East Asian Languages and Societies Commons^™

Redefining Female Identity In Interactive Media: Deconstructing Gender Stereotypes Through The Character Yuna In Ghost Of Tsushima, Putri Sri Aryana, Rostineu -

International Review of Humanities Studies

This study examines the deconstruction of female gender stereotypes through the character Yuna in the game Ghost of Tsushima. The analysis employs a qualitative approach that explores narrative, visual, and gameplay aspects. The theoretical framework draws on Judith Butler’s gender performativity, Marie-Laure Ryan’s digital narrative theory, and Stuart Hall’s representation theory to identify forms of resistance to traditional gender norms reflected in the game industry. The findings indicate that Yuna emerges as an active agent who influences the protagonist’s ideological development, plays a significant role in shaping the overall narrative direction, and avoids visual objectification. This study is expected …

Within Boundaries: Collecting And Exhibiting Chinese Contemporary Art In M+, Hong Kong, Lei April Liu

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates how M+, Hong Kong’s museum of twentieth- and twenty-first-century visual culture, collects and exhibits Chinese contemporary art under political and institutional constraint. It argues that M+ operates through adaptive autonomy, a condition in which curatorial and educational strategies transform limitation into method. By analyzing the museum’s formation, exhibition practices, and comparison with other Asian institutions such as the Asia Culture Center in South Korea, the Power Station of Art in China, and the National Gallery Singapore, the study reveals how M+ sustains visibility of Chinese contemporary art with political sensitive topic through 绥靖 (Sui Jing; subtle appeasement) …

Cyborg Feminism And Toxic Colonialism In Chen Qiufan’S Waste Tide, Yuan Yuan

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

The article probes into the interrelationships among cyborg technology, sexual violence, and toxic colonialism represented in the Chinese SF novel Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan. It applies methodologies in posthumanism and ecofeminism and situates the text in the Chinese as well as a global context. It intends to provide a non-Western perspective to understand cyborg feminism by associating the Chinese historical reality with trans-species thinking. It argues that the SF author Chen Qiufan is critical about the anthropogenic body modifications which may challenge the process of female resistance and resilience in the face of gender and colonial oppression. By doing …

In Memoriam Gwangju: Transnational Memoryscapes Of Gwangju And Buenos Aires In The Works Of Han Kang And Im Heung-Soon, Heewon Chung

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Currently acclaimed as the first Asian female author who won the Nobel Prize in literature, Korean writer Han Kang has persistently struggled with memoryscapes and traumascapes. Han’s collection of poems Winter Beyond the Mirror delineates the poetic “I”’s experiences of visiting Argentina and describes how she senses the interconnectedness between Gwangju and Buenos Aires. Korean artist-filmmaker Im Heung-soon’s recent film Good Light, Good Air addresses the same issue, and actually Im and Han have shared a mutual concern about it since Han’s novel Human Acts. This essay defines Winter Beyond the Mirror and Good Light, Good Air, coupled …

L'Identité Linguistique Et Culturelle De La Jeune Génération Des Vietnamiens Américains En Louisiane, Lan Phuong Nguyen

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Cette thèse porte sur la construction de l’identité linguistique et culturelle chez les jeunes Vietnamiens américains de deuxième génération vivant à Bâton Rouge, aux États-Unis. Elle interroge les modalités de transmission, de transformation et de réappropriation de la culture et de la langue vietnamienne dans un contexte diasporique marqué par des tensions entre héritage familial et pression d’intégration dans la société américaine.

À partir d’une approche qualitative et narrative, cette recherche s’appuie sur huit entretiens approfondis menés auprès de jeunes adultes âgés de 18 à 25 ans. L’objectif est de comprendre comment ces jeunes construisent leur identité à travers leurs …

From Progressive Politics To Media Censorship: Analyzing The Trajectory Of Lgbt Rights In Taiwan And China, Sabrina Malec

CISLA Senior Integrative Projects

No abstract provided.

