This essay analyzes the depictions of urban nature in Ottessa Moshfegh’s novel My Year of Rest and Relaxation (2018). The theoretical framework consists primarily of Astrid Bracke’s thoughts on “urban ecology”, Christophe Den Tant’s descriptions of “the urban sublime” and William Cronon’s thoughts on the concept of “Wilderness”, all of which work in the ecocritical field. My Year of Rest and Relaxation explores the concepts of naturalness and artificiality through language and various themes. It takes place in an urban environment where the main character chooses to isolate herself in her city apartment, hence the existence of nature in the traditional sense is absent, yet the text works consistently with elements of urban nature in varying situations. The way in which this urban nature is presented relates to other themes such as the exploration of borders and dichotomies such as nature and culture, organic and artificial as well as animate and inanimate.

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This thesis analyses reading lists composed by secondary schools in school year 2016/2017 for the purposes of common general part of maturity exam - oral exam from Czech language and literature. The thesis creates basic material for exploring the form and development of state maturity exam. Reading lists are put into context with literary theoretic conception of canon as the thesis touches upon literary science, pedagogy and didactics. The thesis proceeds from general analysis of literary canon to functions and forms of canon (school canon and maturity exam canon). Then it concentrates on documents, which were available to students taking the maturity exam. The thesis carries out research on collection of 461 secondary schools that offer studies completed by maturity exam. It is followed by presentation of obtained data, verification of its correspondence to binding criteria defined in Katalog požadavků zkoušek společné části maturitní zkoušky (document specifying requirements for common general part of maturity exam) and comparison of obtained data with available sources from school and literary background. The conclusions reveal the content of given part of maturity exam and are set into context of current knowledge of academic and professional society. Keywords Reading lists, maturity exam,...

[pt] A tese investiga a representação da experiência urbana na contemporaneidade a partir da leitura de obras literárias e cinematográficas produzidas no século XXI. Busca-se entender como o tempo da pós globalização, atravessado pelo ciberespaço, ressignifica as relações entre o espaço público e o espaço privado. O aspecto transdisciplinar da tese acentuou o diálogo entre os textos clássicos sobre a cidade, de autores urbanistas, ampliando a pesquisa para cenários como o das cidades globais e as smart cities. A hipótese da tese é que a leitura da experiência urbana , no contemporâneo, passa, necessariamente, pela tensão entre os trânsitos do indivíduo e as diversas situações de encapsulamento que se apresentam, ora pela atração das telas digitais que substituem as “janelas” para o mundo, ora pela reclusão provocada pelo medo e pela insegurança nas cidades e conflitos de moradia, ou então pelas políticas de imigração que confinam imigrantes e refugiados em acampamentos e centros de detenção, por medida de segurança nacional. Frente à pandemia de 2020 que promoveu um estado de confinamento e lockdown nas cidades, foram incorporadas, na tese, produções publicadas entre os meses de março a julho de 2020. / [en] This thesis investigates the representation of urban experience today through literary as well as cinematographic works produced in the 21st century. Its aim is to understand how post-globalization times, permeated by cyberspace, bring a new significance to public and private spaces. The transdisciplinary aspect of the thesis emphasized the dialog among classical texts on the city by urbanist authors, expanding the research to different scenarios like global cities and smart cities. It implicates that reading about urban experience today, necessarily touches on the tension between an individual s journey and the encapsulating situations, that happen to come along, either by the attraction to digital screens that replace the windows to the world or by the seclusion caused by the fear and insecurity from living in the city, housing conflicts or yet, by immigration policies, that confine immigrants and refugees alike in campings and immigration centers, which aim to protect national security. Owing to the pandemic in 2020 that led to a state of confinement and lockdown in cities as a whole, works published between March and July of 2020 have been incorporated into this thesis.

