Diploma thesis "Comparison of Tabloid Trends in Czech Daily Tabloid Press Blesk and Aha! in the period of 2006-2012" focuses on tabloid trends of two Czech tabloids Blesk and Aha! in the period of 2006-2012. One of the goals is to compare the degree of tabloidization in both daily press throughout time in respect of defined tabloid features. The study clarifies and defines tabloid features and how they change in time through quantitative content analysis. The quantitative part is completed with qualitative case study which compares the tabloid aspects in tabloid press Blesk and broadsheet Lidové noviny. The results of the analysis say that some tabloid trends, for the most part visualization, are more intense, on the other hand some presumptions are not confirmed, for example big titles or short texts in the articles. Czech tabloid daily press is characterized by dominance of home news and soft news, this proportion did not change through time. The results of case study about death of former president Václav Havel in 2011 indicate that Blesk and Lidové noviny refer about the same topic in a different way in the beginning. After a few days the way of referring about death of the former president is more similar in terms of tabloid trends. However, tabloid press Blesk is more concentrated on the...

The central focus of this Master's thesis is to describe, explain and classify intersemiotic translation within current translation studies. Given the interdisciplinary nature of the thesis, the theoretical part draws inspiration also from aesthetics, semiotics, adaptation, literary and film studies. Our findings are applied to the empirical material - interlingual and intersemiotic translation of Leaving by Václav Havel. Both translations are thoroughly analysed and the identified shifts are classified into categories primarily inspired by Anton Popovič's model of translation (1975, 1983). Comparison proved that the approach to intersemiotic translations/film adaptations as interlingual translation works. Although, there was a need to create new categories for some shifts in the film adaptation. Based on that, we propose a new model of intersemiotic translation, which could serve as inspiration for further research.

Jaroslav Šimáček - Diploma Thesis Abstract The diploma thesis "Presidents of the Czech Republic - Medial representations of Václav Havel and Václav Klaus" analyses media images of presidents of Czech Republic Václav Havel and Václav Klaus in magazine Týden. After delimination president's role in czech political system and introducing to concrete heads of the state in the biographical part, author deals with media's role and function in contemporary world. At the same time he brings out medial communication manners and generation media images. Consequently he examines new technological possibilities in medial world plus procedure at media content analysis, which is chosen as main method. In methodology part author links hypotheses, concerning with media images of czech presidents, also describes concrete working methods and characterizes choice of medium. Select experimental period is the second presidential term of both presidents. In practical part author tries to prove or disprove given hypotheses. The research proceeds first of all in the internet archive of magazine Týden, that contains data since 1994 and is relatively well - aranged. The aim of this diploma thesis is creation of media images of Václav Havel and Václav Klaus in chosen medium. Key words: president, Czech Republic, Václav Havel, Václav...

This thesis is called "Bereavement of eminent personalities: Comparison of Media Representation of Václav Havel and Kim Jong-il in the Czech Media." Its focus is on the media coverage of Václav Havel's and Kim Jong-il's death in the Czech Republic National dailies. The theoretical part deals with how mass media use and process media events, especially the one's related to the death of publicly known persons. The thesis also addresses ritual function of media events and their role in society integration. Another chapter of the thesis explains how media inform the public about deaths of well-known people and what their function is in this context. As Václav Havel was and still is called a national hero, a phenomenon of a hero and its development from history up to date is also presented in the paper. The practical part consists of quantitative content analysis which provides concrete topics that were covered by Czech dailies in regards with Václav Havel's and Kim Jong-il's death. The analysis also answers the following questions: Were there any differences in quantity of articles on each leader and the type of topics in any particular media? Did the Czech media tend to compare the personalities of Václav Havel and Kim Jong-il during their coverage? The additional qualitative analysis also examines whether...

