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Myth of Narcissus in French literature at the turn of the 20th Century
Kučerová, Magdalena ; Pohorský, Aleš (advisor) ; Pechar, Jiří (referee) ; Jamek, Václav (referee)
Mgr. Magdalena Kučerová Dissertation work: Myth of Narcissus in French literature at the turn of the 20th century ABSTRACT: This dissertation thesis based on knowledge of French myth criticism deals with the issue of myths in literature, which is a specific manifestation of human symbolic imagination. In its most general level the work studies the definition of a myth and its social function as well as the matter of opposite notions regarding to the mythos and logos, which have gradually more and more differentiated along with the development of European thinking. The myth of Narcissus has probably been one of the oldest myths in European culture. In its most renowned and most comprehensive form, the myth first appeared in the third book of Metamorphoses by Ovid, which has served as an inspiration for remakes by many later authors. The story of a young man who fell in love with his own reflection on the surface of the water contains a great variety of semantically strong structures (mainly the motifs of a mirror, narcissistic love, passively superior character of a hero, or the final metamorphoses into a flower), which are analysed in this study. The author of this study outlines the interpretational evolution of the myth of Narcissus in French literary history...
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Emanuel Hauner's conversion and reconversion at the fin de siècle
Semsch, Alžběta ; Vojtěch, Daniel (advisor) ; Merhaut, Luboš (referee)
The goal of the final thesis Emanuel Hauner's conversion and reconversion at the fin de siècle is to introduce and to interpret Emanuel Hauner's major poetic works, which have been so far neglected by the Czech literary history. My goal was to analyze the reasons of refusal of his works by both readers and critics. To make this analysis precise, it was necessary to take a close look at two phenomena appearing in Hauner's work: stylization and epigonism. The second major goal of this thesis was to answer the question of how Hauner's relation to occultism and Catholicism influenced his works. I was looking for other European authors that, similarly to Hauner, converted to Catholicism and in some parts of their lives had affinity for occultism. I have thus put Hauner's work both in the context of work of authors in whose work the conversion to Catholicism played a major role, and in the context of the artistic criteria of his time. Keywords: Catholicism, Czech literature, decadence, Emanuel Hauner, epigonism, fin de siècle, martinism, occultism, Rudolf Steiner, stylization, Sursum, theosophy
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Fin-de-siècle Elements in Flann O'Brien's Novel The Third Policeman
Brymová, Petra ; Pilný, Ondřej (advisor) ; Wallace, Clare (referee)
This thesis concerns the similarities between Flann O'Brien's novel The Third Policeman and fin-de-siècle literature, more specifically decadent literature and literature of the early avant-garde. The fact that, apart from metafiction, O'Brien's novel does not deal with aesthetics (neither when it comes to the form nor when it comes to the topic) does not invalidate the presence of fin-de-siècle elements or strategies in it; the elements only change and thus adapt to their new environment. Many of them become ironic, other ones actively contribute to the metafictional scope of the novel. The first chapter explains the parallels between The Third Policeman and fin- de-siècle literature in general. It concentrates primarily on decadent literature and its central theme of "unnaturalness." Unnaturalness occurs in variegated forms, such as artifice, artificiality or make-believe. Unnaturalness can be detected also in the protagonists themselves and even (in compliance with the metafiction of the novel) in the form of O'Brien's hellish world where the narrator finds himself. Discovering and experiencing various forms of unnaturalness go hand in hand with sense perception which is what the chapter also refers to - The Third Policeman remarkably reflects descriptions of sense experiences known from...
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Fairy-tale in the work of Václav Tille - Říha
Vlčková, Barbora ; Šmahelová, Hana (advisor) ; Merhaut, Luboš (referee)
Fairy-tale in the works of Václav Tille-Říha thesis is based on an analysis and an interpretation of Tille's fairy-tale writings and symbolist stories considering the means of developing symbolist poetics on an outline of a folklore fairy-tale. The target of this thesis is to grasp the function of fairy-tale features in Václav Tille's works which emerged from the intersection of literary adaptation of traditional folklore subjects with symbolist creation. The opening chapter deals with the historical context of Tille's works and its folklorist and literary aspects. The work aim, through the works of Václav Tille, to express a wider framework within the context of symbolist writing and Art Noveau fine arts.
