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Family in Modern Fantasy: A Blessing or a Curse?
TÝMALOVÁ, Monika
This thesis aims to provide a comparative analysis of selected works of Anglo-American fantasy literature: Neil Gaiman's Coraline, Neverwhere and The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Amanda Stevens's The Restorer and The Kingdom and Melissa Albert's The Hazel Wood. In the theoretical part, the thesis briefly introduces fantasy and urban fantasy genres and their relation to family stories, along with authors and their respective works. Then the theoretical part focuses on the topic of Bildungsroman, dealing with the liminal phase of a journey from childhood to adulthood. In this context, the thesis alludes to the importance of Bruno Bettelheim's psychoanalytical approach in studying fairytales to understand children's fantasy further. It highlights the significant function of a trial, described via the structuralist study. The analysis itself draws on the following thematic areas: dream and disillusion, threat and hidden danger, will to survive, temptation and destruction, fear of nothingness, the role of mother and father, the power of words, helplessness and help, the temporality of beauty, recovery and rebirth. Based on the analysis results, the work tries to describe the function of the family in individual stories, how relationships between children and adult characters influence the development of the main heroes and heroines and whether the family represents a blessing or a curse.
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The Borders of Fantastic Spaces in Children's Literature
VRTALOVÁ, Blanka
The bachelor thesis will explore concepts of fantastic spaces in contemporary British children's literature. Some of them are based on concept of the fairy tale genre (Neil Gaiman, Hansel and Gretel) and others are crossing the border into gothic fiction and horror fantastic creation, although it is considered a part of children's literature. My work will compare the literary adaptation of fairy tales and the original work of contemporary children's and fantastic literature of Neil Gaiman. The aim is to focus on borders of spaces and particular genres.
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Escapes and Returns in Neil Gaiman´s Fantasy Stories
ŠEDIVÁ, Barbora
The diploma thesis deals with the interpretation of Neil Gaiman's work, in particular, the children's stories Coraline (2002), The Graveyard Book (2008) a Fortunately, the Milk (2013). The theoretical part of the thesis focuses on the continuity of the discussed works with the tradition of adventure literature and the Gothic novel. The theoretical parts also covers the theme of British children literature and Neil Gaiman and his main works. This part also concentrates on the structure of the rites of passage (Gennep) and on the theme of the test/crisis as an inevitable part of the protagonist's search for his own identity. The practical part of the diploma thesis analyses the stories of Gaiman's protagonists as examples of the initiation that takes place in three main phases: the preliminal, the liminal and the postliminal phase. The specific function of the time-space relations (the motifs of the old house and the cemetery as a border/limit) is described in the same way. The conclusion considers the meaning of escape to another world as an important experience and a part of the journey to adulthood, which helps the protagonists to accept the real world, to find their own place in it and to appreciate the value of real interpersonal relationships.
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The Image of a Forsaken Child in Neil Gaiman´s Children´s Stories
KULHÁNKOVÁ, Nikola
The aim of this diploma thesis is a comparative analysis of the image of a forsaken child in the stories written by a popular English writer Neil Gaiman. The survey of a forsaken child in the Gothic, Romantic and Victorian literature (Walpole, Radcliffe, Blake, Dickens, the Brontë sisters) precedes the interpretation. In addition, this diploma thesis considers the separation of the young hero from his family and friends in traditional fairy tales. In this respect, the thesis discusses the role of transitional rituals and their links to the theme of the test in adventurous literature (Gennep, Bachtin). The first, theoretical chapters point out the fact that the transition to a new existence (adulthood) is often accompanied by horror elements or the nearness of death in the adventurous stories. The novel Coraline is a basis for the literary analysis. The psychological characteristic of the main heroine and her family is linked to the function of home and the role of "the other mother" as a source of the Gothic atmosphere and danger. The following chapters analyse other Gaiman's works ("M is for Magic", The Graveyard Book, Odd and the Frost Giants, Fortunately, the Milk, The Ocean at the End of the Zone) in order to study the relations between the reality and dreams, violence and interpersonal relationships, and to describe the heroes' search for the individual identity.
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Smoke and Mirrors - Illustrations by Neil Gaiman´s Book
ENGELMANNOVÁ, Anna
The intention of this thesis is to create a collection of illustrations to fantasy stories Smoke and Mirrors: Short Fictions and Illusions by Neil Gaiman. File also includes book cover and flyleaf. The theoretical part focuses on the current trends in book design. First chapter explains concept, importance and historical context of illustration; the next chapter describes present illustration´s technologies. Next part focuses on Neil Gaiman, the author of the book, and his leading illustrator Dave McKean. Last chapter of the theoretical part compares covers and illustrations of foreign copies of book Smoke and Mirrors. The practical part includes detailed notes about working procedure and technologies used. Finally an interpretation to the individual illustrations is given.
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