Imagined Voices deals with a form of composition, music with on-screen text, in which the dynamic between sound, words and visuals is explored. The research explores the ideas around these 'music... Show moreImagined Voices deals with a form of composition, music with on-screen text, in which the dynamic between sound, words and visuals is explored. The research explores the ideas around these 'music-text-films', and attempts to explain how meaning is constructed in the interplay between the different layers of media. Issues that initially arose out of the research, were directly related to the question of 'voice': Who is narrating? And where is the voice located? These questions became more pertinent after noticing a phenomenon occurring during performances of these works: that when we read text synchronised to music, we become very aware of an inner voice silently reading along. This effect of hearing one's own voice in the music, was a discovery that had many consequences for the ways in which the ideas about listening and the role of multimedia could function within music. In the creative work of the research, that has resulted in over thirty works of 'music-text-film' the media are set up to highlight ways of listening that puts emphasis on the role of the listener/spectator. A state of limbo is created between the narrative voice of the text and the implied voice of the music, due to the absence of a conventional focal point to pin it on - an actor or a singer. The thesis suggests that because of this vacancy and the way the projected word takes the place of the sung or spoken voice, the inner voice of the audience becomes activated. This then becomes a vital immersive dimension in the performance, as the inner voices of the audience find their place within the fabric of the music. Show less
This dissertation investigates the life of Judean deportees in Babylonia in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. The results from the study of Judeans are placed in the wider context of... Show moreThis dissertation investigates the life of Judean deportees in Babylonia in the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. The results from the study of Judeans are placed in the wider context of Babylonian society and are evaluated by using a group of Neirabian deportees as a point of comparison. The sources of this study consist of 289 clay tablets written in Akkadian cuneiform, such as promissory notes, leases, receipts, and lists. The dissertation shows that there was considerable diversity in the deportees’ socio-economic status and integration into Babylonian society. The majority of deportees were settled in the countryside and integrated into the land-for-service system, which was aimed at increasing agricultural output and providing the state with labour, soldiers, and tax income. In addition, foreign professionals were employed in cities, and the worlds of commerce and royal administration were open to some deportees. A relatively small number of deportees were donated to Babylonian temples. The Babylonian practice of settling deportees in ethnically homogenous rural communities supported the survival of their culture and traditions in the countryside. Adoption of Babylonian names and culture was faster among those Judeans who lived in cities and were in regular contact with the native population. Show less
Producing the local: Javanese performance on Indonesian television explores how television represents Javaneseness, as a factor designed to catch and keep the attention of its putative... Show moreProducing the local: Javanese performance on Indonesian television explores how television represents Javaneseness, as a factor designed to catch and keep the attention of its putative audiences. Central is the question of how people make use of national, regional, local, public and private television in Indonesia – each in their own way and with their own goals – to represent the local and, in particular, how they construct images of Javaneseness through the production and dissemination of performance. Performance in Javanese has been used by the Indonesian television industry to achieve various purposes: to entertain and inform its audiences, to represent the local/the regional, to preserve and nurture the traditional and to build national culture, for persuasive (commercial or propaganda) aims, as a counter-voice of diversification towards global or Jakartan influences, and to express multiculturalism. These issues have been put into the framework of discursive practices about local, national and global cultures in the electronic audiovisual media in Indonesia. Three main themes structure the study: representing tradition, localizing persuasion and mediating the local. Above all, this dissertation is a plea for a more thorough study of the role of proximity in the production, dissemination and reception of local television programmes. Show less
