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Development of the concept of liminality in selected works of Salman Rushdie
Švejdík, Jan ; Chalupský, Petr (advisor) ; Ženíšek, Jakub (referee)
The core of this thesis is capturing the concept of liminality in the past works of Salman Rushdie, specifically in novels The Satanic Verses, The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights. Selected characters and motifs of these novels reflect autobiographical elements, thus the aim of the thesis is to describe the transformation of the concept of liminality in chronological progression, where these novels represent three periods in which the author's perception of home and migration differ substantially from one another. The phenomenon of liminality is described within the frame of postcolonial literary theory and attention is therefore paid to the notion of "other" in relation to home and its cultural specificities, as well as in relation to the migrant's new homeland. The analysis of these works and their abstraction into three representative periods form a frame of reference for comparison with possible future works of the author.
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Imagination and Reality in the Work of J.R.R. Tolkien and Neil Gaiman
ŠIMMEROVÁ, Alena
The bachelor thesis aims to explore selected works of J. R. R. Tolkien and Neil Gaiman as representative examples of the fantasy genre. The narratives of Tolkien's Hobbit and Lord of The Rings and Gaiman's Coraline and The Graveyard Book will be contrasted and analysed on the theoretical background of the rites of passage. Thus, its fundamental concepts will be introduced in order to establish a solid basis for subsequent analysis. The concept of liminality will be given extra importance because it represents a state in which the dramatic changes in one's character occur. The focus will be placed on the fantastic adventure as a liminal phase of the storyline in comparison with the preliminary and post-liminal ones, which are more or less associated with realistic elements. The proper analysis will concentrate especially on the disparity between the fantastic plot, which is aligned to a trial/journey motif, and the framework established by the opening and the end of the story. Moreover, a part of the thesis will be devoted to a definition of the fantasy genre and the biography of both authors. Finally, the thesis will be concluded with the topic of death in terms of liminality as meeting point of imagination and reality.
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Liminalita v románu Brama Stokera Drákula a dekadentní prvky díla
MIFKOVÁ, Zuzana
This these first characterizes the decadent elements of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula in the context of late Victorian literature and generally tries to define the concept of liminality according to the approach of Arnold van Gennep (Rites of Passage) and Victor Turner (The Ritual Process). The core of the work is the interpretation of the category of liminality based on a literary analysis of Stoker's novel, including the identification of motifs and themes related to the term liminality, and the concept of the supernatural and the category of otherness (the uncanny) as defined by S. Freud in Das Unheimliche. The thesis focuses on the topic of crossing the border between the human sphere and the supernatural world and tries to interpret the concept of liminality in the context of the work of the late Victorian period.
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Identity and Displacement in Contemporary Postcolonial Fiction
Olehlová, Markéta ; Nováková, Soňa (advisor) ; Franková, Milada (referee) ; Kolinská, Klára (referee)
English summary The main objective of this thesis is to present some key issues relevant for postcolonial field of study with respect to two basic areas of interest: concepts of identity and place, respectively displacement in contemporary postcolonial discourse and their reflection in fiction, too. The thesis should provide the potential reader with basic theoretical background based on the most fundamental sources and by means of selected literary works it should support (or disclaim, if necessary) conclusions reached by the most notable theories. This dissertation work consists of three major parts. In the introduction, apart from providing the motivational, theoretical and literary objectives of the thesis, I cover some basic difficulties that may occur when dealing with the postcolonial field of study. The central part of the thesis can be divided into two parts, each of them consisting of two further sections. The first one, "Identity in Postcolonial Discourse", is focused on one of the key terms in all of postcolonial theory: identity and other concepts related with it. I cover the basic development of theoretical reflection concerning this concept, drawing primarily from secondary sources dealing with it. The theoretical part on identity is succeeded by a chapter "Reflections of Identity in the...