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Félicien Rops in the Context of His Work and Time
Půtová, Barbora ; Wittlich, Petr (advisor) ; Urban, Otto (referee) ; Prahl, Roman (referee)
Félicien Rops in the context his works and time is a dissertation thesis dedicated to the life and work of one of the most important representatives of artistic decadence and symbolism of the 19th century. Félicien Rops (1833-1898) was a Belgian graphic artist, illustrator and painter, whose artwork significantly influenced how the sensual beauty of the female body, human sexuality and the darker sides of the human soul were interpreted. The dissertation thesis systematically describes and analytically interprets Rops's life and work in historical, social and cultural context. The first part of the dissertation thesis discusses the early phase of Rops's life, mentions his childhood, schooling and the beginnings of artwork from his time in Brussels until his arrival in Paris. Here I focus mainly on Rops's activities in art circles, his attempts at raising the status of Belgian art within the wider European movement and his activity related to founding satirical periodicals. This phase of Rops's life was defined by his political and social caricaturist work, and was heavily influenced by Flemish tradition and French modern art. I cannot omit Rops's landscape-painting and following the tradition of Flemish and Dutch painting. Special attention is paid to Rops's relation to travelling, sports and...
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"Henry James & His Stance towards Aestheticism and Decadence"
Mackal, Jan ; Roraback, Erik Sherman (advisor) ; Robbins, David Lee (referee)
This M.A. thesis focuses on the problematic relationship between Henry James and Aestheticism and Decadence on the example of his two masterpieces-The Portrait of a Lady () and The Golden Bowl (). The main task is to document the evolution of this relationship and to point out that despite his lifelong preoccupation with these two artistic movements in his literary works, James refuses to assume a concrete stance toward them. Before the literary analysis of the two abovementioned novels, the author devotes the first chapter to a brief historical survey as to the nature and purpose of the work of art, to the development Aestheticism and Decadence in Europe and Britain, and to James's relationship with some of the proponents of British Aestheticism. The rest of the thesis is devoted to the literary analysis of the two novels through the optics of Aestheticism and Decadence. Keywords: James, Henry; Aestheticism; Decadence; literary analysis; transatlantic studies
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Protagonist in Gabriele D'Annunzio's Rose Trilogy
Richterová, Daniela ; Flemrová, Alice (advisor) ; Čaplyginová, Olga (referee)
In this thesis we will focus on D'Annunzio's Novels of the rose cycle, on the character analysis of its protagonists in the light of the specific social-historical interpretation of fin-de- siècle period. After a short introduction dedicated to life and work of the author, we will analyse the three novels with the aid of the works of literary criticism in a way that the major themes and specific characteristics of the novels emerge in their comparative interpretation based on the perspective of significance of the author's work in italian and european literature at that time. In conclusion we will consider the possibility of alternative solutions to decadence for D'Annunzio's protagonists which will bring our discussion into philosophical debate about crisis of misguided european rationalism, the crisis related to the problem of dissolution of subject of identity.
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Short Prose of Jaroslav Vrchlický
Hubáček, Jiří ; Vaněk, Václav (advisor) ; Topor, Michal (referee)
This bachelor thesis aims to offer a complex approach to the short prose of Jaroslav Vrchlický. It proceeds chronologically and pays attention to the particular collections of stories as well as to the items of prose printet individually or ones in manuscript form; as an appendix to the stories, the thesis analyses feuilletons and memories. Yet it is focused primarily on the history of literature, it deals mainly with the genesis of the texts, their editions and critical reception and it examines their intertextual relations to the classical works of the world literature. On the basis of my analysis of individual stories, it strives to grasp the basic enveloping of Vrchlický as a novelist in separate periods of his creative course and hereby, to present the whole of his prosaic works as a dynamically changing and developing part of his entire writing.
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The reception and influence of fin de siécle Scandinavian literature in Czechia
Thál, Jonáš ; Humpál, Martin (advisor) ; Hartlová, Dagmar (referee)
This thesis deals with reception of Scandinavian decadent literature in the Czech literary milieu on the background of European culture and philosophy in the late 19th century, the cultural homogeneity of European fin-de-siècle literature being stressed. The Scandinavian literature is in this thesis recognized to be an element of importance for the Czech periodicals (the main emphasis is placed on the periodical Moderní revue) as well as publishing houses. The thesis deals more thoroughly with Scandinavian men of letters such as Ola Hansson, August Strindberg, Georg Brandes, Herman Bang, Arne Garborg and considers their impact on the Czech literary ground. The personal contact amongst the European literary personas of the decadent epoch is of certain importance to the thesis.
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Connections between Literary and Graphic Works of Karel Hlaváček
Štěpánová, Eva ; Merhaut, Luboš (advisor) ; Vojtěch, Daniel (referee)
The work is focused on literal and visual art of Karel Hlavacek in integrity. We concentrate mainly on interconnection between his work and exposition and comparison selected motives in this bachelor thesis. We try to find connection between process selected motives in literal and visual art. We attend to symbolism and decadence and a period context of the end of the 19th century. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)
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