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Giving a voice to the Other: Said's theory of anti-colonial resistance
Daghman, Ali ; Armand, Louis (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
Compared to the detailed theoretical analysis of colonial power and discourse, the conception of anti-colonial resistance has been generally underdeveloped and undertheorised. This inadequate, theoretical concern with resistance to colonialism has lead to the current conception of colonial power and discourse in postcolonial theory. This argument is illustrated on the analysis of the approaches to resistance in the works of Foucault and Bhabha, who have paid the major attention to the issues of power, knowledge and colonialism. They are countered by the work of Edward Said who brings resistance to the focal point of the post- and anti-colonial discourse. Foucault argues that resistance is neither defined by terms of its object, nor is it the result of intentionality on the part of the subject, whether this subject is collective or individual. He thinks of power as an intentional question without a subject, as if he were talking about purposefulness without purpose or action without agency. Yet, Foucault's theory of resistance remains inadequately explored. For Foucault, resistance is not integral but rather a necessary condition for the operation of power. Power itself is viewed as an undifferentiated conception: he tends to think of power from the standpoint of its actual realisation, not the opposition to...
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Authentic existence and the "American dream" in Dreiser's fiction
Černá, Pavlína ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Procházka, Martin (referee)
If we ask ourselves what makes a nation, the most common answer would probably be the national attributes such as the same language, race, shared territory or history platform. But then how is it in the case of the United States of America? Its language, English, is originally a language from the British Isles, its population consists of many people of different races and cultural backgrounds. It would be quite problematic even to speak about some common past or a specific territory.1 So, what is it then that makes the United States of America? Harvard's Sacvan Bercovitch argues that this "nation is defined by the mythic word America"2 and for him "America is a myth."2 Taking the definition of myths, in the original meaning of the word they are "stories, usually concerning superhumans or gods, which are related to accompany or to explain religious beliefs: they originate far back in the culture of oral societies. A mythology is a system of mythical stories which, taken together, elaborate the religious or metaphysical beliefs of the society."3 Myths are important in functioning as building blocks of the nation, more precisely they "shape the way we see the world, how we think of ourselves, where we look for origins and purpose, including national origins and purpose." Finally, "every great culture has had a...
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Beyond horror: or, exploring the connections between E.A. Poe's writtings and A. Hitchcock's cinema
Martináková, Iva ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Veselá, Pavla (referee)
80 Abstract in English The aim of this thesis is the exploration of horror from a wider perspective in terms of theory, as well as in specific works of Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Hitchcock. Ultimately, this thesis attempts to show a solid trajectory of horror across a wide temporal range, in order to demonstrate the connections of horror and inherent human psychology, as well as to demarcate the boundaries of horror for the purpose of showing Poe's and Hitchcock's surpassing of these limits, constituting the title of this thesis. The structure of the thesis similarly attempts to achieve the above by establishing the main theoretical background in the first chapter, the main body of the literary and film analysis largely present in the second chapter, and the third chapter capturing the contextual differences between Hitchcock and Poe, essentially arriving at the most significant findings and simultaneously providing a concluding exploration of the authors' achievement to go beyond the boundaries of horror. The first chapter, then, mainly draws from the concept of the Sublime, as elaborately described by Edmund Burke, as well as the concept of abjection discussed by Julia Kristeva. These form the main basis of horror creation, and it is shown in the second analytical chapter that both Poe and Hitchcock...
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Body, Mind, and the Lost Generation in Works of Hemingway and Fitzgerald
Nekvasilová, Klára ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Robbins, David Lee (referee)
The thesis explores the notion of physicality in selected novels of Ernest Hemingway and Francis Scott Fitzgerald, using the works of Jean Baudrillard as its theoretical base. The text seeks to uncover the significance of a human body in the novels through a detailed observation of the depicted characters, focusing mainly on the role of the body as an emblem that reflects not only its owner's individual battles, but also the transgressive processes taking place in the society. The study assumes that the works written by the authors of the Lost Generation capture the gradual onset of capitalism and consumerism, and thus they reflect the emergence of the consumer society, a social order that became Baudrillard's main subject of study. The main aim of the thesis is thence to explore the human body as a reflection of major societal changes and uncover the methods in which the characters use their bodies to define their own position in the newly arising system. Following the theoretical introduction, the analysis firstly examines fashion and demonstrates its capability to either unify the members of the consumer society through their shared desire to follow specific trends, or alternatively hierarchically divide the consumers based on their dissimilar approaches to consumption. Secondly, the thesis...
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The Legacy of Invisible Man: Ralph Ellison's Influence on Fight Club.
Otáhal, Michal ; Robbins, David Lee (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
This thesis explores the themes of Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (1952) in comparison with Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club (1996) through the views of the intradiegetic unnamed first- person narrators of both novels. Although they are of a different race, socio-economical standing, and era, they have a similar mindset which, on the one hand, criticizes the US capitalism and the work-oriented, materialistic American Dream, and on the other one, reflects Emersonian combination of nihilism and anarchy. Fight Club follows the ideas voiced in Invisible Man and adjusts them to the contemporary globalized society. The thesis is divided into three main chapters, each focusing on one major topic pursued by the narrators. The first chapter deals with the idea of dispossession, both as a material and spiritual separation from the world, which is the core of the narrators' process of self-liberation from the norms of society. Only when they lose all possessions, social bonds, and almost erase their identities, they can find their true (Emersonian) selves and freedom. The self is more analysed in the following chapter focused on the theme of social invisibility. The narrators are taken at face value by society, i.e. people concentrate only on their outward social markers and disregard their individual selves....