Photographs, because of their chemical make up, are inherently unstable. The process of degradation is relatively fast and cannot be turned around. This puts both artists and conservators in a... Show morePhotographs, because of their chemical make up, are inherently unstable. The process of degradation is relatively fast and cannot be turned around. This puts both artists and conservators in a difficult position. The idea of reproducing old photographs in order to be able to present them 'the way they were meant when first created'is attractive to many contemporary artists as well to museums. However, the concept of the reproduction of photographic artworks as a fountain of eternal youth that protracts a flawless condition is not without problems. Eternal youth comes at a price. That price varies with each individual work of art. Forever Young examines the reproduction of four photographic artworks as a conservation strategy from the vantage point of a conservator working in a museum of contemporary art. This dissertation explores a vast issue in modern and contemporary art. It is a first attempt in its field and will undoubtedly be start for many future research and scholarly discussion. Show less
The dissertation investigates both genealogy and epistemology of the contemporary Islamic economics, analysing and comparing the two with classical Islamic economic thought and its moral philosophy... Show moreThe dissertation investigates both genealogy and epistemology of the contemporary Islamic economics, analysing and comparing the two with classical Islamic economic thought and its moral philosophy. Contemporary Islamic economics is the result of a series of processes that were set in motion by the colonization of the Muslim nations in Africa, Middle East and South (east) Asia, followed by the creation of the modern nation state. Islamic economics emerged as a distinct field of study only in the second half of the 20th century, and it has been conceptualized also within the framework of the Islamization process in the 1970s. However, by studying classical economic philosophy in Islam, the premodern economic thought thought in Islamic tradition treated economic activities primarily as a moral endeavour and hence of as part of the overall metaphysical qualities of Shari'a. Show less
The thesis discusses sugar trade in the Persian Gulf in the eighteenth century. The existing historiography of the region still stresses eighteenth-century imperial and economic decline. But the... Show moreThe thesis discusses sugar trade in the Persian Gulf in the eighteenth century. The existing historiography of the region still stresses eighteenth-century imperial and economic decline. But the study argues a maintained vitality of the Gulf trade by illuminating remarkable changes in the relationship between trade and consumption in the context of the Persian Gulf and beyond, namely that of the Indian Ocean. Show less
Vertrekkend vanuit een communicatief perspectief en concentrerend op mediatiseringsprocessen, formuleert deze dissertatie een alternatief voor het probleem van equivociteit binnen de studie naar... Show moreVertrekkend vanuit een communicatief perspectief en concentrerend op mediatiseringsprocessen, formuleert deze dissertatie een alternatief voor het probleem van equivociteit binnen de studie naar populaire muziek. Verschillende culturele en theoretische perspectieven zijn ingezet om de diverse vormen en betekenissen van populaire muziek te evalueren, bijvoorbeeld het type van muziek dat via complexe netwerken van betekenis in verschillende ambits door de geglobaliseerde wereld snelt. Authenticiteit en commodificatie zijn geïdentificeerd als de belangrijkste concepten voor de duiding van populaire repertoires -en van het begrip ‘'populair’ in relatie tot 'kunst' en 'folk'. Deze identificatie openbaart een patroon van betekenis-gevende praktijken, welke ik de ‘strategie van afwijzing’ heb genoemd. Deze strategie maakt het voor de cultuur-theoreticus mogelijk om inzicht te krijgen in de manier waarop het genre van populaire muziek is gedefinieerd, haar productie, verspreiding en consumptie. De essentie van het populaire lied wordt doorgaans negatief gedefinieerd, dat wil zeggen, door aan te geven wat het niet is: noch kunst noch folk. Opmerkelijk is dat negatieve definities van populaire muziek getuigen van latente spanningen tussen muziek producenten en consumenten, specifiek met betrekking tot de eclectische krachten gesignaleerd door het postmoderne denken en de waardeoordelen toegekend aan haar verschillende verschijningen. Show less
