Asia Institute - Theses
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ItemEconomic justice and Shari'a in the Islamic state(University of Melbourne, 2009)
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ItemMental illness manga in contemporary Japan: patients (tojisha) as knowledge producers( 2021)The thesis aims at exploring lived experiences of mental illness in contemporary Japan by looking at the manga created by those with direct experiences (tojisha). The manga analysed were all published in the period after the inclusion of psychiatric patients in the employment quota in 2018. Written by mental health tojisha, or those who self-identify as living with mental health challenges, these works provide insight into the authors’ subjective experiences of mental illness, as well as diverse ways of coexisting with disability and moving forward. They reflect not only personal experiences but recent mental health care transitions to community-based care and policy reforms that support tojisha’s independent living. Tojisha narratives revealed that individuals’ illness journeys are unique, depending on their circumstances. To convey their subjective psychological experiences and reclaim their selfhood from homogenising medical diagnosis, authors use metaphors and other storytelling devices. However, some commonalities in how mental illness is lived and negotiated in the authors’ daily lives were observed. The manga provided insight into different aspects of illness experiences including (1) how illness affects tojisha’s sense of self and how tojisha (re)construct their identities through graphic narratives; (2) how illness symptoms affect tojisha’s daily functioning; (3) how tojisha experience medical encounters and healthcare institutions; (4) how the social networks respond to tojisha’s condition and how societal responses affect tojisha; (5) what kind of treatment and self-care strategies tojisha engage in to manage their condition; (6) how the Internet is used in contemporary illness management; (7) how illness affects tojisha’s employment participation and what systems of support are available to encourage tojisha’s independent living; (8) how gender and sex shape tojisha’s illness experiences. Through graphic storytelling, the authors not only reconstruct their identities disrupted by illness, but provide readers companionship, useful information, and tips for navigating illness. By being useful to peers, the authors transform from patients to what Frank (1995) termed “wounded healers”. By presenting the richness of embodied experiential knowledge found in tojisha manga, the thesis argues for the importance of listening to the voices of mental health patients who have historically been underrepresented and misrepresented. Their manga represents a valuable source of knowledge not only for peers and caregivers but medical professionals, scholars, and policymakers.
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ItemHurdy-gurdy: new articulations( 2016)The purpose of this thesis is to expand existing literature concerning the hurdy-gurdy as a contemporary musical instrument. Notably, it addresses the lack of hurdy-gurdy literature in the context of contemporary composition and performance. Research into this subject has been triggered by the author’s experience as a hurdy-gurdy performer and composer and the importance of investigating and documenting the hurdy-gurdy as an instrument capable of performing well outside the idioms of traditional music. This thesis consists of a collection of new works for hurdy-gurdy and investigation of existing literature including reference to the author’s personal experience as a hurdy-gurdy composer and performer. It will catalogue and systematically document a selection of hurdy-gurdy techniques and extended performance techniques, and demonstrate these within the practical context of new music compositions created by the author. This creative work and technique investigation and documentation is a valuable resource for those seeking deeper practical and academic understanding of the hurdy-gurdy within the context of contemporary music making.
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ItemNature and the garden: ideas of nature and the Japanese gardens designed in Australia by Nakajima Ken and Nakane Shirō( 2003)This thesis discusses the connection between ideas of Nature and Japanese gardens, especially those designed by Nakajima Ken and Nakane Shiro in Australia. First, it establishes the problematic status of the European idea of Nature in the discussion of Japanese gardens by analysing garden related texts from the late Heian, Kamakura, Momoyama and Edo periods. In this section indigenous Japanese ideas, which were partly congruent with the European idea of Nature, are linked with the development of traditional Japanese garden design. Next, the thesis traces the intrusion of the Romantic idea of Nature into the discussion of Japanese gardens during the 19th and 20th centuries, when the theory that Japanese people enjoy a special connection with Nature became part of Nihonjinron arguments about the unique characteristics of the Japanese. The thesis argues that there remain some peculiarly Japanese elements in thinking about Nature and the garden: Nature has a human scale, since the focus has always been on the designer’s perception, traces of human activity are happily accommodated, and it still refers to certain parts of China and Japan rather than the whole world. While non-Japanese Romantic concepts, such as that of "the wild" might complicate the analysis of gardens which are composed in a conventional way, the thesis argues that the Japanese gardens at Cowra and the Melbourne Zoo demonstrate how important the potent, poetic Romantic idea of Nature is in the design and discussion of contemporary Japanese gardens. Since the 19th century, Romantic literary ideas about the role of emotion and imagination in the relationship of human beings with Nature can be found, along with literary terms such as “symbolize” and "express", in Japanese writing about gardens. An analysis of the two gardens in Australia, based on frequent visits, interviews with the designers and a study of their writing, argues that the Japanese version of the Romantic idea of Nature has in fact revitalized Japanese garden design.
