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Art of Self-Deception: Unreliable Narration and Its Motivation in Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World and The Remains of the Day
Zbořil, Jonáš ; Chalupský, Petr (advisor) ; Topolovská, Tereza (referee)
The purpose of this thesis is to analyse unreliable narration and its motivation in the two novels by Kazuo Ishiguro, An Artist of the Floating World (1986) and The Remains of the Day (1989) using the taxonomy of Zuzana Fonioková and James Phelan and Mary Patricia Martin. In its theoretical part, this thesis explores the concept of unreliability in contemporary narratology, furthermore, it studies self-deception and memory, two phenomena essential for understanding the motivations for unreliable narration. The practical part consists of an analysis of the textual signals of unreliability, which proves the complexity of Ishiguro's narrative strategies. The thesis concludes that the climax of both the novels is created through the spelling out of the narrators' self-deception, which is the cause of their unreliability in the first place. KEYWORDS Kazuo Ishiguro, unreliable narration, self-deception, memory, An Artist of the Floating World, The Remains of the Day
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Use of Symbolism in Selected Works of William Golding
Kopečná, Kateřina ; Chalupský, Petr (advisor) ; Topolovská, Tereza (referee)
This diploma thesis is concerned with the use of symbolism in three selected novels by William Golding, Pincher Martin, The Spire and The Double Tongue. The theoretical part presents a brief biography of the writer and outlines theoretical background of literary symbolism, focusing especially on Northrop Frye's Theory of Symbols and the psychoanalytic perspective. It is concluded by listing sources of inspiration behind the selected Golding's works, taking his own experiences as well as literary influences into account. The practical part begins with characterization of Golding's use of symbols in general, including his methods, recurring topics and symbolic patterns. Its main part focuses individually on the three chosen books, in the order of their publication. Each section analyses symbolism of setting of the story and the protagonists' names, symbolic imagery, and it seeks for Christian and psychoanalytic symbols. In addition, it presents possible interpretations of other significant symbols occurring in the particular novel. The use of symbolism is put in context with outer influences to show the variety of topics and specificity of the author's style.
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War-induced xenophobia in David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars
Šaldová, Ivona ; Ženíšek, Jakub (advisor) ; Topolovská, Tereza (referee)
NÁZEV: War-induced xenophobia in David Guterson's Snow Falling on Cedars AUTOR: Ivona Šaldová KATEDRA: Department of English Language and Literature VEDOUCÍ PRÁCE: Mgr. Jakub Ženíšek ABSTRACT This thesis concerns itself with xenophobia and war induced paranoia and its features and impacts on human behaviour in the work of David Guterson Snow Falling on Cedars. The first part explains the differences in individual terms, describes unification theories and outlines the issue of dual loyalty. The second part identifies features of xenophobia in individual characters of Guterson's work. This analysis is supported by the theoretical foundation from the first section. KEYWORDS American Literature, Snow Falling on Cedars, David Guterson, Xenophobia, War- induced paranoia, Nativism, Character analysis
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Literary Depictions of Affairs between Female Teachers and Male Secondary School Students
Hobbs, Denisa ; Topolovská, Tereza (advisor) ; Chalupský, Petr (referee)
This master thesis examines two novels which depict affairs between female teachers and male secondary school students: Notes on a Scandal by Zoë Heller and Tampa by Alissa Nutting. In the theoretical part, female sex offenders, erotic age-preferences, child sexual abuse, and educator sexual misconduct are discussed. In the practical part, the two novels are analyzed in relation to the scholarly findings presented in the theoretical part. Despite the great differences between the two fictional depictions of educator sexual misconduct, both novels contain numerous parallels to real cases. The most notable difference between them is their approach to gender stereotypes. Although Notes on a Scandal allows an alternative reading, it more or less reinforces stereotypes, while Tampa has the clear objective to conquer them. KEYWORDS female sex offenders, child sexual abuse, educator sexual misconduct, hebephilia, stereotypes, English literature, American literature
