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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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A structural and thematic comparison of Harper Lee's novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman
Friedlová, Michaela ; Ženíšek, Jakub (advisor) ; Topolovská, Tereza (referee)
The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyse and compare Harper Lee's canonical coming-of- age novel To Kill a Mockingbird to its original forerunner, the novel Go Set a Watchman, which was, however, published several years later. The theoretical part provides a brief synopsis of each of the novels and outlines Lee's life, as well as the main aspects of the historical and social background relevant to the stories, namely the Great Depression, Jim Crow laws, and the Scottsboro Trial. The practical part then investigates and juxtaposes the two novels from thematic and structural perspectives, and considers them specifically through the psychological, sociological, and stylistic prisms. Besides, it compares the factual similarities and differences in storylines and characters, who are often based on Lee's real-life acquaintances. The overall comparison shows how To Kill a Mockingbird, a gently tuned novel of children growing up yet packed with diverse topics, evolved from a rather intricate novel, Go Set a Watchman, dealing with a difficult task of one's individuation and realising that one's father is only a human. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930s and takes place over several years, while the story of Go Set a Watchman is situated some twenty years later, and its plot culminates in the...
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A structural and thematic comparison of Harper Lee's novels To Kill a Mockingbird and Go Set a Watchman
Friedlová, Michaela ; Ženíšek, Jakub (advisor) ; Topolovská, Tereza (referee)
The aim of this diploma thesis is to analyse and compare Harper Lee's canonical coming-of- age novel To Kill a Mockingbird to its original forerunner, the novel Go Set a Watchman, which was, however, published several years later. The theoretical part provides a brief synopsis of each of the novels and outlines Lee's life, as well as the main aspects of the historical and social background relevant to the stories, namely the Great Depression, Jim Crow laws, and the Scottsboro Trial. The practical part then investigates and juxtaposes the two novels from thematic and structural perspectives, and considers them specifically through the psychological, sociological, and stylistic prisms. Besides, it compares the factual similarities and differences in storylines and characters, who are often based on Lee's real-life acquaintances. The overall comparison shows how To Kill a Mockingbird, a gently tuned novel of children growing up yet packed with diverse topics, evolved from a rather intricate novel, Go Set a Watchman, dealing with a difficult task of one's individuation and realising that one's father is only a human. To Kill a Mockingbird is set in the 1930s and takes place over several years, while the story of Go Set a Watchman is situated some twenty years later, and its plot culminates in the...
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Elements of regional literature in Rudolf Slawitschek's "Der blaue Herrgott"
DITRICHOVÁ, Hana
The topic of this bachelor thesis is a literary analysis of the novel "Der blaue Herrgott" written by Rudolf Slawitschek, a German author who lived in Prague during the first half of the 20th century. At the time of its publication, his book was labelled a "sudetendeutscher Heimatroman". One of the research questions this thesis seeks to answer is the genre classification of the novel, whether the work displays specific features characteristic of Sudetenland literature or whether aspects of regional fiction and Bildungsroman would be more prevalent. The novel is placed in a literary and historical context with particular reference to the literature of the Šumava district, in which the writing of Adalbert Stifter is pre-eminent. The thesis is complemented by a comparison of Stifter's "Indian Summer" with Slawitschek's "Der blaue Herrgott", and the elements of Bildungsroman in both are highlighted.
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