De légendaires, les grandes figures féminines des mythes anciens sont devenues, au fil du XIXe siècle, emblématiques. Le mouvement s’amplifie vers la fin du siècle et l’imaginaire « féminin » se nourrit alors d’un discours social qui contribue à construire la féminité en termes de menace et de dépravation. Les figures mythiques prêteront leurs traits à celle de la femme fatale, devenue le symbole de la dégénérescence de la société française. Engrangeant dans son corps représenté tous les vices du siècle, la figure féminine nous est apparue éminemment révélatrice quant à la compréhension d’une époque. Or, la figure de la femme fatale s’avère fondamentalement ambivalente et Lilith, pouvant à la fois incarner l’amour et la destruction, affiche ce double visage de la féminité. Nous démontrons qu’il existe une relation étroite entre la profonde ambivalence du mythe de Lilith et les représentations de la femme fatale et pour ce faire, procédons à une analyse comparative de l’œuvre de Rachilde et Octave Mirbeau qui, dans La Jongleuse et Le Jardin des supplices, réécrivent le mythe de Lilith. De la comparaison des deux Lilith, ressortent deux représentations extrêmement contrastées de la femme fatale : alors que Rachilde dresse toute droite son héroïne dans son désir ascensionnel, Mirbeau construit une Clara toute en mollesse et assoiffée de chair. Par l’analyse des rapports qui s’articulent entre deux écritures, nous démontrons que la dualité inhérente au mythe de Lilith répond à l’instabilité d’une société aux prises avec de multiples angoisses en matière d’identité sexuelle. Cette comparaison nous amène aussi à nous interroger quant aux traces d’une certaine sexuation dans la voix littéraire. / Over the course of the nineteenth century the legendary female figures of ancient myth had become emblematic of the female sex. This association grew stronger toward the end of the century and the “feminine imaginary” fed itself on a social discourse that contributed to the construction of femininity in terms of menace and depravity. The mythical figures that lent their faces to representations of the femme fatale became symbols of the degeneration of French society. With all of the vices of the century gathered into her body, this female figure appears to us as eminently revealing as to the understanding of an era. However, the figure of the femme fatale is fundamentally ambivalent, and the mythical figure of Lilith, which can embody love as well as destruction, represents the two opposing aspects of nineteenth century representations of femininity. This study shows that there is a direct relationship between the profound ambivalence that characterizes the myth of Lilith and representations of the femme fatale. To this end, we undertake a comparative analysis of the works of Rachilde and Octave Mirbeau, who rewrite the myth of Lilith in The Juggler and The Torture Garden. Two extremely contrasting representations emerge from the comparison between the two “Liliths”: as Rachilde portrays her upstanding heroine’s desire to transcend her body, Mirbeau constructs his Clara as soft and mired in the body, thirsty for carnal pleasure. By examining the relationships that become apparent between these works, we demonstrate that the duality inherent in the myth of Lilith responds to the instability of a society grappling with multiple anxieties regarding sexual identity. This comparison, therefore, allows us to interrogate the traces of a specific mode of sexuation in the literary voice.

Mumbai is currently one of the most prolific and lucrative film centers in the world. Its production of the "Bollywood" popular film has attracted billions in audience members outside the nation of India, many of whom do not belong to Indian culture in the Diaspora. The significance of this influence draws from the cross-cultural borrowings increasingly present in Bollywood cinema. The advent of Western investment in the production center has coincided with the diversification of the standard Bollywood film from "masala" musical to more genre specific action, horror and even romantic comedy musical. Within this genre expansion, a nod to a classic—and specifically Western—cinema form has occurred. By borrowing the Femme Fatale from Film Noir and recreating her as the City Siren, Bollywood has achieved liberation for the heroine and from cultural emasculation in one. In this liberation, Bollywood has taken the Western implication of Eastern femininity and used a Western film form to turn that implication on its head. They have declared that the East may be masculine or feminine, easily utilizing either trait, as it is now fluent in both.