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Master's thesis "Literary awards and the book market: interaction features (2015–2017)" consists of two parts. The master thesis contains 83 pages, 33 tables and 6 figures. The goal is to explore the features of the interaction of literary-premium and publishing processes in 2015–2017. The object is manuscripts and publications that have been included in lists in 2015–2017. The subject is the instruments of influence of the modern book market on the work of literary awards and the reverse influence of the premiums on the book market. The first chapter of the study examines literary prizes in terms of both functional historical changes and the mechanisms for peer review of contemporary literary creativity, and also describes the expanded characterization of the literary prize as a phenomenon. The second chapter analyzes in detail the statistics and interrelationship of literary awards, distribution and sales of book products, formulates the patterns and instruments of influence of the modern book market on the work of literary awards and the reverse effect of bonuses on the book market. The problems of falling status and prestige of literary awards are revealed. According to the results of the analysis and comparison of statistical data, identifying general trends and patterns, the instrumental possibilities of interaction of literary prizes and the book market were formulated. / Магистерская диссертация «Литературные премии и книжный рынок: особенности взаимодействия (2015–2017 гг.)» состоит из двух частей. Магистерская диссертация содержит 83 страницы, 33 таблицы и 6 рисунков. Цель – исследовать особенности взаимодействия литературно-премиального и издательского процессов 2015–2017 гг. Объект – рукописи и издания, попавшие списки в 2015–2017 гг. Предмет – инструменты влияния современного книжного рынка на работу литературных премий и обратное влияние премий на книжный рынок. В первой главе исследования рассматриваются литературные премии в аспекте, как функциональных исторических изменений, так и в качестве механизмов экспертной оценки современного литературного творчества, а также дается расширенная характеристика литературной премии как феномена. Во второй главе в подробной форме анализируется статистика и взаимосвязь литературных премий, распространения и продаж книжной продукции, формулируются закономерности и инструменты влияния современного книжного рынка на работу литературных премий и обратное влияние премий на книжный рынок. Выявлена проблематика падения статуса и престижа литературных премий. По результатам анализа и сопоставления статистических данных, выявления общих тенденций и закономерностей были сформулированы инструментальные возможности взаимовлияния литературных премий и книжного рынка.

