Van ridders naar diversiteit

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2021-07-07
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nl
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The novel The Letter for the king (1962) by Tonke Dragt is one of the most famous children’s novels in the Netherlands. The novel was adapted into a Dutch movie in 2008 and Netflix adapted it into a series in 2020. Due to Netflix’ aim to support more diversity The letter for the king has a diverse cast. In this master thesis I analyze the representation of characters in the different texts and how the public evaluates this. The central question of this thesis is: ‘How are characters represented in the novel The letter for the king and adaptations and how does the public evaluate this?’ The central question will be answered first by analysis of the representation of characters by analyzing the characteristics connected to different characters and what these characters represent. On the other hand this question will be answered by analysis of amateur reviews which focuses on the evaluation of characters by the public. The analysis of the representation of characters shows that characters in the novel and the movie are characterized by stereotypical knighthood characteristics. All characters represent good or evil. The characterization in the series is more diverse and less stereotypical, but still greatly hierarchized. The series actualizes the material it is based on, but representation of social groups is still locked in hierarchy among groups that are oppressed. The analysis of the amateur reviews shows that characters in the book are evaluated mostly positive and characters in the series and film are evaluated mostly negative. One returning element in amateur reviews is the diversity of representation. The lack of diversity in the book and movie is evaluated negatively. The excess of diversity in the series is also evaluated negatively. Actualizing in adaptations is not necessarily positive or negative according to the amateur reviewer.
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Faculteit der Letteren
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