In this on-line dissertation, jazz saxophonist Dick de Graaf investigates a variety of compositional and improvisational models and techniques in contemporary jazz and Western art music, and... Show moreIn this on-line dissertation, jazz saxophonist Dick de Graaf investigates a variety of compositional and improvisational models and techniques in contemporary jazz and Western art music, and discusses possible applications of these materials in current jazz practices. The study includes examinations of educational publications by five selected jazz artists (Dave Liebman, Jerry Bergonzi, George Garzone, Walt Weiskopf, and John O’Gallagher), and the analysis of compositional techniques by two composers of the 20th century: Peter Schat's Tone Clock and Olivier Messiaen's modes of limited transposition. In addition, these theories and techniques are illustrated by selected examples (transcriptions and audio excerpts) and by examples of applications by various musicians, including the author. All examples are thoroughly analyzed and evaluated in order to determine their potential use in contemporary jazz practices. The research results provide comprehensive insights into compositional and improvisational processes in jazz, and offer materials that can be useful for the personal artistic development of jazz practitioners, including musicians, composers, and educators. Show less
Playing a musical instrument is generally considered to be a complex human behaviour involving the integration and coordination of a broad range of human functions such as perception, imagination,... Show morePlaying a musical instrument is generally considered to be a complex human behaviour involving the integration and coordination of a broad range of human functions such as perception, imagination, memory, information processing, emotion, communication, and dexterity. From this perspective, it seems only reasonable to assume that, in an age of informational and communicational abundance, this intrinsic multifacetedness manifests itself in numerous informational contact-points between musical practice and a variety of academic and para-academic fields which zoom in on these specific elements of musical activity. Joost Vanmaele’s dissertation is directed at carefully and systematically evaluating the position of musicianship in an age of informative abundance and connectedness, to consider ways of re-balancing and broadening its epistemic grounds and attuning its information systems, with a view to artistic development, enrichment and/or liberation. By proposing a Bio-Culturally informed Performers’ Practice of Western Art Music [BCiPP], an information- and dialogue-friendly, transdisciplinary space is created where musical activities are not considered as phenomena sui generis but rather as informable cultural instances or personal particularisations of the human capacity to meaningfully generate and react to temporally patterned sounds. The potential impact of BCiPP is put to the test in two case-studies. Show less
In de Bataafs-Franse tijd (1795-1814) was de Nederlandse buitenlandse politiek volledig gericht op het voortbestaan van de staat. Tegenover het overheersende Frankrijk voerde men een... Show moreIn de Bataafs-Franse tijd (1795-1814) was de Nederlandse buitenlandse politiek volledig gericht op het voortbestaan van de staat. Tegenover het overheersende Frankrijk voerde men een tweesporenbeleid. Enerzijds was er een ‘statelijke ongehoorzaamheid’ bij het nakomen van ongenadig harde verplichtingen en anderzijds streefde men naar internationalisering van de kwestie over het bestaansrecht van Nederland. In deze tijd gaf Maarten van der Goes van Dirxland [1751-1826], een Haagse burgemeesterszoon en Nederlands eerste minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, tien jaar lang leiding aan de Nederlandse diplomatie. Van der Goes had daarbij slechts één doel voor ogen: het handhaven van de naam Holland op de kaart van Europa. Maar zijn ambtsperiode had iets tragisch. Hoewel hij wist, zoals hij schreef, dat de dagen van Tromp en De Ruyter voorbij waren en dat zijn belangrijkste succes niet meer kon zijn dan het bij elkaar houden van het ‘overgeschoten boeltje’, weigerde hij Napoleons opmerking ‘Holland is als een satelliet van een planeet’ te accepteren. Door het prisma van het leven en de carrière van Maarten van der Goes biedt deze biografie een geactualiseerd beeld van de Nederlandse buitenlandse politiek in de overgang naar een nieuwe eeuw. Show less
This PhD-dissertation examines the social networks of the bishops Abraham of Hermonthis (ca. 590-621) and Pesynthius of Koptos (599-632) and the nature of their authority. They represented a... Show moreThis PhD-dissertation examines the social networks of the bishops Abraham of Hermonthis (ca. 590-621) and Pesynthius of Koptos (599-632) and the nature of their authority. They represented a relatively new, anti-Chalcedonian church hierarchy, which became the forerunner of the present-day Coptic Orthodox Church. As monk-bishops Abraham and Pesynthius resided in monasteries. Since Abraham was also abbot of the Monastery of St Phoibammon in Western Thebes, he lived there. Pesynthius usually lived in a monastery in the mountain of Tsenti, near modern Naqada, but during the Persian occupation of Egypt he stayed in Western Thebes as well. They fulfilled their office, while being supported by a network that connected eight monastic communities in the districts of Hermonthis and Koptos, but centered on Western Thebes. This book examines how Abraham and Pesynthius contributed to the success of the Theodosian church in the Theban region, the area from Huw almost to Esna, by analyzing their networks and use of authority. By means of a papyrological approach four datasets were prepared for the study of the bishops’ common (Theodosian and Theban) networks in ca. 600-630, their individual networks, and a topographical network, in order to establish the reach of their social ties. Show less
