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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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THE CONSUMPTION OF BANALITY: live-streaming China
Zheng, Minghui ; DVOŘÁK, Tomáš (advisor) ; ŠIMŮNEK, Michal (referee)
In this essay the author describes and critically reflects on the online live-streaming phenomena in mainland China. Within the last three years (2015 - 2018), online live-streaming became one of the most popular topics and potent business models in China. This relatively new media form is by now wildly accepted, to such an extent that it is used by different state departments in several cities, such as the fire department, traffic police, the communist youth league and so on and so forth. In June 2017, the number of live-stream users who had installed a streaming application was over 300 million, that is, an astonishing 45.6% of all internet users in China. In this essay, the author critically reflects on the development of this new social phenomena by creating a brief genealogy of live-streaming from its origin in game-streaming in the early years of the 21st century until today in 2018. Critical questions are asked about whether embracing whatever change called “high-tech” without hesitation, absorbing whatever new elements from any advanced models without any criticism, could cause other results worse than being technologically backwards? What happens when our private life become increasingly transparent? What does it mean to consume videos of people eating noodles in real-time? What does this desire tell us? The author also ponders upon the potential political potentiality of live-streaming and asks whether live-streaming can be used against the government, who control their online activity on a day to day basis? She also reflects on how artists can use live-streaming to make performance pieces? And, what role would chance encounters play within this context?
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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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Once upon a time, there was a stranger on the road
Vondráčková, Kristýna ; Listíková, Renáta (advisor) ; Ébert-Zeminová, Catherine (referee)
v anglickém jazyce: This thesis mainly analyzes the five-part novel Gargantua and Pantagruel written by the French author Francois Rabelais. Emphasis is based particularly on an inclusion of Rabelais's work in historical and literary context of the period of transformation between medieval and Renaissance society. More specifically, it deals with the author's humanist opinion and his critique of contemporary society, which is the main line of the work itself. The aim of our thesis is especially an attempt to outline the various possible meanings of the terms « road or path » and « stranger » in Rabelais's work and explain the role of these thematic concepts in the author's concept of criticism of society.
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Mamet's men
Koranda, David ; Wallace, Clare (advisor) ; Ulmanová, Hana (referee)
1 Summary This BA thesis, partly a work of sociological theory and partly of literary analysis, discusses the crisis of masculinity in the society, placing an emphasis on the American milieu. As a starting point it uses the dramatic pieces of the contemporary American playwright David Mamet. Mamet is in his works generally attracted to the world of men, and we can only find a handful of female characters in them. Additionally, he frequently places his men, who usually share the typically masculine characteristics and behavioral patterns, into traditionally male environments - for instance on a boat or into a ruthlessly competitive real estate agency. Thus he prepares his ground to be able to fully explore one of the most prominent American social myths - the myth of masculinity. The second chapter focuses in its sociological opening part on the concept of masculinity as such. In the beginning, a historical overview of the development of human understanding of masculinity is introduced. It is apparent that it was only with the coming of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of feminism around the turn of the century that the society saw the drastic change which, as we may understand it, led to the crisis of masculinity. Later, Judith Butler's theory of the performativity of masculinity is discussed, and...
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"Temné" charaktery hlavních postav a užití černého humoru v Sakiho povídkách jako nástroj kritiky soudobé společnosti
FABIÁNOVÁ, Nikol
The bachelor thesis deals with a literary topic of the main characters in H. H. Munro?s short stories. His workings are well known for their humour but many of them have almost macabre background. To uncover the author?s reasons for such attitude, there were chosen eight of his more or less known short stories to be analysed. The determining of Munro?s perspective of social criticism was interesting especially because of the historical background. He wrote his best pieces of work at the turn of the 19th and 20th century which was the end of one of the most famous and successful era of the Great Britain. Munro?s own burning life situation is reflected in his work as well.
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