Hosts, Scouts, And Female Indentured Sexual Servitude In Contemporary Japan, Caroline Norma, Seiya Morita

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

This article sweeps away glossy abstractions obscuring the indenturing of women in sexual servitude in Japan. These abstractions were generated by anthropologists writing in English in the first two decades of the 21^st century who inverted the relationship between perpetrator and victim to suggest that female customers exploited hosts. To overturn this view and expose the ‘gendered reality that [i]s really going on’ in Japan, this article differently explains from a feminist perspective how present-day host and scout businesses indenture Japanese women in sexual servitude. This role is one of both procuring victims as well as keeping young women …

Choco Pies, Economic Gains, And The Opening Of North Korea:, Quinci Rasband

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Since the armistice was signed putting a hold on the Korean War (July 27, 1953) and officially created two separate entities, has there ever been a time when North Korea and South Korea—two diametrically opposed countries— worked together towards a common goal? If there really was such a time when North Korea and South Korea collaborated, one can wonder how this was received in the minds of North Koreans and South Koreans. While it is challenging to understand North Korean citizens’ perceptions of events, delving into accessible sources can shed light onto South Korea’s viewpoint of inter-Korean relations. One such …

Memories Of The Low-Income Elderly Of South Korea, Jacob Gilbert

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Rain pattered against my umbrella as I walked down the small alleyway near Tapgol Park. An elderly man carrying a black umbrella hobbled past me. Rain dripping from the gutters made puddles at my feet. I carefully avoided several puddles in the pavement making my way to the end of the alleyway. As I drew closer to the end, loud voices echoed down the alley. Around the corner a crowd of elderly people huddled underneath the roof of the front gate to the park. Some stood, while others sat on the ground leaning their backs against the walls of the …

The Hallyu Hexagon:, Katherine Linton

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

From the opening credits, Crash Landing On You1 captured the attention and adoration of millions. The show follows a South Korean chaebol heiress, Yoon Se-ri, who crash lands into the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone. She is discovered by North Korean soldier, Ri Jeong Hyeok, who mercifully decides not to kill her on the spot. Over the course of 16 episodes and 23 hours, as Ri Jeong Hyeok betrays loyalty lines by evading the North Korean Military Police and helping Yoon Se-ri return to the south, the two’s fateful meeting evolves into a cross-border romance.

Korean dramas are …

Silencing The Party, Amplifying The Music:, Brian Lewis

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

The 2024 dissolution of the MFP marked a turning point in Thai electoral politics, catalyzing a cultural contest over political expression through music. The court’s decision to dissolve the MFP was perceived as a direct attack on free political discourse, intensifying state-led censorship efforts against musicians who critiqued the establishment. In response, political music became not only a means of protest, but a crucial space for youth to form their political identities and express dissent. This escalation in censorship and the concurrent surge in musical activism cannot be directly attributed to long-standing political trends; rather, they were significantly increased by …

Full Issue

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

No abstract provided.

Colonial Legacy And National Identity:, Nina Harris

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

The island of Taiwan occupies an unusual political position in the world today. Taiwan is viewed primarily in relation to its complicated relationship with the People’s Republic of China. While Taiwan considers itself distinct from the Chinese mainland, with its own constitution and democratically elected leaders, China’s government claims the island is an inalienable part of China and has been for centuries. Taiwan’s history, however, is more complicated and diverse than China allows. Unbeknownst to many, Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945, and it was an era of highly significant change for Taiwan. The Japanese occupation was …

Connecting To The Motherland:, Grace Truett

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

India was the crown jewel of the British Empire and, despite the oppressive colonialism between 1857 and 1947, it produced citizens who cared for the future of their nation. Jamini Roy is one such citizen who envisioned his rich cultural Motherland untouched by Western forces. Although India had been dominated by Britain economically, socially, and even artistically, Roy was an anti-capitalist artist who used materials native to India to perpetuate Bengali artistic traditions and reinvent Christian folklore; his work aims towards unification of Hindu, Muslim, and Christian Indian viewers through nationalism and connection of Indian citizens to their land, as …

Made For War, Abandoned In Peace:, Michelle Parada-Gonzalez

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Amid a raging blizzard in the mountains of 1907 Hokkaido, Sugimoto Saichi shelters inside the still-warm carcass of a freshly killed deer, huddled beside his companion, Asirpa. As she asks if his wounds still hurt, he brushes it off, insisting that the man he killed earlier had no human heart and felt little pain. When Asirpa reprimands him, Sugimoto concedes—war has changed him. The person he once was had been left behind on the battlefield. Some men, he says, can return to their old lives, but others like him remain stuck in the past. Asirpa, only twelve years old, considers …