This thesis is a comparative study in the History of Modern Philosophy focused on the recourse to physiology on the part of two key figures, Spinoza and Nietzsche. This involves comparative... Show moreThis thesis is a comparative study in the History of Modern Philosophy focused on the recourse to physiology on the part of two key figures, Spinoza and Nietzsche. This involves comparative research into their emphatic appeal to the body as the key to solving fundamental philosophical problems. Both Spinoza and Nietzsche are thinkers of immanence and for both the turn to the body, which is part of their projects of naturalisation, is motivated by theoretical and practical goals. I argue that we can best understand the similarities and differences between their respective philosophical physiologies, and their broader philosophical positions, starting from their shared interest in power ontologies and their commitment to immanence and naturalism. Show less
The study in this thesis focuses on the development of word-onset consonant clusters, in two-year-olds, acquiring Dutch. Word-onset clusters are often simplified during acquisition, but the... Show moreThe study in this thesis focuses on the development of word-onset consonant clusters, in two-year-olds, acquiring Dutch. Word-onset clusters are often simplified during acquisition, but the studies reported here demonstrate a more complex and diverse range of developmental possibilities. For example, reduced onset clusters were found systematically to contain an acoustic trace in the subsequent vowel; a seven-staged process of /Cr/ development in production was revealed. In perception longer looking times at toel (stoel) as opposed to tein (trein), evidenced for a more stable mental representation of correct /sC/ clusters. This phenomenon is studied from different perspectives. Both longitudinal and experimental data are studied, and experiments comprise both production and perception. In addition to phonological analyses, detailed acoustic analyses are performed. The speech production mechanism appears to develop in a top-down manner. The main error source for onset cluster productions is initially formed by incomplete segmental representations in the mental lexicon; with complete specifications, syllable spell-out at the phonological encoding level forms the main error locus. Phonetic encoding errors are the most persistent. Variable word forms are a hallmark of early child language; they show the relative instability of a new developmental state of the speech production mechanism. Show less
In oktober 1947 richtte Livinus van de Bundt de Haagse Vrije Academie op. Hij wilde een alternatief bieden voor het traditionele, normatieve onderwijs aan de Haagse Academie van Beeldende Kunsten.... Show moreIn oktober 1947 richtte Livinus van de Bundt de Haagse Vrije Academie op. Hij wilde een alternatief bieden voor het traditionele, normatieve onderwijs aan de Haagse Academie van Beeldende Kunsten. Individueel, persoonsgericht kunstonderwijs stond hij voor. Van de Bundt vond een kunstwerk dat voortsproot uit verbeelding belangrijker dan een technisch correcte tekening. Zijn doel was tevens om maatschappelijk bewuste kunstenaars op te leiden die met hun creativiteit een tegenwicht zouden bieden aan de technologische massamaatschappij. Daarom moest het instituut laagdrempelig zijn, zodat zoveel mogelijk mensen aan dat ideaal een bijdrage zouden leveren. Zo beschikte Den Haag al vroeg over een unieke, experimentele, werkplaatsachtige vorm van kunstonderwijs waar iedereen, ook zonder vooropleiding, terecht kon. Onder directeur George Lampe ontwikkelde het instituut zich tot het roemruchte Psychopolis, waar bijzondere cursussen op het gebied van mode, film, theater en elektronische muziek werden aangeboden. De vrijheid was in deze periode voor de leerlingen zo groot dat die geregeld ten koste ging van anderen. Zelfrealisatie was het doel. Het was de hippietijd met ‘speak-ins’ en eindeloze discussies over democratie en het eigen functioneren.Het instituut leverde vanaf 1947 vele professionele kunstenaars af. Met het vrije, experimentele onderwijssysteem zonder toetsing bleken goede resultaten te bereiken. Show less