La notion de ruse est intrinsèquement liée à celle de pouvoir, puisqu’elle implique de subvertir, par la puissance de l’esprit et non par la force physique, le dispositif stratégique des dominants tout en demeurant dans l’espace social que ces derniers contrôlent. Puisque toutes les relations de pouvoir impliquent un dominant et un dominé, « il y a forcément possibilité de résistance ». Celle-ci peut s’accomplir notamment en recourant à la ruse, cette faculté intellectuelle qui permet de tirer son épingle du jeu en identifiant les failles du système et en saisissant les moments opportuns afin d’agir. Elle se présente alors comme une voie à privilégier pour les dominés qui désirent survivre à cet état de domination ou l’outrepasser. En ce sens, la ruse correspond à la tactique – cette capacité qu’a le dominé de « jouer avec le terrain qui lui est imposé » – concept à ne pas confondre avec celui de stratégie, qui sert plutôt aux dominants. Ainsi, la ruse étant l’arme du faible, elle semble se prêter particulièrement aux femmes, souvent exclues de la sphère décisionnelle et soumises aux hommes qui occupent la position de stratèges dans les sociétés patriarcales. Pourtant, la ruse semble être une aptitude généralement associée au masculin dans le domaine littéraire, bien que le concept de ruse découle du terme de la Grèce antique mètis qui tire son origine de déesses, donc des femmes. En effet, dans l’imaginaire collectif occidental, les premiers personnages rusés qui viennent à l’esprit sont Ulysse, Scapin et la figure du renard. En suivant une approche féministe, la présente recherche tentera de réhabiliter la ruse au féminin et de réfléchir aux tactiques adoptées par ces femmes qui doivent composer avec le pouvoir masculin au quotidien. Ainsi, elle portera sur l’héritage de Pénélope et de Shéhérazade – ces femmes rusées qui ont lutté contre les dominants – dans la littérature contemporaine. La recherche étudiera comment les textes littéraires contemporains travaillent le langage afin de représenter les femmes comme des êtres rusés et d’offrir un espace propice aux voix féminines. Les diverses ruses féminines seront analysées à travers des oeuvres mettant en scène des femmes qui usent de tactiques pour tirer profit d’un système qui les désavantage. Pour ce faire, le projet de mémoire reposera sur l’analyse textuelle des oeuvres, en mobilisant la conception de Foucault du pouvoir et la théorie de la tactique par de Certeau. Les théories de l’agentivité (Gardiner et Butler notamment) et la notion d’empowerment permettront de mettre en lumière les iniquités liées au sexe qui forcent les femmes à recourir à la ruse plutôt qu’à la confrontation, ainsi que le pouvoir qu’elles tirent de leur ruse. Cette recherche vise donc à repérer les multiples formes d’agentivité, à expliquer comment les rapports de forces et la ruse se développent dans chaque oeuvre à l’étude, à définir les conjonctures favorables à l’accomplissement d’une tactique au féminin, à démontrer que la ruse est le moyen à prioriser pour les femmes qui désirent changer leur condition et à souligner la vision désormais positive de la ruse féminine dans la littérature contemporaine. Le corpus sera formé du roman canadien La servante écarlate de Margaret Atwood, où June se soumet en apparence pour mieux frapper par la suite; du roman belge Barbe bleue d’Amélie Nothomb, dont la protagoniste Saturnine retourne le piège de son opposant contre lui; du texte dramaturgique québécois Incendies de Wajdi Mouawad, où Nawal se contraint au silence afin de briser le cycle de la douleur; et du roman graphique français Peau d’Homme de Hubert et Zanzim, dans laquelle Bianca se travestit pour espionner son futur époux. La diversité de ces oeuvres permettra d’observer l’étendue du phénomène de la ruse féminine et d’initier une étude sur le sujet. / The notion of cunning is intrinsically related to the concept of power because it involves subverting, by the strength of the mind rather than the physical strength, the strategic mechanism of the dominant individuals, while remaining within the social space they control. Since all power relations involve a dominant person and a dominated person, “there is necessarily possibility of resistance”. This resistance can be achieved by resorting to trickery, this intellectual faculty which makes it possible to get out of a delicate situation by identifying the flaws in the system and seizing the right moments to act. Cunning becomes one of the best paths for the dominated people who desire to survive to their state of domination or overcome it. In this sense, cunning corresponds to the tactic – this capacity that has the dominated individual to “play with the field imposed on him” – concept to not confuse with the strategy, which rather corresponds to the dominant person. Cunning being the weapon of the weak, it seems to be particularly suitable to women, often excluded of the decision making and submitted to men who are in the position of the strategists in the patriarchal society. Yet, cunning is a general aptitude associated to masculinity in the literary field, although the concept of cunning derives from the ancient Greek term “mètis” which comes from goddesses, therefore women. Indeed, in the western collective imagination, the first shrewd characters that come to mind are, among others, Ulysses, Scapin and the fox figure. By following a feminist approach, this research will try to rehabilitate feminine cunning and to think about the tactics adopted by these women who must deal daily with the masculine power. Thus, it will focus on the legacy of Penelope and Scheherazade – these women who fought against the dominant – in the contemporary literature. This study will therefore explore how the contemporary literary texts work the language to represent the women as cunning individuals and to offer a favorable space for female voices. Various feminine tricks will be analysed through works featuring women who use some tactics to take advantage of a system that disadvantages them. To do so, this research lies on the textual analysis of literary texts, by mobilising Foucault’s vision of power and de Certeau’s theory of the tactic. The theories of agency (Gardiner and Butler in particular) and the notion of empowerment will allow to highlight the inequities related to sex that force women to resort to trickery rather than confrontation, and the power they benefit from their cunning. Hence, this essay aims to identify the multiple forms of agency, to explain how power relations and cunning develop in each book under study, to define favorable circumstances to the accomplishment of a feminine tactic, to demonstrate that cunning is the preferred method for women who wish to change their condition, and to highlight the now positive vision of the feminine cunning in the contemporary French literature. The corpus is formed by the Canadian novel The Handmaid’s Tale from Margaret Atwood, in which June seemingly submits herself to strike better afterwards; the Belgian novel Barbe bleue from Amelie Nothomb, whose protagonist Saturnine reverses the trap of her opponent against him; the Quebec playwright Incendies from Wajdi Mouawad, in which Nawal forces herself into silence to break the cycle of pain; and the French graphic novel Peau d’Homme from Hubert and Zanzim, in which Bianca travesties herself to spy on her future husband. The diversity of these books will allow to observe the extend of the phenomenon of female trickery and to initiate a study on this subject.