Ce mémoire est l'occasion d'établir une courte généalogie des femmes vampires au cinéma, en mettant en avant la manière dont la figure de la femme vampire résonne avec celle de la femme fatale, dans la mesure où elle constitue à la fois une vision négative de la femme émancipée, tout en offrant une manière d’échapper au modèle féminin traditionnel. En me demandant si le vampirisme peut être une source de pouvoir émancipatoire pour les femmes, j’analyse attentivement Byzantium (2012) de Neil Jordan. À travers l’étude successive des deux personnages principaux, Clara et Eleanor, je montre comment le film résonne avec la généalogie des femmes vampires établie préalablement, ainsi qu’avec certains enjeux féministes. Surtout, l’accent est mis sur la manière dont les personnages féminins contestent le pouvoir masculin, à travers la performance des stéréotypes, pour Clara, et la prise de contrôle du récit, pour Eleanor. Enfin, je me concentre sur la manière dont, à travers des mouvements de devenirs, ces personnages sortent du cycle fatal de l’oppression masculiniste, qui mène habituellement à l’extinction de la femme vampire en fin de récit, mais qui ici aboutit à une tentative de réconciliation entre les sexes. Mon travail s’appuie sur de larges recherches concernant la figure du vampire, ainsi que sur les études féministes et gender studies relatives aux textes vampiriques. Je m’appuie également sur les réflexions de Judith Butler, les travaux deleuziens sur la notion de « devenir », et les considérations de Derrida sur le don. / This master thesis is the opportunity to establish a short genealogy of vampire women on screen, highlighting how the figure of the vampire resonates with that of the femme fatale, since it is both a negative vision of the emancipated woman, while also providing a way to escape the traditional female model. Wondering if vampirism can be a source of emancipatory power for women, I analyze carefully Byzantium (2012, Neil Jordan). Through successive study of the two main characters, Clara and Eleanor, I show how the film resonates with the genealogy of vampire women established previously, as well as some feminist issues. Above all, the emphasis is on how the female characters are challenging male power, through the performance of stereotypes, for Clara, and through the takeover of the narrative, for Eleanor. Finally, I focus on how, through movements of becomings, these characters come out of the fatal cycle of masculinist oppression, which usually leads to the extinction of the female vampire at the end of the story, but here leads to an attempt at reconciliation between the sexes. My work is based on extensive research on the figure of the vampire, and women and gender studies relating to vampiric texts. I also rely on Judith Butler’s work, the deleuzian concept of “becoming”, and considerations on the gift by Derrida.

This work deals with the most famous novel, the Suffering of Prince Sternenhoch, of one of the most controversial Czech authors of first half of 20th century, Ladislav Klima, namely in terms of Klíma's philosophical approach to his literary work and life in general. We derived from the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose ideas inspired Klima in many ways. We are comparing the story of love and hate to the theater (David Jařab - first performance at the Divadlo Komedie, Praha 2007) and film (Jan Němec - In the Heat of the Royal Love 1990) adaptation and we are trying to find traces of his doctrine of solipsism and egodeism there, especially in style, composition and main characters. Greater focus was put on the character of Helga, because she represents the most of Klíma's philosophical views. Necessarily, we have touched on the question of will, authority, and the afterlife. Keywords: F. Nietzsche, higher / lower people, solipsism, egodeism, ludibrionism, afterlife, hallucinations, femme fatale