This book is the first comprehensive description of Mundabli, a Southern Bantoid (Niger-Congo) language spoken in the Grassfields region of Northwest Cameroon. Mundabli has four level tones... Show moreThis book is the first comprehensive description of Mundabli, a Southern Bantoid (Niger-Congo) language spoken in the Grassfields region of Northwest Cameroon. Mundabli has four level tones plus a number of contour tones. Its phonology is further characterized by a complicated vowel system including a set of pharyngealized vowels. Its noun class system, with paired singular and plural classes, is similarly elaborate as those of Bantu languages. However, unlike in other related languages, noun classes in Mundabli are often not marked on the noun. Some singular-plural class pairings are instead marked by stem-initial consonant mutation or by tonal changes. Agreement is restricted to the noun phrase. Verbs belong to one of three inflectional classes or verb tone classes. Mundabli makes use of two future tenses and four non-future tenses. Evidence for grammatical relations is relatively weak and evidence for the subject is stronger than for the object. The unmarked word order is SVO, but when the subject is in focus, it occurs in the focus position immediately behind the verb complex. Presenting novel data from a formerly undocumented language, this grammar is of interest to both Niger-Congo scholars and scholars in linguistic typology and theoretical linguistics. Show less
In this thesis I discuss Hittite verbs and formations that contain or may contain a nasal infix as well as nu-verbs, in order to outline the development of these types from PIE to Hittite and... Show moreIn this thesis I discuss Hittite verbs and formations that contain or may contain a nasal infix as well as nu-verbs, in order to outline the development of these types from PIE to Hittite and establish the extent to which the Hittite nasal verbs are related to comparable formations in the other Indo-European languages. Apart from treating the formal and etymological aspects of these verbs, this study also focuses on the semantics of the nasal affixes. In Hittitological literature they are often assumed to have a causative or a factitive meaning, but these functions do not cover the semantics of all the verbs with these affixes: there are infixed and nu-verbs that are clearly not causative, in fact there are even several intransitive nu-verbs. In this thesis it is therefore argued that the best solution to embrace the polysemy of nasal affixes is to assume that the underlying function of these morphemes is raising in transitivity. Show less
In art history, performance is categorized as performance art and defined as live-act. However, performance is no longer conceived of by artists as live-act only. Rather, the art of producing... Show moreIn art history, performance is categorized as performance art and defined as live-act. However, performance is no longer conceived of by artists as live-act only. Rather, the art of producing performances, according to artists, also includes considerations of their documentation and mediatization. In these contexts a paratextual perspective would enable considering documentation practices as part of performance art, which would also mean to acknowledge that performance is a practice associated with other practices that go beyond the enactment or staging which precedes or follows it. It is my claim that the potential of performance in visual art lies exactly in this ability to divest itself of a stable medial identity. This is to say that performance does not only have the practical need, but also the general potential to connect itself with other media, such as texts and audiovisual records. I think that contemporary performances in visual art cannot be viewed as distinct from the intermedial and paratextual issues with which they are connected. They engage, intermingle and enter into reciprocal relationships with these issues. So, I propose to understand performances in and through their relations to texts. Show less
'The scar of death. The biography of Jan Wolkers' contains the rebellious life story of Jan Wolkers (1925-2007), one of the most famous, loved ánd controversial writers and artists (also a... Show more'The scar of death. The biography of Jan Wolkers' contains the rebellious life story of Jan Wolkers (1925-2007), one of the most famous, loved ánd controversial writers and artists (also a painter and sculptor) of the Low Countries. Wolkers was obsessed with love and death, also the two most important themes of his work. No one stayed closer to the truth than I, stated Wolkers. His work and art' the biographer concludes, 'are one.' Show less
This research is organized in six chapters and ten appendices.Chapter one contains some introductory remarks on the reasons behind the choice of Bakhtiari for this research and the background... Show moreThis research is organized in six chapters and ten appendices.Chapter one contains some introductory remarks on the reasons behind the choice of Bakhtiari for this research and the background studies, as well as some explanations over the methods that were employed to carry out this study. Some ideas for further research are also suggested in the last section of this chapter (See 1.5 below).In chapter two the socio-historical background of the Bakhtiaris is critically reviewed by providing first hand observational and analytic facts that at times contradict the existing and mainstream notions on the subject. As an example, in section 2.2.2, a new etymology for lænɡ is proposed. This word is a crucial term in Bakhtiari but its meaning is ambiguous. In the last two hundred years, a number of hypotheses on its meaning have been repeated without substantial revision. Here, all the previous