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Forms of Alienation and Loss in Hemingway's Texts
Rücklová, Alžběta ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
20th century was one of the most tumultuous periods in the human history. The fast-paced changes, innovations and progress, and the deadly, violent conflicts such as World War I shattered many illusions and marked future generations. The divide between the old and the new world became irreconcilable, because the old beliefs had been killed on the battlegrounds of Belgium and Italy. A member of such generation that had a first-hand experience was one of the most important and successful American writer Ernest Hemingway. A literary behemoth of the 20th century, Hemingway's work reflects his time; it is full of loss and sorrow young people of the war generation had to suffer. Many of his novels and short stories discuss the state of the world and how a person can find their place in it, how to cope with what had been and with what is to come. Furthermore, he analyses the relationships between friends, men and women, between individual and society, looking for answers to elementary human questions. How does one establish their own place in the world? What love looks like and how such relationship works? What is one's purpose in life? How to cope with loss and suffering? In his texts Hemingway portrays the protagonists in various life situations and plots, but many share a common experience, such as the...
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The Problematics of Race in Selected Writings of Toni Morrison
Staňková, Klára ; Veselá, Pavla (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
The objective of this thesis is to examine the major writings of Toni Morrison which addressed the issues of race and the outcomes of racial discrimination such as for instance dehumanization through slavery or destruction of identity. The works chosen are mostly Toni Morrison's later novels such as Paradise, A Mercy and God Help the Child. Other crucial writings by Morrison concerned with the problematics of race are discussed as well. The analysis focuses on her oeuvre exploring black identity and experience (particularly the experience of African American women) in the United States as well as on the views on race and racial prejudices. In the introduction, the construction of race and racism is discussed in the context of American history. The analysis of the most pivotal historical moments, such as the enactment of the hereditary slavery law of 1662 in Virginia or the civil rights movement in the 1960s, reveals various issues stemming from the institutionalised racial discrimination such as disenfranchisement, anti-miscegenation laws or racial segregation. The subsequent subchapters encompass the definition of race, highlighting a scientific discovery by Stephen Oppenheimer, which proves that all humans have one common birthplace in Africa. This research demonstrates that race is not a...
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Signifying in the fiction of Charles W. Chesnutt
Koy, Christoper Erwin ; Ulmanová, Hana (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee) ; Jařab, Josef (referee)
(English): The dissertation is fundamentally a study of intertextuality. Charles W. Chesnutt (1858-1932) was an African American novelist, essayist and short story writer whose voracious reading habits of classical Western literature as well as the writing of his contemporaries had a substantial impact on his writing, an impact which is investigated for the first time applying the theory of African American rhetoric of Henry Louis Gates. The study applies the notion of "signifying" (as Gates describes it in The Signifying Monkey) to Chesnutt and his use of fiction by Ovid, Apulieus, Walter Scott, William Makepeace Thackeray, George Washington Cable and Albion Tourgée. The research explores how Chesnutt quotes from, revises and parodies, (among other mimetic strategies), the language, plots and characters of the aforementioned writers. Abstrakt (česky): Tato disertační práce se zabývá studiem intertextuality v díle afroamerického autora románů, esejí a povídek Charlese W. Chesnutta (1858-1932), který byl ve své tvorbě významně ovlivněn vlastní horlivou četbou klasické západní literatury i literární tvorbou svých současníků. Tato disertace je prvním pokusem o prozkoumání těchto vlivů, a to s využitím teorie afroamerické rétoriky, jejímž autorem je Henry Louis Gates. Práce aplikuje pojem "signifikace"...
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A Pious American Materialist: Analysis of Religious Elements in Sinclair Lewis's Babbitt
Taněvová, Pavla ; Ulmanová, Hana (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
Thesis abstract Although many literary critics have examined various aspect of Babbitt's life, only a very few were somehow concerned with the question of Babbitt's faith. On the surface it could seem that Babbitt is a Christian; however, the aim of this work is to prove that the Christian belief is only a label helping him to win a certain position in his community. His true religious belief is materialism (or consumer culture), since he admires its values and acts according to them. This thesis is divided into two main parts. The first one defines the key terms, i.e. religion and consumer culture. Then it analyses the practical impact (mainly the psychological and the sociological one) of consumer culture on the human society; on that basis we defend the thesis that consumer culture can serve as religion. In the second part we prove that Babbitt serves as an example of a man who successfully practices the materialistic belief. This thesis is supported with the analysis of hierophanies and idols admired by Babbitt as well as rituals performed by him. In the conclusion, the reasons are considered why Babbitt should be seen as a materialist and not a Christian as well as the fact that Lewis' novel is relevant even these days.