De légendaires, les grandes figures féminines des mythes anciens sont devenues, au fil du XIXe siècle, emblématiques. Le mouvement s’amplifie vers la fin du siècle et l’imaginaire « féminin » se nourrit alors d’un discours social qui contribue à construire la féminité en termes de menace et de dépravation. Les figures mythiques prêteront leurs traits à celle de la femme fatale, devenue le symbole de la dégénérescence de la société française. Engrangeant dans son corps représenté tous les vices du siècle, la figure féminine nous est apparue éminemment révélatrice quant à la compréhension d’une époque. Or, la figure de la femme fatale s’avère fondamentalement ambivalente et Lilith, pouvant à la fois incarner l’amour et la destruction, affiche ce double visage de la féminité. Nous démontrons qu’il existe une relation étroite entre la profonde ambivalence du mythe de Lilith et les représentations de la femme fatale et pour ce faire, procédons à une analyse comparative de l’œuvre de Rachilde et Octave Mirbeau qui, dans La Jongleuse et Le Jardin des supplices, réécrivent le mythe de Lilith. De la comparaison des deux Lilith, ressortent deux représentations extrêmement contrastées de la femme fatale : alors que Rachilde dresse toute droite son héroïne dans son désir ascensionnel, Mirbeau construit une Clara toute en mollesse et assoiffée de chair. Par l’analyse des rapports qui s’articulent entre deux écritures, nous démontrons que la dualité inhérente au mythe de Lilith répond à l’instabilité d’une société aux prises avec de multiples angoisses en matière d’identité sexuelle. Cette comparaison nous amène aussi à nous interroger quant aux traces d’une certaine sexuation dans la voix littéraire. / Over the course of the nineteenth century the legendary female figures of ancient myth had become emblematic of the female sex. This association grew stronger toward the end of the century and the “feminine imaginary” fed itself on a social discourse that contributed to the construction of femininity in terms of menace and depravity. The mythical figures that lent their faces to representations of the femme fatale became symbols of the degeneration of French society. With all of the vices of the century gathered into her body, this female figure appears to us as eminently revealing as to the understanding of an era. However, the figure of the femme fatale is fundamentally ambivalent, and the mythical figure of Lilith, which can embody love as well as destruction, represents the two opposing aspects of nineteenth century representations of femininity. This study shows that there is a direct relationship between the profound ambivalence that characterizes the myth of Lilith and representations of the femme fatale. To this end, we undertake a comparative analysis of the works of Rachilde and Octave Mirbeau, who rewrite the myth of Lilith in The Juggler and The Torture Garden. Two extremely contrasting representations emerge from the comparison between the two “Liliths”: as Rachilde portrays her upstanding heroine’s desire to transcend her body, Mirbeau constructs his Clara as soft and mired in the body, thirsty for carnal pleasure. By examining the relationships that become apparent between these works, we demonstrate that the duality inherent in the myth of Lilith responds to the instability of a society grappling with multiple anxieties regarding sexual identity. This comparison, therefore, allows us to interrogate the traces of a specific mode of sexuation in the literary voice.

The time of modernity, defined here as 1850-1940, contributed to massive changes in the representation of the feminine in literature. Societal paradigm shifts due to industrialism, advances in science, psychology, and a newfound push for gender equality brought transformation to the Western World. As a result of this, male frustrations revived the ancient trope of the femme fatale, but the modern woman—already hungry for agency, tired of maligned representation in heinous portrayals of skeletons, sirens, and beasts—saw a symbol begging for redemption rather than the intended insult. Women of the nineteenth century infused texture to a two-dimensional accusation that argued the only good female sexuality was one that could be contained. The redemption of the femme fatale is traced in this thesis through Charles Baudelaire’s The Flowers of Evil (1857), Gabrielle D’Annunzio’s The Triumph of Death (1901), and Djuna Barnes’s Nightwood (1936).

Fairy tales are usually described as short narratives that end with happily-ever-afters, imposing patriarchal ideologies. The Grimm’s fairy tales serve as the foundation of many other stories which promote stereotypes like woman passiveness, submissive beauty, while men are put on a pedestal for being active and violent at the same time. Angela Carter’s collection The Bloody Chamber depicts patriarchal oppression in classic fairy tales by challenging what can be identified as patriarchal binary oppositions with a strategic subversion of gender roles. Through problematizing and critiquing the patriarchal fairy tales, Carter’s texts can be read through the lens of écriture féminine. Following Hélène Cixous’s notion of écriture féminine, outlined in “The Laugh of the Medusa”, this essay explores how Carter’s  “The Lady of the House of Love'' can be read as a narrative that has strong echoes of the kind of female writing Cixous advocates. Moreover, this essay argues that  “The Lady of the House of Love” contradicts the Western myth of femininity by resisting, exploring, even undermining the patriarchal representation of woman as “heroine”-the fairy tale princess who needs a man to save her -and “femme fatale.”

