Rapin wrote his treatise Du grand ou du sublime, in which he proclaimed French king Louis XIV as being the most sublime person. To do this, he used the concept of 'le sublime', a notion Rapin derived from the Greek classical writer Longinus. With his book, Rapin actually builds on an older tradition: writers had been using an elevated rhetoric to write about Louis XIV for many decades. In this discourse, architecture played a key factor. Writers recognized the overwhelming potential of the king's buildings and future projects, and also employed architectural metaphors and transcendent fictions to try and elevate the monarch. Ultimately, however, all of these works and projects - like Rapin's claim - proved very problematic. Firstly, the rhetoric of the sublime used to evoke the effect of sublimity has always been problematic, since it relies on an interplay between opposite extremes, which are highly unstable. Secondly, when attempting to establish the king himself as sublime, writers were confronted with the far-reaching implications of this claim. The sublime is not only an extreme notion but also a highly subjective one. It cannot be asserted, nor can it be wielded. Show less
This dissertation consists of five articles and focuses on five cases of deception, all presented and exposed in early modern London: The Originall of Idolatries (1624), Alexander Bendo’s... Show moreThis dissertation consists of five articles and focuses on five cases of deception, all presented and exposed in early modern London: The Originall of Idolatries (1624), Alexander Bendo’s mountebank handbill (1676), George Psalmanazar’s An Historical and Geographical Description of Formosa (1704), the case of Mary Toft (1726) and the Great Bottle Hoax (1749). These are all examples of creative forgery, fakes without a prototype, that were created to be woven into the fabric of reality. The articles discuss the cases’ dynamics of persuasion and response within their respective cultural contexts but they also explore the wider implications of the five cases and what they can tell us about the perception and role of forgery in early modern culture. Why did early modern illusionist artists and playwrights explicitly compare their work to this kind of deception? How did forgery contribute to the development of the distinction between fiction and scholarship? And what can discussions of newly exposed forgeries tell us about the cultural negotiation of the concepts of reality, authenticity and originality in early modern England? Show less
Thisinterdisciplinary research argues how a scrupulous reading of the medium ofphotography, through geography and philosophy, can shed light on thespatiotemporal account of the concept of place. To... Show moreThisinterdisciplinary research argues how a scrupulous reading of the medium ofphotography, through geography and philosophy, can shed light on thespatiotemporal account of the concept of place. To do this, it breaks down theparticipatory elements of photography into six tropes: the photographer, thecamera, the photograph, the photographic image, the spectator, and thephotographic genre. Subsequently, it looks at each of the aforementioned tropesthrough the lens of place, indicating how a place cannot be the content of adefinite representation, as if fixed in time and space. In other words, insteadof analysing place through space, this research gives precedence to the formerto argue how place creates space (the photographer), how it fixes space (thecamera), how it passes through space (the photograph), how it interpolatesspace (the photographic image), how it promises space (the spectator), and howit operationalizes space in-between the text and the image (the photographicgenre). Therefore, rather than viewing space as an abstract entity thatcontinually evades representation, this dissertation demonstrates theimperceptible, intangible, and intractable aspects of each partaker ofphotography through its unprecedented theoretical approach. Show less
'What is the desire of the medium?' is both a rhetorical question and a fundamental one. The rhetorical question serves as a framework for investigating the interplay between the artist/designer... Show more'What is the desire of the medium?' is both a rhetorical question and a fundamental one. The rhetorical question serves as a framework for investigating the interplay between the artist/designer and the medium during the creative act. Arts and design operate on the level of problematising: they do not reproduce the visible, they make visible. By this, I am suggesting that there is no preconceived objective criterion: all perception needs to be produced. A critical supposition is that the complexity of the world cannot be reduced to either macro- or micro-systems or models (anti-representation). The only interesting route to pursue is to investigate what a medium does (asignification), not what it is (essentialism). My interest lies in affective capacities, not inherent properties and their respective place in any taxonomy or ontological setting. This requires the exploration of a non-hierarchical, flat ontology based on the equality of all parties (human and nonhuman). I propose four backgrounds against which to investigate the desire of the medium: ethoscape (which deals with affect), ideoscape (which deals with concepts), mediascape (forms of expression) and technoscape (forms of content). The desire of the medium is located somewhere in the middle between affect, concept, expression and content. Show less
Mapping Moving Media is an inquiry into the specificity of film and video. In this study, I argue that mapping the specificity of these two media is indispensable in analyzing and understanding... Show moreMapping Moving Media is an inquiry into the specificity of film and video. In this study, I argue that mapping the specificity of these two media is indispensable in analyzing and understanding contemporary intermedial objects in which film and video are mixed or combined. Our understanding of the meanings and effects of moving images in contemporary society will increase when combinations of film- and video elements within moving image objects are taken into account. Contemporary (new) media theory offers a wide range of terms by which interrelations between media can be defined and conceptualized. However, although I take the wide variety of notions such as remediation and hypermediacy as helpful tools in analyzing the relationships between media, I argue that the starting point of an investigation into intermedial interactions should be the concept of medium specificity instead of the many notions which define forms of intermediality. This does not mean that we should return to some of essentialist ideas on medium specificity which have been attached to the concept. However, the rightful conclusion that essentialist ideas on medium specificity are rendered untenable by today’s mixed, multi-, and intermedia, too often overshadows the question of what is being mixed, expanded, remediated, refashioned, converged or combined. In this study I ask the questions “what is meant by video?” and “what is meant by film?” How are these two media (to be) understood? Can film and video be defined as distinct, specific media, and if so, how? I hold that in this era of mixed moving media, it is vital to ask these questions precisely and especially on the media of video and film. Show less
This dissertation provides a comprehensive and cross-religious analysis of representations of religious conversion in early modern English drama. An urgent topic due to the religious upheavals of... Show moreThis dissertation provides a comprehensive and cross-religious analysis of representations of religious conversion in early modern English drama. An urgent topic due to the religious upheavals of the early modern period, conversion provoked questions about a variety of religious and social issues, including divine and human agency, mystical experience, the demarcation of religious identities and the nature and possibility of religious transformation. The stage, which served an important socio-cultural role in early modern England, responded to these questions in dramatizations of conversion that investigated conditions under which it could be successful. By distinguishing between spiritual and interfaith conversion, this study demonstrates that in plays perceptions of faith in spiritual terms were increasingly replaced by an understanding of belief in terms of mutually exclusive denominational identities. Moreover, despite the great interest in interfaith conversion, and despite the importance of religious change and transformation on the stage, early modern playwrights did everything in their power to suppress conversion and the idea that the same depraved Muslim, Jewish, Catholic or pagan identities they had constructed could be shed and exchanged for a righteous (Protestant) Christian one. Show less
Het proefschrift Gecultiveerde curiositeiten: Een vergelijkend onderzoek naar Chinese Kunstvoorwerpen in Europese Kunstkammern en Europese Objecten in Chinese Elite Collecties onderzoekt elite... Show moreHet proefschrift Gecultiveerde curiositeiten: Een vergelijkend onderzoek naar Chinese Kunstvoorwerpen in Europese Kunstkammern en Europese Objecten in Chinese Elite Collecties onderzoekt elite verzamelingen in het China en Europa van de vroegmoderne tijd, waarbij door een aantal case studies een grondige analyse wordt gegeven van de processen waardoor vreemde objecten, kunstvoorwerpen en naturalia, als verzamelobjecten worden ingebed in nieuwe culturele contexten. Show less
