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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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Neo-Pagan Features in Boyden's "Three Day Road"
Bohal, Vít ; Kolinská, Klára (advisor) ; Jindra, Miroslav (referee)
In the thesis for my upcoming bachelor's paper I aim to analyze the topic of religion in Joseph Boyden's novel Three Day Road (2005). More specifically, I aim to defend the hypothesis that within the spectrum of religious dialogue present within the novel, there is an overwhelming undertone of neo-pagan ideals. These ideals are presented as being positive, in the sense that they are life-supporting, rather than life-hindering. The main contention that I will draw will deal with the aspect of taboo, and how it is adressed throughout the novel. Contrary to Sigmund Freud's ideas (Freud's book Totem and Taboo will serve as the basis for my arguments) of taboo being a life-hindering, neurotic framework of belief, the views expressed by the two main narrators of the novel are in favor of taboo, and the narration itself draws a tragic end for the character who consistently defies these taboos. There is a moral aspect to the story expressed within the relationship of the two main characters, Xavier Bird and Elijah Whiskeyjack, and is based on this very adherence, or lack thereof, to taboos. The main taboo consistently appears to be that of cannibalism associated with the infamous Algonquin mythological figure of the windigo, which is the most frequent metaphor used within the narrtaive and is the most productive...
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Prejudice, Cultural Clash, Female Role, Nation and Nationaly in the Novels of Ying Chen
Navrátilová, Leona ; Kolinská, Klára (advisor) ; Jindra, Miroslav (referee)
Ying Chen is a Canadian writer of Chinese origin who writes in French. In her novels, she investigates immigration which is closely connected with displacement and the loss of one's original identity. Her literary work is primarily aimed at the North American readership so she includes a lot of details of historical events and social facts about China. Ying Chen belongs to the group of authors who are labelled as immigrant writers. The majority of her literary work centres around the recurring themes of nationalism, feminism, imagination and immigration, which can lead to a loss of original identity. Ying Chen investigates whether a person can exchange his identity, that which was given to him by his parents, with a new one. In her second published novel, L'Ingratitude, Ying Chen speaks through the character of the dominant mother and says: "A person without parents is miserable, like a people without history." With these words she indicates the impossibility of exchanging one's nationhood, national history, and identity. We need to accept who we are, and she emphasises this fact in her novel, Immobile, saying, "I am myself."
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Bullying and its impacts in Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye
Hemžalová, Simona ; Topolovská, Tereza (advisor) ; Chalupský, Petr (referee)
This bachelor thesis focuses on the subject of bullying in Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye (1988). The aim of the thesis is to inquire into specific types and effects of bullying predominantly occurring in groups of girls with its long-term consequences on the individuals and compare it with the depiction of bullying in the novel Cat's Eye. Besides the characteristic features of bullying and its consequences, the theoretical part of the thesis suggests two coping strategies, the Freudian defence mechanisms, and Art therapy, which concentrates on the core of the problem and simultaneously helps the client to express their feelings through the creative activity. The practical part then examines how the findings in the theoretical part correspond to the illustration of bullying in the novel Cat's Eye. To be more precise, it focuses on the protagonists of the story, who are the victims of bullying, and analyses how the characters are trying to overcome the trauma via the therapeutic strategies mentioned. That aside, the thesis explores how bullying falls into the whole literary creation of Margaret Atwood and whether it can be considered a typical topic, or its variation, with which she deals with in her novels.
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Canadian Literary Regionalism: Rural Ontario and Manitoba Pariries In the Works of Alice Munro and Margaret Laurence
Ondová, Zuzana ; Kolinská, Klára (advisor) ; Jindra, Miroslav (referee)
The BA thesis deals with the use of region in the works of two renowned Canadian authors of the 20th century, Margaret Laurence and Alice Munro. For my analysis I have chosen Laurence's novel The Diviners (1974), the final work in her Manawaka sequence, and Alice Munro's first published collection of short stories, Dance of the Happy Shades (1968). Laurence sets her Canadian novels primarily in Manawaka, a small prairie town based her own hometown. Munro, who is largely associated with Southern Ontario Gothic, takes us to several towns in southwestern Ontario. Since both authors have successfully been published outside of Canada I also discuss whether their works are distinctly Canadian in any way. Contemporary Canadian studies recognize regionalism as one of the defining features of the country. In the introduction, I touch on the lack of uniform identity, experience and interests in a country as ethnically and geographically diverse as Canada. Although the first thing that comes to mind in relation to Canadian regions, is the division of the country into provinces and territories, it is not the only way to approach regionalism - the country could be divided into different regions if we were to focus on language or climate. Beverly Rasporich proposes the view that artists serve as "active creators...
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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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Neo-Pagan Features in Boyden's "Three Day Road"
Bohal, Vít ; Kolinská, Klára (advisor) ; Jindra, Miroslav (referee)
In the thesis for my upcoming bachelor's paper I aim to analyze the topic of religion in Joseph Boyden's novel Three Day Road (2005). More specifically, I aim to defend the hypothesis that within the spectrum of religious dialogue present within the novel, there is an overwhelming undertone of neo-pagan ideals. These ideals are presented as being positive, in the sense that they are life-supporting, rather than life-hindering. The main contention that I will draw will deal with the aspect of taboo, and how it is adressed throughout the novel. Contrary to Sigmund Freud's ideas (Freud's book Totem and Taboo will serve as the basis for my arguments) of taboo being a life-hindering, neurotic framework of belief, the views expressed by the two main narrators of the novel are in favor of taboo, and the narration itself draws a tragic end for the character who consistently defies these taboos. There is a moral aspect to the story expressed within the relationship of the two main characters, Xavier Bird and Elijah Whiskeyjack, and is based on this very adherence, or lack thereof, to taboos. The main taboo consistently appears to be that of cannibalism associated with the infamous Algonquin mythological figure of the windigo, which is the most frequent metaphor used within the narrtaive and is the most productive...
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Prejudice, Cultural Clash, Female Role, Nation and Nationaly in the Novels of Ying Chen
Navrátilová, Leona ; Kolinská, Klára (advisor) ; Jindra, Miroslav (referee)
Ying Chen is a Canadian writer of Chinese origin who writes in French. In her novels, she investigates immigration which is closely connected with displacement and the loss of one's original identity. Her literary work is primarily aimed at the North American readership so she includes a lot of details of historical events and social facts about China. Ying Chen belongs to the group of authors who are labelled as immigrant writers. The majority of her literary work centres around the recurring themes of nationalism, feminism, imagination and immigration, which can lead to a loss of original identity. Ying Chen investigates whether a person can exchange his identity, that which was given to him by his parents, with a new one. In her second published novel, L'Ingratitude, Ying Chen speaks through the character of the dominant mother and says: "A person without parents is miserable, like a people without history." With these words she indicates the impossibility of exchanging one's nationhood, national history, and identity. We need to accept who we are, and she emphasises this fact in her novel, Immobile, saying, "I am myself."
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