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Lovecraft's Fear of the Unknown and Unimaginable
Oliva, Jan ; Beran, Zdeněk (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
Thesis abstract: Howard Philips Lovecraft was an author of many horror stories who experimented with the most efficient way of how to invoke fear in the readers. This work focuses on determining the source of fear of the unknown which Lovecraft found to be the main cause of fear in his stories. The unknown is presented in them as an underlying reality that the protagonists partially reveal and come to realize the extent of the hidden hideous truth that only they are aware of. The first chapter after the introduction deals with the influences on Lovecraft's work and frames the period in which Lovecraft was active. It starts with a comparison with the significant literary movement of the time, Modernism and highlights the common features, feelings and anxieties such as alienation and isolation, rapid scientific discoveries and post- war recovery. The chapter also reviews Lovecraft's own attitude to the prevailing changes in the world and his beloved New England. The next chapter analyses how the element of unknown is produced and defines the overarching concept of 'cosmicism' and the prevalent theme of anti-anthropocentrism. There are other recurrent topics in his works that give rise to the fear of the unknown and alike emotions, namely the foreboding nature of cosmos, archaic style of writing and unearthly...
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Ongoing Queerness: The Flourishing of Trans Women's Literature in North America
Rose, Jamie ; Veselá, Pavla (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
(English) This master's thesis describes how, within the space of a single decade (2010-2019), transgender women's literature underwent significant development when it came to the production of novels and literary production more broadly. Written to be accessible to those unfamiliar with transgender literature and the internal workings of trans communities as possible, this thesis begins by describing in detail the socio-political changes in how trans people lived and were perceived over the past decade, with particular attention paid to the changes in the media landscape, the recent surge of people coming out as transgender and the conservative backlash. Methodologically, this thesis utilises the viewpoint of transgender studies, which focuses to the material and socio-political conditions that facilitate trans cultural production and the ways in which trans literature engages with the politics of representation through the act of self- representation. It should be noted that this thesis only considers physically published literature written by trans women - a restriction that, the author acknowledges, helps reinforce the hegemony of the publishing industry - with special attention paid to the genre of the novel, and does not view works by cisgender authors that deal with transgender themes as...
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Mental and Ontological Simulacra: Non-Rationality and Non-Reality in Works by Philip K. Dick
Kudrna, David ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
This thesis offers a model for the underlying architecture of the narrative reality in science-fiction works by Philip K. Dick, arguing that Dick's fictional worlds are grounded in the pervasive metamorphosis - the overarching perception of the shifting - of the narrative fabric operating under the conditions of non-rationality and non-reality. The hyphenated coinages conveniently stand for the paradigms of the reality and mental configurations in PKD subverting the seemingly natural dichotomizing oppositions and hierarchies of the real/unreal and the rational/irrational. Bringing in Gilles Deleuze's ontology of difference, this thesis explains the non-rationality and non-reality of Dick's worlds in Deleuzian terms as, firstly, inducing the perception of fictional reality as realizing the innate potential of being by the perpetual becoming of being in multiplicity and, secondly, engendering - in the vein of Deleuzian simulacra - the impossibility of apprehending and categorizing fictional reality unequivocally. The thesis considers and evaluates the underlying assumptions and claims common to various approaches to the subject of reality in PKD's fictions in order to provide the essential context for the following development of the theoretical basis for non-rationality and non-reality shifting....
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Southern Belle: Grotesque Distortion of Its Archetype in Sharp Objects
Šindlerová, Zuzana ; Ulmanová, Hana (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to analyze the grotesque distortion of the Southern Belle and Southern Lady archetype in the contemporary novel Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn. The novel draws from the literary tradition of Southern grotesque and introduces strong female characters that are judged from the perspective of feminist literary criticism and feminist theory. Furthermore, the novel works within the context of Southern Bell mythology, which functions as a very essential archetype to the culture and mental framework of the American South. Because the setting of the novel is placed within a very specific historical context of the American South region, some historical and sociological traditions, such as patriarchy and plantation system, are explained. Introductory chapter establishes the historical and literary context for the thesis analysis. Southern mentality and its distinctiveness from other American regions, especially from the North, are introduced. Southern social and economic structure is explained through the definition of patriarchy and plantation economy system. The mythology of Southern Belle, Southern Lady and Southern Gentleman is formulated, and this is set within the context of Southern literary tradition. The second chapter sets the novel within the context of feminist literary criticism...
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Elusive Feminism: Gender Consciousness in the Poetry of Elizabeth Bishop
Tůmová, Šárka ; Delbos, Stephan (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
This thesis explores the way Elizabeth Bishop grasps the themes and issues usually understood as feminist, both in her poetry and in her life. Bishop identified herself as a strong feminist, yet her feminism defies the conventional understanding of the doctrine prevalent at her time. Her conception of feminism is characteristic for its strong sense of egalitarianism, which reflects both in her poetry and in the way in which she wished to be perceived. Bishop avoids a distinctly feminist strategy and decisively refuses the potential bias in favor of feminine identity, should it be at the expense of gender-neutral worth of her work. Similarly, she firmly rejects the separatist tone of the type of feminism which prevailed during her lifetime and even discards it as thoroughly unfeminist. The thesis examines Bishop's conception of feminism from two points of view: Bishop's general interactions with feminist thoughts and ideas and how they reflect specifically in her poetry. The first chapter of the thesis focuses on the wider feminist framework. It serves as a necessary theoretical introduction to relevant feminist and gender theories, as well as a broader background for the understanding of Bishop's work with regard to feminism and feminist issues. This includes the general cultural context, but also...
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