Spätestens seit ihrer Hochzeit im 19. Jahrhundert ist die Femme fatale als Gegenstand in der Kunst etabliert. Heftig bewegte sie damals die Gemüter der Künstler sowie der Rezipienten, doch vermag sie Gleiches noch heute. In dieser Zeit von apokalyptischer Stimmung formt sich das Bild der ‚klassischen Femme fatale‘, auf das die Darstellung jener verhängnisvollen Frauen zurückgeht, die noch heute Film-, Musik- und Werbeindustrie durchziehen. Einleitend erforscht die vorliegende Studie die Ursachen und Bedingungen der Kulmination des Bildes in der Zeit des Fin de Siècle und fragt nach einer typischen Erscheinungsweise anhand von exemplarischen Werkbeispielen der Zeit. Auf dieser Grundlage wird der Blick in das 20. Jahrhundert gewendet, in die Zwischenkriegszeit und die Zeit der Postmoderne. In der vergleichenden Gegenüberstellung des Phänomens der Femme fatale zu diesen drei Zeitstufen werden Wandel, Entwicklung und Wirken des Motivs deutlich. Im 20. Jahrhundert, wenn das Interesse an der Historienmalerei versiegt, stattdessen die künstlerischen Themen in dem Unterbewussten gesucht (Surrealismus) und in der Realität gefunden (Neue Sachlichkeit, Dadaismus), gesellschaftspolitisch reflektiert (künstlersicher Feminismus) und aus der Massenindustrie kopiert werden (Pop Art), wird das Bild der Femme fatale jeweils neu verhandelt. Es berichtet von der Gesellschaft, von Ängsten und Sehnsüchten der Zeitgenossen und gestaltet sich daher kontextgebunden, so dass unterschiedliche Zeiten und Stile diverse Erscheinungsbilder hervorbringen, die ebenso weibliche Degradierung wie Emanzipation bedeuten können. Die verschiedenen Seinsstufen implizieren Vielfältigkeit und machen das Bild der Femme fatale diffus. Sie ist ein kaum festzulegendes und wenig greifbares Phänomen, das wandel- und anpassungsfähig ist. Mit den vier analytischen Schwerpunkten – Bedrohliche Weiblichkeit, Bilder der Minderwertigkeit, Projektion und Lustobjekt – umkreist die vorliegende Studie das Phänomen und verdeutlicht Kontinuitäten, Verschiebungen und Erweiterungen der Frauenfigur vom ausgehenden 19. bis ins späte 20. Jahrhundert.

In this study I have compared the two movies Blade Runner: The Final Cut (2006) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) in regards to their visual identity and female representation. The first of these films is the latest version of Blade Runner, a movie which have undergone an unusual amount of editing and therefore exists in multiple iterations. The latter of the two is a direct sequel, released 35 years after the original version of Blade Runner. I have done a thorough account of the respective plot, visual characteristics and of how the women are portrayed whitin each film. Due to a comparison of these I have been able to outline some interesting themes in regards to how both films incoporate themes of commersialisation of the female form, although in varying degrees. This is sometime undermined by the films problematic portrayal of some of these characters. I have also been able to observe a shift in regards to how the films portray a futuristic Los Angeles. Rather than mixing noir-inspired, believable locales with elements typical of science fiction, Blade Runner 2049 portrays the future as more coherent and stylistic. Some scenes in Blade Runner 2049 consists of only a few tones of a single colour, such as blue, grey and orange, a stylistic choice Blade Runner: The Final Cut does not use.

Alone in a Crowd: Charles Baudelaire and 20th-Century and Contemporary Art The dissertation called Alone in a Crowd explores the influence of the poet Charles Baudelaire's personality and work on 20th-century and contemporary art. Due to the field of study, the main focus is on the visual arts, but literature, music, philosophy, and film are also included to a large extent. This dissertation is divided into four substantive chapters. The first chapter, The Inner Message, introduces the poet's life, his family and acquaintances, as well as Baudelaire's poetry collection The Flowers of Evil. Themes of evil, ugliness, fear, death, and even a relationship to their mother, father and women are common for 20th-century and contemporary artists. This chapter presents Félicien Rops, James Ensor, Edvard Munch, Hans Bellmer, Francis Bacon, Joel-Peter Witkin, Kurt Cobain, members of the Young British Artists group, Lars von Trier, and others. The second chapter pursues the correspondence theory. The character of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg and his successor, William Blake, is followed by Baudelaire's understanding of sensual and spiritual correspondences, as his principles are adopted by modern artists in a distinct manner. The third chapter called "On the Edge of Society" covers the curse...