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Worcamp Liminality, or There and Back Again (and the extraordinary experiences that happen in between)
Sedláčková, Tereza ; Grygar, Jakub (advisor) ; Horák, Vít (referee)
Bachelor thesis "Workcamp Liminality, or There and Back Again (and the extraordinary experiences that happen in between)" deals with initiation in contemporary society. It elaborates on initiation of transition between childhood and adulthood, which is made possible through the secular rituals of transition. A research on one workcamp is used to analyse this type of initiation. Three-phase concept rites de passage of Arnold van Gennep, focusing on the middle, liminal, stage and its course as described by Victor Turner is used in the analysis. The aim of this paper is to outline some examples of travelling, which may take the form of rites de passage, and through research on one specific workcamp show that it is possible to encounter the liminal and initiating characteristics of travelling there. According to the theories of Victor Turner emergence of communitas is perhaps the clearest indication of liminal stage (or rite de passage and initiation). Turner's understanding of communitas is very important especially for the empirical part of the text. Methodological work is based on participant observation in the field and semi-structured interviews with workcamp participants conducted during the workcamp. This work shows that under specific circumstances, the workcamp environment can facilitate...
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"Techno-communitas": Transformation of the Freetekno phenomenon from the perspective of Social and Cultural Anthropology
Beaufort, Martin ; Heřmanský, Martin (advisor) ; Jurková, Zuzana (referee)
The aim of this thesis is to provide a social anthropological analysis and interpretation of the freetekno party phenomenon in the Czech Republic from synchronic and diachronic perspective. The author bases his argument on both his own field research and professional literature on the topic. An extended case method serves as a basic methodological Framework. After introduction of selected theoretical concepts (music scene, neotribes, youth subculture, rites de passage, liminality and liminoidity, spontaneous communitas and rhizom) as well as outline of the current state of research in the area of study of the freetekno party phenomenon, there is an empirical part of the thesis which consists of two main parts: the historical-ethnographic and the analytical-interpretative. The first part describes the first rave party in Great Britain, expansion of this phenomenon in continental Europe, its adoption in the Czech Republic and its gradual evolution up to the present. The following part serves as an analytical-interpretation of the above-outlined situation and a subsequent socio-anthropological interpretation. Freetekno scene is described as neotribal rhizom and freetekno events are subsequently conceptualized as unique ritual processes. The transformation of the freetekno phenomenon is then...
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Short Non-Professional Film as a Genre of Contemporary Folklore. Options of Research on the Web in Anthropological and Sociological Perspective
Kubík, Milan ; Cirklová, Jitka (advisor) ; Hrůzová, Andrea (referee)
This exploratory study aims to determine short non-profesional film as a relevant object of study for anthropology and sociology. Firstly, short non-profesional film is defined as a product of popular culture, but it shares many characteristics with the commercial film. Subsequently, short non-profesional film is described as a distinctive genre of contemporary folklore. This definition will be based on its comparison with the characteristics of contemporary legends. Subsequently, the study shows, which symbolic functions could short non-pofesional film hold in society and thus help to set up its symbolic order. Film's main function is to bring limit experiences into everyday context of the viewer. In this way, the watching of short non-professional film becomes a rite of passage that gives to the audience the opportunity to experience the state of liminality - violation of order - through suspense. This tension, however, the viewer experiences in a safe symbolic world of the film itself. In the final catharsis, which is enhanced by an elliptical plot, then it release the tension and restore social order. This study is a combination of quantitative research and ethnography in cyberspace. The study brings the subjectivity of the researcher and also his essential reflexivity into the center of text...
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Holden Caulfield as a liminal character
Chrobok, Jiří ; Ženíšek, Jakub (advisor) ; Chalupský, Petr (referee)
This Diploma thesis deals with the character of Holden Caulfield, the main protagonist of J.D. Salinger's novel The Catcher in the Rye, identifying him as a liminal character. It is concerned with the term liminality and inbetweennes. It focuses on evidence of his inbetweennes by means of the examples from the novel itself. It illustrates the examples of his position between childhood and adulthood by way of some of Holden's manners, behaviour and talks.
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