Harmony In Transit:, Bridget Eddy

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Japan’s public transportation system is famous for its speed and efficiency. But it is more than just a way to travel. Trains and buses shape daily life and behavior in Japan. They reflect pertinent historical and cultural values, which provide a significant connection to society. Similar to sewing a new piece of fabric onto an old kimono, modern technology has become a part of the cultural garment–not a replacement for it–all while the existing fabric has continued to give it meaning and structure. The Japanese have woven older cultural threads into the new systems; concurrently and reflexively, the new technology …

The Second Great Reform:, Margaret Jeppesen

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Beginning in 1978 under Deng Xiaoping’s leadership, China launched the Great Economic Reform, also known as the Opening-up, as the nation transitioned from a centrally planned system to a market-oriented economy. In a single generation, millions were lifted out of poverty establishing China as a global economic superpower. Since then, China has placed great emphasis on maintaining a continuous economic upward trend and achieving technological self-sufficiency.

The development of artificial intelligence plays a prominent role in China’s second great reform to become a technological superpower. In 2017, President Xi Jinping introduced the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (AIDP) —a …

Adapting Sherlock Holmes:, Victoria Ho

BYU Asian Studies Student Journal

Sherlock Holmes is one of the longest standing detectives in the world of crime and detective fiction, evident in the recreation of his character in various media. In Detective Conan, or Case Closed—a Japanese anime series adapted from a Japanese manga—the writer, Gosho Aoyama, creates his version of Sherlock Holmes in the form of Shinichi Kudo, a high school detective. However, parts of Holmes’s character can be problematic for Aoyama to adapt for Japanese society, particularly Holmes’s role as a disrupter of order. Thus, Aoyama provides a liminal space as a solution for Shinichi to preserve social order by turning …

The Rise And Fall Of The Small Bronze Tripod Used For Pouring Heated Libations (A Pre-Confucian Libation Rite), Elizabeth Childs-Johnson

Art Faculty Publications

The rite of pouring out heated alcohol in honor of spirits begins during the Late Neolithic but matures as a formal institution known in writing and in cast bronze during the earliest phases of the historic Bronze Age, namely the Erlitou (ca. 1900-1600 BC) and Shang periods (ca. 1600-1046 BC). As will be analyzed, the libation rite known as ... [示 + 爵 = ...] (jue/guan) in Shang oracle bone divinations involved the use of the tripod jue爵 (bronze vessel). Although the rite [...] continues to appear in written inscriptions through most of the Western Zhou era, by the 9th-8th …

He Rengao Super-Consciousness Imagery, A Global Touring Exhibition, Jun Dong

MA Projects

Focusing squarely on He Rengao’s long-developed visual philosophy, this exhibition will take the form of a solo presentation introducing Super-Consciousness Imagery to New York audiences. As one of China’s most established contemporary artists, He has spent decades refining a highly introspective and philosophically grounded painterly language. This exhibition aims to situate his mature body of work within an international conversation, foregrounding painting as a site where civilizational imagination, spiritual inquiry, and aesthetic experimentation converge. The exhibition title, Super-Consciousness Imagery, encapsulates two key elements central to He’s artistic practice; it refers to the expanded state of awareness the artist seeks to …

China's Economic Retaliation Against Norway After Liu Xiaobo's 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, Ian Murphy, Shaomin Li

Management Faculty Publications

This case study analyzes China's geoeconomic retaliation against Norway after the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Liu Xiaobo. China employed non-tariff barriers, diplomatic freezes, and restricted exchanges, severely impacting sectors like salmon exports. This occurred despite the Nobel Committee's independence from the Norwegian government. Although Norway's overall economic impact was mitigated by market adjustments, the six-year diplomatic freeze significantly influenced its human rights foreign policy. This case exemplifies China's strategic use of informal economic tools to punish and deter, showcasing the link between political sensitivities and economic leverage in international relations.