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ItemThe controversial moderate: Tariq Ramadan's vision for Muslim political participation in Europe( 2011)Tariq Ramadan has been a significant figure in the debate on the presence of Muslim populations in Europe since the 1990s. His academic writing tackles the themes of integration, belonging and participation of Muslims in the West, and particularly Europe. Ramadan does not advocate for bringing down western secularism, or waging a Jihad against the West, but argues for active Muslim citizenship, claiming that this does not come in contradiction to Islamic values. Tariq Ramadan is a controversial yet ‘moderate’ Muslim voice on the creation of a viable space for European Muslims to participate as full citizens in their society. Ramadan has faced heavy criticism from academics, neo-liberal journalists and the Muslim community, with many claiming that he hides a more seditious form of Islam under a cloak of moderation and tolerance. Political participation is the avenue that Ramadan believes will allow European Muslims to assert their full rights and responsibilities as citizens. There are limitations in Tariq Ramadan’s approach to presenting a viable future for Muslim political participation in Europe. While Ramadan’s views on the significance of Muslim political participation are fundamental to establishing a viable public space for European Muslims, there are inconsistencies in his approach that stymie his efforts to make a substantial contribution. Ramadan’s views have been shaped by both Western and Islamic scholarship, allowing him to occupy an important space in the discussion on political participation. While there is no evidence to suggest Ramadan is a ‘terrorist in disguise’, academic critics provide important insights on the contradictions within Ramadan’s theoretical approaches to ‘Euro-Islam’. Ramadan’s ability to address the various social, political and legal constraints to citizenship for Muslims in Europe is also limited, due to his risk adverse behaviour in tackling controversial Islamic practices.
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ItemCommunication, narrative and risk: expatriate treatment narratives in Kunming, China( 2011)While studying Chinese in Kunming, China, in 2009, I noticed that anecdotes about experiences in the local biomedical health care system generated a lot of discussion amongst expatriates, and formed the basis for some kind of solidarity between them. This thesis takes a closer look at what I had observed informally, to see what these stories reflected about expatriate perceptions of the Chinese health care system, and what these stories suggest about the nature of being an expatriate. Three central themes emerged from interviews with expatriates about their experiences of seeking medical treatment in Kunming – communication, narrative and risk. Unmet expectations about doctor-patient communication in the medical setting were often associated with unsatisfactory episodes of treatment, and were major elements in expatriates’ perceptions of their health care experiences. Expatriate encounters with the healthcare system were often the foundation for stories, or ‘narratives’, and this thesis looks at how these narratives are formed, and the role they play in the expatriate community for the storyteller and the listener in creating a sense of shared identity and experience. Finally this thesis examines the concept of risk, and how interviewees determine what is risky in an unfamiliar environment. Often these perceived risks are different to what they would be in the interviewees’ home countries. These three elements – communication, narrative and risk – are all interwoven into the ‘treatment narratives’ the expatriates in this thesis offer.
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ItemLiberal Islam in Indonesia - from revelation to reason and freedom: the Mu'tazilites, Harun Nasution and the Liberal Islam Network( 2010)This thesis examines how reason and freedom have been expressed in Islam through a study of the Mu'tazilite movement in 8th century Persia, the Indonesian Islamic scholar and educator Harun Nasution and the Liberal Islam Network formed in Indonesia in 2001.