Although music is an important part of cremation rituals, there is hardly any research regarding music and cremations. This lack of research has inspired the authors to conduct a long-term research project, focusing on musical and linguistic aspects of music played during cremations. This article presents the analysis of a playlist consisting of twenty-five sets of music, each consisting of three tracks, used in a crematorium in the south of The Netherlands from 1986 onward. The main objective is to identify the differences and similarities of the twenty-five sets of musical tracks regarding content and musical properties. Consequently, we aim to provide insight in the history of (music played during) cremation rituals in The Netherlands. To analyze the musical properties of the sets, the authors use both a qualitative approach (close reading and musical analysis) and a computational analysis approach. The article demonstrates that a combination of a close reading and musical analysis and a computational analysis is necessary to explain the differences in properties of the sets. The presented multi-method approach may allow for comparisons against musical preferences in the context of current cremations, which makes it possible to trace the development of music and cremation rituals.

This article explores the way the character Athelstan serves as a narrative focal point in the popular television series Vikings. Using this series as its main case study, it addresses the question of the ways in which the character functions as a synthesis between the two opposing world views of Christianity and Norse religion that are present in the series. After establishing that Vikings is a prime example of the trend to romanticize Viking culture in popular culture, I will argue that while the character Athelstan functions as a narrative focal point in which the worlds can be united and are united for a while, his eventual death when he has reverted back to Christianity shows that the series ultimately favors Viking culture and paints a very negative picture of (medieval) Christianity indeed.

This article explores the gendered narrative in the video game Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation. Using this game as its main case study, it addresses the question in which ways the game developers have conceptualized gender, race, and gender performance in the video game. It does so from an intersectional point of view. After establishing Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation as a prime example of the trend to include more female characters in games during recent years, I will argue that this game includes a complex rhetoric that not only perpetuates stereotypical notions regarding gender, but also fails to acknowledge issues regarding its main protagonist’s skin color in the historical reality the game wishes to emulate.