Dans son essai Le mal de Paris paru en 2014, Régine Robin diagnostique un assèchement sémiotique des représentations de la capitale française, lesquelles seraient figées dans un registre passéiste et nostalgique. Or le travail d’excavation des mises en scène de Paris présentes dans un corpus du XXIe siècle encore peu défriché — notamment 75 (Anna-Louise Milne), 209, rue Saint Maur, Paris Xe (Ruth Zylberman), Éloge des bâtards (Olivia Rosenthal), Crue (Philippe Forest) et Le Grand Paris (Aurélien Bellanger) — révèle des transformations et des déplacements aptes à revivifier cet imaginaire parisien sclérosé. Les textes profilent ainsi une autre ville. Ces œuvres, lesquelles recourent à des dispositifs formels très divers, exercent un travail critique sur les représentations sociopolitiques et culturelles de Paris, notamment sur la valorisation patrimoniale de la ville, sur les célébrations de sa gentrification, sur ses fétichisations touristiques et sur ses récits mémoriels officiels. Cette thèse vise à décrire les mises en texte d’un (Grand) Paris en interaction avec un imaginaire social conjoncturel, ce qui indique qu’elle s’inscrit dans le cadre heuristique de la sociocritique. Mes travaux mobilisent plusieurs outils critiques et théoriques des études littéraires, afin de décortiquer l’organisation interne des textes, et engagent un dialogue avec un corpus étendu portant sur l’urbanisme, la sociologie, l’histoire, la géographie et la philosophie. Cette thèse convoque notamment les concepts d’imaginaire social (Pierre Popovic), de chronotope (Mikhaïl Bakhtine) et de chronotype (Claudia Bouliane, Pierre Popovic) ainsi que les travaux critiques de Walter Benjamin. Elle s’articule en trois parties : le premier chapitre est consacré au développement de la notion d’espace flou ; le second à la descendante du flâneur moderne ; le troisième au récit d’enquête autour d’un immeuble haussmannien. Enfin, cette thèse privilégie d’une part l’analyse des éléments d’urbanité liés à l’habitat et à l’habitation par rapport à d’autres travaux plus centrés sur la mobilité, et d’autre part l’examen de réflexions portant sur l’idée d’une mémoire urbaine menacée de disparition. / In her essay Le mal de Paris published in 2014, Regine Robin diagnoses a semiotic drying-up of the French capital representations, which would be frozen in a backwardlooking and nostalgic register. However, the excavation work of the Paris stagings present in a corpus of the 21st century still little studied — in particular 75 (Anna-Louise Milne), 209, rue Saint Maur, Paris Xe (Ruth Zylberman), Éloge des bâtards (Olivia Rosenthal), Crue (Philippe Forest) and Le Grand Paris (Aurélien Bellanger) — reveals transformations and displacements capable of reviving this sclerotic Parisian imaginary. The texts thus profile another city. These works, which use a variety of formal mechanisms, work critically on the socio-political and cultural representations of Paris, notably on the city’s heritage promotion, on the celebrations of its gentrification, on its touristic fetishizations and on its official memorial narratives. This thesis aims to describe the text settings of a (Grand) Paris in interaction with a conjunctural social imaginary, which indicates that it is part of the heuristic framework of sociocriticism. My work mobilizes several critical and theoretical tools of literary studies, in order to dissect the internal organization of texts, and engage a dialogue with an extensive corpus on urban planning, sociology, history, geography and philosophy. This thesis summons in particular the concepts of social imaginary (Pierre Popovic), chronotope (Mikhaïl Bakhtine) and chronotype (Claudia Bouliane, Pierre Popovic) as well as the critical work of Walter Benjamin. It is divided into three parts: the first chapter is devoted to the development of the concept of fuzzy space; the second to the descendant of the modern flâneur; the third to the investigation narrative around a Haussmann building. Finally, this thesis focuses on the analysis of the elements of urbanity related to housing and dwelling as opposed to other work more focused on mobility, and also on the examination of reflections on the idea of an urban memory threatened with disappearance.

"With the Earth in Mind" responds to some of the most cutting-edge research in the field of ecocriticism, which centers on ecological loss and the grief that ensues. Ecocritics argue that ecological objects of loss abound--for instance, species are disappearing and landscapes are becoming increasingly compromised--and yet, such loss is often deemed "ungrievable." While humans regularly grieve human losses, we understand very little about how to genuinely grieve the loss of nonhuman being, natural environments, and ecological processes. My dissertation calls attention to our society's tendency to participate in superficial nature-nostalgia, rather than active and engaged environmental mourning, and ultimately activism. Herein, I investigate how an array of postwar and contemporary American novels represent a complex relationship between environmental degradation and mental illness. Literature, I suggest, is crucial to investigations of this problem because it can reveal the human consequences of ecological loss in a way that is unavailable to political, philosophical, scientific, and even psychological discourse.

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