Integrating The Oriental Gaze: Japonisme And Kitagawa Utamaro’S Influence In The Parisian Art World Of The Late 19th Century, Wanda Irini Goudas

MA Theses

This thesis discusses the phenomenon of Japonisme in Paris, how it manifested in the market, its accompanying theoretical discourse, and its role in fostering artistic innovation. In 1853, Japan officially opened its borders for trade with the West, resulting in an unparalleled influx of objects and artwork from Japan. This generated a widespread fascination with Japanese material culture, culminating in the phenomenon known as Japonisme. Among the imported items, ukiyo-e woodblock prints or ‘images of the floating world,’ became very significant. Exhibited widely across Paris, their peculiar themes and unique formal qualities prompted theoretical discourse and inspired shifts in artistic …

From Monasteries To The Market: The Legal And Spiritual Economies Of Himalayan Art In China, Hengshi An

MA Theses

In recent years, the Himalayan art market in China has shown a remarkable transformation, emerging as one of the most dynamic segments within the broader Asian art economy. While much of the global and domestic art market has stagnated, Tibetan and Himalayan artworks have achieved sustainable growth and high auction price with major collections been published, showing structural strength rather than speculative enthusiasm. This paper examines the drivers behind this phenomenon through a qualitative analysis of auction data, dealer networks, and collector behavior across key hubs in China such as Beijing, Chengdu, Shanghai, and Hong Kong. The findings suggest that …

From Fear To Familiarity: Folkloric Creatures And Cultural Identity In Contemporary Japanese And Filipino Art, Mariel Yulo Asuncion

MA Theses

Mythological and folkloric creatures have evolved beyond their traditional contexts to serve as tools through which contemporary artists reinterpret and express colonial memory, cultural experiences, and social anxieties. Both Japan and the Philippines mobilize their folkloric monsters as forms of commentary on modern conditions; however, they do so in distinct ways shaped by their differing cultural histories and belief systems. This study aims to analyze and compare how Japanese and Filipino contemporary artists reinterpret folkloric creatures within modern contexts. Employing a qualitative, comparative cultural analysis alongside a sociohistorical framework, this research investigates the contemporary reinterpretation of mythological creatures in both …

Over-Tourism Of Naoshima Island: Comparison With Venice Using Tourists Carrying Capacity Model, Takutaro Onoe

MA Theses

This paper first proves Naoshima’s status as over-tourism in comparison with Venice and then finds out about logistical and infrastructural constraints. My argument will go further to discuss whether eliminating constraints through investment and development is the right direction for the island’s sustainable prosperity. Naoshima is in critical overtourism situation, especially during the year of Setouchi Triennale. The number of tourists per resident demonstrates that the situation is worse than in Venice. It may deteriorate living environment for residents, potentially causing anti-tourism sentiment on the island. As for tourists, their experience on the island may not be favored because of …

M+, Beyond A Museum?: The Making Of A New Cultural Paradigm In Hong Kong, Grace Law

MA Theses

This thesis, titled M+, Beyond a Museum? The Making of a New Cultural Paradigm in Hong Kong, is a critical inquiry into whether M+ is a traditional museum or an institution that redefines Hong Kong’s cultural landscape. The study examines the operational and financial challenges encountered by the Museum in the backdrop of its distinguished architecture, meticulous programming, and advanced digital technology. By tracing the Museum’s development through its core exhibitions and international collaborations, this thesis demonstrates how M+ has evolved into a key art institution within the West Kowloon Cultural District (WKCD), and elevated its positioning in the cultural …

Book Review: Macarthur As Spirit: A Review Of Spirit Power: Politics And Religion In Korea’S American Century, Jieon Yoo

Asia Pacific Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Inside Chinese Theater: Community And Artistry In Nineteenth-Century California And Beyond By Nancy Yunwha Rao, Jiyoon Auo

Asia Pacific Perspectives

No abstract provided.

Meiji And Myth: The Emperor, Totemic Principles, And Unity, Ella Jean H. Fernandez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the complex relationship between religion and state during the Meiji era (1868-1912). Specifically, how central governmental and religious figures craft a sense of unity and national identity. The primary research question of this study is: How did the Meiji Emperor’s development as a totem unite the people and grant credibility to the Meiji era (1868-1912)? A totem in this context is a functioning symbol that is both representative and sacred. This study was conducted through the analysis of primary source documents, Imperial shrine activity, and historical context sources. Through analysis of these …

The Absent Monster: Personal And Cultural Fears Through Kiyoshi Kurosawa’S Pulse, Gracie J. Huras

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.