notions are reviewed critically and the proposed etymology incor-porates the ideas and suggestions of some prominent contemporary linguists specialized in Iranian studies. At the end of chapter two, parts of my M.A thesis are included. Although it was carried out around two decades ago, it is considered to this day as a pioneer socio-linguistic study on a modern Iranian language, subsequently, several articles, M.A. theses and PhD theses have been written at the Iranian universities based on this model. Chapter three presents a novel study for an Iranian language, viz. a semantic study of the vo-cabulary from an anthropological viewpoint. For this research I had no previous model to follow, so that it presented many challenges. The chapter contains two sections. In the first section the semantic fields of kinship terms (3.1.1) and body parts (3.1.3) are detailed studies based on exist-ing theories of language universals and word categories. The second part of the chapter three is a new study of the Bakhtiari fauna and flora. It investigates the ways in which Bakhtiari nomads classify their natural surroundings (Ethno-taxonomy). The study of ethnic taxonomies, or as it is usually referred to, Ethno-biology, is relatively new, and to this day it has not received due atten-tion among scholars working on the Iranian languages. Therefore, at the beginning of this chapter, this field of study is introduced very briefly and then several semantic fields of Bakhtiari are examined. The new findings are presented with tentative explanations that are rooted in the cul-tural history of the nomads.Chapters four to six constitute the linguistic part of the study. In chapter four a brief introduc-tion to the phonemic system of the present day Haftlang variety of Bakhtiari is provided. This chapter should be regarded as a guide to study the bulk of the words and sentences that are used throughout the book. For a more detailed study of the Bakhtiari phonology, the interested reader is encouraged to consult Anonby (2014).In chapter five a thorough discussion of noun morphology is presented. All the different cate-gories of nominal morphology are addressed, with detailed examples gathered through decades of research. Derivational morphology is not covered in the present volume; the relevant, extensive data must await a future opportunity to produce a more comprehensive description of the lan-guage.Chapter six is a thorough description of Bakhtiari verbs. An attempt is made to categorize dif-ferent verb classes using mainly synchronic data. In the description of the verbs, it was inevitable to resort to a historical explanation to deal with some minor grammatical issues.It should be noted that chapters five and six are modelled on the traditional grammars of Per-sian and other Iranian languages. I chose not to depart from the centuries-old tradition of Persian grammar writing in the case of the Bakhtiari grammar, also in order to maintain comparability with other grammars of Iranian languages and dialects. Therefore, at times, it may seem that the description is not strictly from within the language, as in the case of introducing some forms of subjunctive verbs separately under a heading as Imperatives. However, the synchronic state of matters can at all times be seen by the reader. The ten appendices contain word lists, the content of which are either partly (1, 9) or fully (3, 6, 7 and 10) discussed in the body of the research and they are represented as an appendix to be used as a quick vocabulary reference. Some other word lists 2, 4 and 5) have not been discussed in the book. These word lists, however, contain important data to be used in later anthropological or philological studies. Show less
The main question of this thesis is: how did the Herlaars acquire their position in the Dutch river area and manage to maintain it for a long time, and what served as the basis of power? The... Show moreThe main question of this thesis is: how did the Herlaars acquire their position in the Dutch river area and manage to maintain it for a long time, and what served as the basis of power? The concept of 'maatschappelijk vermogen', introduced by Schmidt in 1986, is used to describe the position and power of the Herlaars. The focus of this research is pointed to the Herlaars with their extensive possessions in the Dutch River area. The development of power as described provides an image of power and also answers the question how the Herlaars managed to maintain their position. The Herlaars seem to have been very aware of both the opportunities and the threats offered by the geopolitical ambitions of these great lords. In the second quarter of the 14th century the Herlaars managed to acquire seigneurial rights and substantial houses in the border area of the territory of Gelre and Brabant. However, this property was not used by the Herlaars to consolidate or gain a position in the territory of the landlords, or to acquire even more possessions. My research shows that the Herlaars were no border lords but something more humble, noblemen living on the border. Show less