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Ralph Waldo Emerson, Friedrich Nietzsche, John Dewey, and the Creative Reader
Ľuba, Peter ; Robbins, David Lee (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
The aim of this MA thesis was to analyze the correspondences and differences between the individual philosophers and writers from the loosely formed intellectual group of Euro- American pragmatism. The thesis utilizes a chronological approach, starting with the early signs of transatlantic pragmatism in Immanuel Kant's philosophy, and traces this development throughout the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century. In addition to the comparison of philosophical similarities and dissimilarities of the examined authors, each chapter also considered the possible uses of pragmatic techniques in pedagogy and education. Therefore, besides the examination of differing epistemologies of writers of transatlantic pragmatism, this thesis also aims to offer educational suggestions, ideas and practical methods for an educator. The first chapter of the thesis is designed to introduce the theme of the work at large. The second chapter of the thesis analyzes the rudimentary signs of pragmatism, in the revolutionary ideas of Immanuel Kant and Johan Gottlieb Fichte. This chapter focuses on the genesis of subjective idealism, subjective category creation and Fichte's Wissenschaftslehre, along with his lectures on vocations. The third chapter surveys the ideas of Ralph Waldo Emerson and his approaches towards the...
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What It Means to Be American?: Creating American National Identity
Zeimannová, Adéla ; Robbins, David Lee (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
National identity is a complex notion of being and belonging. The multiple selves, out of which the identity is composed of such as gender, class, race, and ethnicity etc. pose a challenge in creating any sort of unified collective national identity that would encompass each individual's unique set of these multiple selves and roles. This complexity is even more pronounced when a national identity of such nations as the U.S. is examined. Due to its multicultural and multiethnic nature, identifying a collective American identity becomes a challenge. This thesis examines the birth of national identity in the U.S. during the Revolutionary era through the time of the Early republic and the period of 1800-1850 in an effort to discover the unifying features of such complex identity and to uncover its origins. The text consults theoretical framework on nation, nationalism and national identity to establish a working definition of a nation and to explain the complexity of the concept which is then further examined in the context of the U.S. In combination with a historical overview of the period 1770-1850, the thesis addresses nationalist feelings and thoughts that permeated the country at the time, examining the first emergence of calls for unified American national identity and the subsequent...
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Nomina nuda tenemus: Postmodernist Method in Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire
Ottová, Tereza ; Delbos, Stephan (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
Thesis Abstract Vladimir Nabokov is usually regarded as one of the most important authors of postmodernism. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the method which Nabokov employs in Pale Fire and which earns it classification among postmodern novels. His approach to the text causes Pale Fire to be emblematic of Lyotard's incredulity toward metanarratives, Barthes' reservations to authorial figures and Eco's reinvention of flatus vocis. Nabokov's dialogue with the form results in a subversion of the formal elements of the novel. Pale Fire introduces at least one unreliable internal author, Charles Kinbote, who undermines and defies his authority as an academic commentator, which vastly contributes to the destabilisation of the novel's form. This combines with an anti-rationalistic approach to inscriptions and names which do not simplify the access to the content that they indicate, but rather complicate it. Even the first obvious subject of Pale Fire, that is the subject of the academic commentary, a poem "Pale Fire", has an unstable form as it cannot be determined whether the version as presented is a final one. Therefore, neither the narrative voice, nor the terminology, nor the main subject contribute to the stability of the novel's form, on the contrary, they disintegrate it. Similarly unconventional is...
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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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"The Same River Twice": An Analysis of Alice Walker's The Color Purple and Steven Spielberg's Film Adaptation
Bularzová, Kristýna ; Veselá, Pavla (advisor) ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (referee)
1 Abstract As an African American writer and activist, Alice Walker explores themes related to the Black community and culture. In The Color Purple, she focuses on Black women and the struggles they had experienced in the rural American South between 1900s-1940s. Walker addresses issues such as domestic violence or oppression established by patriarchy, and through the female characters also elaborates on female identity, sexuality, and spiritual freedom. In 1985, The Color Purple was adapted into a film of the same name by Steven Spielberg. This BA thesis first introduces Alice Walker and her work in the historical and literary context, and then provides a general introduction to the concept of film adaptation. This chapter briefly clarifies the term and then comments on different types of film adaptation, the process of its creation, and the importance of the adaptation's reception from the public, for that is considered to be a crucial and final part of the overall process. Lastly, it discusses the transition from a novel to a film specifically, which leads the reader to the core of this treatise: the detailed analysis of Walker's novel and Spielberg's interpretation of the story. The BA thesis studies the differences between the two works. It examines the key discrepancies in the depiction of characters,...
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