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Difference in Aldous Huxley's approach to the concept of dystopia in the 1930s and 1960s with references to his selected works
Hronová, Marie ; Chalupský, Petr (advisor) ; Topolovská, Tereza (referee)
TITLE: The difference in Aldous Huxley's approach to the concept of dystopia in the 1930s and 1960s with references to his selected works AUTHOR: Marie Hronová DEPARTMENT: Department of English Language and Literature SUPERVISOR: PhDr. Petr Chalupský, Ph.D. ABSTRACT: This thesis is focused on the approach of Aldous Huxley to dystopian fiction. To explore this topic it analyses his two major novels, namely Brave New World (1932) and Island (1962). The aim of the theoretical part is to provide a context to these two works. Therefore, it describes the most important social changes which emerged after the First World War and further developed after the Second World War. This part is also concerned with the development of psychopharmacology and its consequences since it plays a major role in both analysed novels. Further context is given by outlining the basic ideas of selected eastern philosophies as they are crucial for one of Huxley's works. The practical part then analyses Huxley's imaginary society in Brave New World in order to pinpoint the features of the author's dystopian novel and his criticism of the society of the 1930s. Island is explored as a counterpart of Brave New World, since both novels deal with the same topic but in different perspectives. The aim of this part is to analyse and compare the...
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Some Features of Persuasive Language in Selected Presidential Campaign Speeches of Two Candidates
Šlesingrová, Pavlína ; Pípalová, Renata (advisor) ; Topolovská, Tereza (referee)
The diploma thesis "Some Features of Persuasive Language in Selected Presidential Campaign Speeches of Two Candidates" aims to investigate how the rhetorical device of conceptual metaphor is employed in the election campaign speeches of Barack Obama and Mitt Romney addressed mainly to the Hispanic voters to develop the myth of the American Dream. The political speeches were analyzed under the theoretical framework of the critical metaphor analysis and critical discourse analysis. Besides the analysis of the metaphorical concepts that support the myth creation, other rhetorical devices were examined in the selected corpus of the both speeches for their persuasive function.
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The Country House Revisited: Variations on a Theme from Forster to Hollinghurst
Topolovská, Tereza ; Chalupský, Petr (advisor) ; Franková, Milada (referee) ; Nagy, Ladislav (referee)
This dissertation aims to provide an insight into English country house fiction by twentieth and twenty-first century authors, such as E.M. Forster, Evelyn Waugh, Iris Murdoch, Alan Hollinghurst, and Sarah Waters. The variety of literary depictions of the country house reflects the physical diversification of the buildings in question, from smaller variants to formerly grand residences on the brink of physical collapse. The country house is explored within the wider social and cultural contexts of the period, including contemporary architectural development. Given the exceptionally evocative and integrating properties that the influential theories of Martin Heidegger and Gaston Bachelard attribute to a house in general, it is unsurprising that the concept of the country house has inspired discussion of such a wide spectrum of topics. Its unique centring quality is echoed in the dense intertextuality prominently marking its literary representations, and enables the successful implementation of various temporal idiosyncrasies, which often set the house apart from the habitual passing of time. Within the scope of contemporary fiction, architecture and poetics of space, the country house accentuates different conceptions of dwelling. Consequently, the literary portrayals of the country house can be...
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Victimization in Margaret Atwood's The Blind Assassin
Tomanová, Michaela ; Topolovská, Tereza (advisor) ; Chalupský, Petr (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to explore the theme of victimization in Margaret Atwood's novel, The Blind Assassin. The theoretical part of the work presents two theories elaborating on this topic. The first Atwood outlined herself in Survival, her influential book about Canadian literature. The second one is Trauma and Recovery by Judith Herman, which highlights the role of post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of abuse, often in the victim's childhood. In the practical part, Atwood's widely acclaimed 2000 novel, The Blind Assassin, is interpreted through the prism of these two theories.
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