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The relationship of religion and fantasy: The influence of Christianity on the fictional religion in the fantasy genre
Vrbatová, Marcela ; Clark, Colin Steele (advisor) ; Beran, Zdeněk (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to identify and analyse the relationship between religion, specifically Christianity, and the genre of fantasy, through an in-depth discursive analysis of these themes on a sample of selected works of post WWII fantasy. It primarily focuses on a contrastive comparison of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire and Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever. The consecutive chapters analyse these works firstly in terms of content, meaning the utilization of the structure of biblical theology in the fictional religions, or specific manifestations of Christian values, beliefs and dogmas in the texts. Secondly, in terms of form of the narrative, specifically the presence or absence of worship, and utilization of Christianity in the language of worship. The thesis identifies the template of a fantasy work created with Christian values in mind provided by Tolkien and the different approaches of Martin and Donaldson, who derivate from this template to some degree. Special attention is payed to the concepts of Good and Evil in The Lord of the Rings and the subsequent character traits and aspiration attributed with it in relation to Christianity, the similarities of Faith of Seven and Christianity in A Song of Ice and Fire, and the roles...
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"And the Land Lay Still"- Worldmaking, Topography and the Modern Scots Novel
Zdraveska, Marija ; Clark, Colin Steele (advisor) ; Beran, Zdeněk (referee)
The purpose of this study is to analyse the manner in which contemporary Scottish literature imagines Scotland, especially in the light of the recent political changes in the country, as well as the changes in the perception of its national identity in global terms. The focus will be on the literary representations of the Scottish landscape, following Cairns Craig argument that locality is crucial to Scottish literature and its national imagination. While the fictional rendering of both the rural and urban Scottish landscape might have acted as a 'paradigm of national consciousness' in the past, in contemporary Scottish literature it can now be seen as a form of speculative worldmaking that reflects, satirizes and debates the social and political dispensation of the nation, and aims towards the subversion of the representation of a single Scottish national identity. The texts under consideration all deploy the Scottish social and topographical panorama in a unique manner which results in a literary representation of multiple versions of Scotland that often coexist together. This thesis traces the development of this thematic concern in the contemporary Scots novel from the 1980s to the present through the analysis of the works of three major Scottish contemporary writers: Alasdair Gray, Janice...
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Anarchy and Anarchism in the works of James Kelman
Balvín, Tomáš ; Clark, Colin Steele (advisor) ; Beran, Zdeněk (referee)
This BA thesis handles the ways in which anarchism manifests in the works of James Kelman, and the merit of Kelman"s claim to the title "anarchist" is investigated. One of the main concerns of anarchism as a political ideology has been individual liberty free of oppression from authorities and hierarchical relationships; for this reason the starting point of the thesis is to discover the basis of the concept of freedom Kelman operates with: what are its sources, why the concept is so crucial to him and what role plays authority (and authorities) in it. The topics of freedom, political representation and direct action in Kelman are investigated and their relevance is sought after in author"s fiction. Representation in literature and his stance on hierarchies is investigated. Strictly politically dogmatic point of view is not always taken to reproduce the anarchist position concerning author"s fiction. To make this possible, first, the political essays and other texts from Kelman are investigated from which a base of his standpoint on the anarchist concepts mentioned is constructed; similarity to various anarchist ideas is considered. These are later translated into his approach to fiction and artistic vision in general, and the way the notion of freedom and fight against hierarchy express in its content and...
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Science Fiction as Social Fiction: British Sci-fi and its Antecedents
Boháčková, Kristýna ; Clark, Colin Steele (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
The goal of this thesis is to trace the roots of British science fiction literature and examine the evolution of the genre, noting the recurring themes, tropes and overall legacy of the canonical works of British sci-fi in contemporary literature. It also contains an analysis of the specifically British nature, pessimistic and featuring passive characters, especially in comparison to the natural counterpart that is American SF, which shows more optimistic tone, empowered human characters. Defining science fiction literature is complicated on its own, and it is therefore one of main issues tackled in this thesis. It is presented in the first chapter, focusing particularly on definitions proposed by Robert A. Heinlein, Darko Suvin, Brian Aldiss and Robert Scholes. These multiple, more or less conflicting definitions are argued to demonstrate the diversity of the subgenres of science fiction, thus exploring the genre's boundaries as they apply today. The second chapter considers works arguably identified as the first exemplary novels of the genre. The authors from pre-Victorian period mentioned include Lucian of Samosa, Jonathan Swift and Francis Godwin and their theological and satirical works are analysed in science fiction context. The second part of this chapter explores the shift that came with...
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"After the Future Went Away"- The Dystopianism and Current Trends in Modern Speculative British Fiction
Šedivá, Barbora ; Clark, Colin Steele (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
The objective of the present study is to identify and analyse the common themes of dystopian fiction in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, and to trace the transformation of these themes, as well as the development of new thematic realizations, in contemporary British speculative fiction. The analysis involves prominent recent authors including Iain Banks, Ken MacLeod, Adam Roberts, Charles Stross, and Chris Beckett; and through the selected works of these authors it aims to explore the recent trends in science fiction and its utopian subgenres. Besides these goals, the study aims to provide the reader with a thorough definition of dystopianism and a concise overview of the historical development of this genre and its manifestations in the works of the above-mentioned authors. As the most prominent and recurring themes in dystopian literature, both traditional and contemporary, the thesis recognizes concepts such as the manipulation through language and media, the loss of individual freedom and privacy, and the abuse of power by elites, all of which are of special importance for the present-day social thinking and politics. Structurally, the study is divided into three chapters, the first of them assuming the role of theoretical introduction, whereas the...
