The Soviet Union had existed for 70 years and was labeled as the "evil empire". Its technological achievements and geographical discoveries are amazing. However, its dark aspects such as censorship, "purges", and freedom restrictions are shocking as well. The effects of its collapse in 1991 were felt throughout the world in many aspects of peoples' day-to-day lives. Nowadays, many average Russians feel tenderness and nostalgia for what they had back then. This thesis addresses the perception of the Soviet past by two contemporary Russian writers, Elena Chizhova and Elena Katishonok. Despite the common tendency to idealize the Soviet epoch, the authors represent it as a period that is not worthy of nostalgia. The thesis explores the world picture created in both novels by means of the analysis of such themes as the space structure, death, and memory that recur and function on different levels of the target texts.

Orwell is painfully aware of almost all the difficulties under which the present day writer labors. These range from the squalid reality of poverty (espeoially true in his own case) to a serious uncertainty over the nature and purpose of literature. However, four problems seem to stick in his mind and he returns to them continually- They are (1) the difficulty of maintaining one's intellectual and artistiointegrity in a world whioh increasingly threatens personal freedom; (2) the neoessity of finding a balance between the claims of art and those of propaganda in literary works; (3) the steady deterioration of the English language under political and social pressures; and finally (4) the hardships which the writer is oompelled to suffer if he tries to support himself solely by his writing.

Much of what has been researched on Shona fiction has been limited to literature published before independence. The current research endeavours to assess the treatment of socio-economic issues as conveyed through fiction published since 1990. This fiction focuses on socio-economic issues in both pre-colonial and independent Zimbabwe. The study endeavours to establish if writers who focus on these issues in the pre-colonial era have been able to reclaim a complicated picture of the African pasts. It also discusses fiction that focuses on post-independence experiences; such as extent of the impact of empowerment brought about by independence, continued poverty among Africans, emancipation of the female being and the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Here, it strives to ascertain if the writers have identified the causes and offer meaningful solutions to these. The study observes that contemporary novelists on the Shona pasts have reclaimed more realistic ‘worlds’ when compared to their predecessors who have largely presented distorted images of these pasts. On the outcome of independence, two groups portray it as a total success and a total failure respectively, whilst the third and more successful group gives a balanced exposition. Fiction on poverty among contemporary Africans falls into two classes, namely rural and urban. The former still suffers from the heavy influence of colonial myths as it only highlights the effects of poverty without situating them in their tension-ridden historical context. The latter provides important sociological information on the plight of the characters but is lacking when it comes to suggesting ways of alleviating such poverty. On female empowerment, it emerges that while some writers are for women empowerment, others are against it. Women writers are better at explaining problems of women. However, both groups are still unable to identify the root cause of the incapacitation of women. On HIV and AIDS, whilst male writers demonstrate a wider social vision on the factors that disempower society against the spread and curbing of the virus, female authors still fall in the trap of blaming both men and Shona traditional customs. Overall, it emerges that contemporary Shona writers reveal contradictory modes in articulating these issues. / African Languages / Thesis (D. Litt et Phil. (African Languages))

Much of what has been researched on Shona fiction has been limited to literature published before independence. The current research endeavours to assess the treatment of socio-economic issues as conveyed through fiction published since 1990. This fiction focuses on socio-economic issues in both pre-colonial and independent Zimbabwe. The study endeavours to establish if writers who focus on these issues in the pre-colonial era have been able to reclaim a complicated picture of the African pasts. It also discusses fiction that focuses on post-independence experiences; such as extent of the impact of empowerment brought about by independence, continued poverty among Africans, emancipation of the female being and the HIV and AIDS pandemic. Here, it strives to ascertain if the writers have identified the causes and offer meaningful solutions to these. The study observes that contemporary novelists on the Shona pasts have reclaimed more realistic ‘worlds’ when compared to their predecessors who have largely presented distorted images of these pasts. On the outcome of independence, two groups portray it as a total success and a total failure respectively, whilst the third and more successful group gives a balanced exposition. Fiction on poverty among contemporary Africans falls into two classes, namely rural and urban. The former still suffers from the heavy influence of colonial myths as it only highlights the effects of poverty without situating them in their tension-ridden historical context. The latter provides important sociological information on the plight of the characters but is lacking when it comes to suggesting ways of alleviating such poverty. On female empowerment, it emerges that while some writers are for women empowerment, others are against it. Women writers are better at explaining problems of women. However, both groups are still unable to identify the root cause of the incapacitation of women. On HIV and AIDS, whilst male writers demonstrate a wider social vision on the factors that disempower society against the spread and curbing of the virus, female authors still fall in the trap of blaming both men and Shona traditional customs. Overall, it emerges that contemporary Shona writers reveal contradictory modes in articulating these issues. / African Languages / Thesis (D. Litt et Phil. (African Languages))

The aim of this thesis is to show the current Italian authors work specifics who are asserted as journalists as well as writers and their journalistic and prosaic outputs is devoted to organized crime in today's Sicilian society. Roberto Alajmo, Gaetano Savatteri and Salvo Sottile and their literaty outputs È stato il figlio, Tempo Niente. La breve vita felice di Luca Crescente, Gli uomini che non si voltano, I ragazzi di Regalpetra, Maqeda and Più scuro di mezzanotte were chosen for an analysis. The criterion in choosing works was particularly a time span of its formation - for the first time they were published after 2005 and at the same time they are mostly the newest literary outputs of selected authors meeting the requirements. Particular authors are presented after an opening which is describing logical interrelationship between writers and journalists in history of Italian literature ever since the unification of Italy in 1870 and deals with history of Sicilian Mafia and Sicilian literature concerning a phenomenon of Mafia. Part of the following analytic section is devoted to work of particular writers-journalists. Emphasis is put on analysis of prosaic texts considering authors journalistic outputs. Watched is particularly a thematic line of their work and a possible reflection of events...