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Representation of Scotland on screen: Symbols of Scottish identity in the cinematography of the 21st century
Matejová, Adéla ; Clark, Colin Steele (advisor) ; Beran, Zdeněk (referee)
The aim of my bachelor thesis is to analyse what is the portrayal of Scottish identity and culture in the contemporary film production. The thesis is concerned with the employment of recurring motifs and thematic links in Scottish film from the year 2000 until 2016 and will analyse how film-makers render Scottish culture in their productions and the relative effects this has on contemporary culture. Existing research into the representation of Scottish culture on screen analyses mainly historic trends of remythologizing the Scottish past1 and using traditional stereotyping symbols still present in modern cinematography. Many authors, however, point to the establishment of new Scottish representation by leaving those symbols behind and focusing on contemporary Scotland with its political debates and social relationships. This thesis contends that contemporary directors are no longer retrospective and are concerned primarily with the contemporary political and social dispensation of modern Scotland. The historical lexicon of Scottish film history is still present but no longer central and has been problematised by its now typically ironic employment. The new grammar of Scottish film is predicated on a new referential mode which is connected with independence (both the formal concept and the...
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The Evolution of the Hero and the Villain
Čabartová, Kristýna ; Clark, Colin Steele (advisor) ; Markus, Radvan (referee)
Thesis Abstract - English The thesis aimed to identify changes in the character of the hero and the villain and to determine the socio-cultural factors which influence them (religion, feminism, globalization and capitalism), with specific focus on the trends which merge distinctive qualities of heroes and villains and reduce their differences to a point where the reader's sympathies shift from the hero to the villain or until they are indistinguishable from each other. The hypothesis was that moral relativism, whose popularity expanded during globalization, was the most significant factor in the current merging qualities of heroes and villains. Due to the great number of factors, the focus was mainly on the analysis of influences present in the twenty-first century, and only briefly outlined their historical evolution. The primary focus was on modern cross-over fantasy (mainly high fantasy) with stress on the main characters, analyzing the changes in their description, qualities and the way their behavior is portrayed, while attempting to explore the respective sociological reasons behind them. The first chapter provided definitions of the term fantasy and characterized the hero and the villain, reaching the conclusion that these terms are continually evolving and, in the era of modern fantasy, became too...
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Speech and Characters in Sir Walter Scott's Waverley and The Heart of Mid-Lothian
Krýsová, Anna ; Procházka, Martin (advisor) ; Clark, Colin Steele (referee)
in English The following bachelor thesis is primarily an analysis of two works of Sir Walter Scott: Waverley and The Heart of Mid-Lothian in the light of the theory of Mikhail M. Bakhtin with a marginal consideration of the poetry of Robert Burns. The aim was to find out what is the nature of the use of direct speech in both novels and how does it help to promote the aim with which the books were written. The respective aims of both books affect the nature of the use of direct speech: because its aim is to portray the consequences of the Jacobite rebellion of 1745 in a positive light, Waverley is therefore to a large extent single-voiced. The Heart of Mid-Lothian is on the other hand mostly double-voiced because it is focused on showing all the different social groups of Edinburgh. The use of heteroglossia also allows the author to show a historically important event from many different perspectives and it enables to bridge the differences between regions, cultures, languages and different time periods. Such an approach also helps to overcome stereotypes and prejudices.
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Harry Potter: A Social critique
Nováková, Petra ; Nováková, Soňa (advisor) ; Clark, Colin Steele (referee)
Harry Potter: A Social Critique The aim of this thesis is to offer an analysis of J.K. Rowling's fantasy novels, the Harry Potter series, as a work of social criticism. The striking contrast between the two diametrically opposed fictional worlds, the wizarding world in which the governing principle is magic and its muggle (a term denoting non-magical or status) counterpart defined mainly by the lack of magic, enables Rowling to present and explore various social issues: racial bigotry, social stratification, prejudice, corruption, child welfare, moral questions, misuse of power, civil conflicts, national bias, slavery, terrorism and gender issues. The two coexisting cultures constructed in her novels are reflected in language, customs and values. The complexity of Rowling's work allows her to gradually move towards bigger issues, at first revolving mainly around the main character, Harry Potter, and later involving both, the wizarding and muggle world as a whole. In other words, what starts out as a children's story of childhood changes its course towards a critique of greater social injustices as the characters grow up, a clear bildungsroman in which additional themes are developed apart from the basic struggle between good and evil. Attention will also be paid as to how Rowling's novels are influenced by...
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Women's Rights to Property in Late Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century England: Cultural Attitudes
Vondráková, Michala ; Nováková, Soňa (advisor) ; Clark, Colin Steele (referee)
Thesis Abstract The inequality of sexes in England has been a sore point in society for centuries. Since the seventeenth century, with the rise of the genre of the novel, writers touched upon this unevenness of rights. During the eighteenth century, there was an increase in the number of female writers and some of them made the issue of female rights their central theme. But to understand the problem, it is necessary to understand the laws concerning women in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. This thesis follows the course of a life of a woman, from before birth until the time after marriage has ended and the rights to property she possessed over the course of her life. It is concerned consecutively with the period before, during and after a marriage, as whatever rights a woman had changed dramatically with the change of her marital status. Since rights to property differed through time, but also through the social layers of the society, there is also a division into social classes. The focus of this work is the period in between 1753 and 1857, years that mark the two important Acts of Parliament that changed the matrimonial law and with it women's rights. In 1753, it was the Act for Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriages that put an end to the widespread clandestine and contract...
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