Diploma thesis "Leaving of Czechoslovak democracy giants; comparison of media images of Tomas Garrigue Masaryk's and Vaclav Havel's death and funeral in Czech Press" aims to compare the media images of the presidents' death and funeral in broadsheet and tabloid newspapers of that time. In this matter, media analyzed the lives of these great personalities, their work, political views, their acceptance and renown abroad, their merits and their critical reception as well. The study itself is divided into two main parts. The first one being the theoretical part informs about the political and social context of the time in which Tomas Garrigue Masaryk and Vaclav Havel lived and worked and it discusses their personalities in more details. Furthermore, the methodology used in the thesis is included in this section as well, representing and explaining the method of the media research. In the second practical part, the thesis provides the characteristics of the chosen broadsheet and tabloid newspapers - Lidove noviny, Poledni list and Blesk. By using qualitative analysis the thesis seeks to determine how media presented the presidents at that time. On one hand it attempts to illustrate the parallels that linked these two personalities, on the other hand it endeavours to describe how their images differed....

Diploma thesis "Husák, Havel, Klaus: New Year's speeches of prezidents in time changes" deals with the traditional New Year's speeches of the last three Czech and Czechoslovak presidents Gusáv Husák, Václav Havel and Václav Klaus. It compares them in the terms of rhetoric and pragmatic linguistic, focusing on their structure, style and applied topics. It also monitors whether and how the presidents in their festive speeches responded and referred to each other. The aim of the thesis is to find out how the presidential New Year's speeches reflected personal experience of the speakers and the circumstances under which these festive speeches were formed. A view behind the scenes of the New Year's speeches is to be revealed by a short survey among the closest associates of presidents. The thesis follows the festive presidents speeches in written form, does not deal with their television or radio appearances. It also contains biographical data of all three heads of the state, with emphasis on their rhetorical skills and experience. Part of the work is also devoted to the history and systematic classification of New Year's presidential speeches in general.

This master thesis deals with the topic of temptation in three Czech Theatrical Dramas of the 1970's and 1980's, inspired by the legend of Faust. These dramatic works represent different model approaches of dealing with such a topic. Thesis focuses on the principle of evil and its functioning. The temptation by Devil is therefore defined as Mephistophelian seduction, which occurs in drama plays selected as a subject of this thesis. The thesis analyzes and describes Mephistophelian seduction and its realization in theatrical dramas. Thesis elaborates the mechanism of evil principle and examines how the main protagonists are influenced in their acting and behaviour by this power. This thesis brings the power of evil into the wider context of "higher power" and describes relations between the power of evil and totalitarian power. On this base the historical and political context of the lives of the authors is considered as an important element. Based on comparison of all these aspects the principle of Mephistophelian seduction is reflected within its existential dimension. KEYWORDS Temptation, Devil, Mephistophelian seduction, protagonist, evil principle, drama, Faust, Mephistopheles, Václav Havel, Oldřich Daněk, Jiří Suchý

Die vorliegende Dissertation behandelt die Ökologie von Cnidium dubium (Schkuhr) Thell. (Sumpf-Brenndolde), Gratiola officinalis L. (Gottes-Gnadenkraut) und Juncus atratus Krocker (Schwarze Binse), drei gefährdeten Arten, die als sogenannte Stromtalpflanzen in Mitteleuropa in ihrem Vorkommen eng an die Flussauen gebunden sind. Die Arbeit basiert auf verschiedenen Simulationsexperimenten und Feldstudien in der Unteren Havelniederung, einem „Feuchtgebiet von internationaler Bedeutung“. Sie behandelt Themenkomplexe wie das Samenbankverhalten, die Samenkeimung, die Stickstofflimitierung, die Konkurrenzkraft, das Verhalten der Pflanzen nach einer Sommertrockenheit und nach einer Winter/Frühjahrsüberflutung. Ferner widmet sie sich der Populationsbiologie der Arten und dem Verhalten der Pflanzen nach besonderen Störungsereignissen wie Mahd, Herbivorie und der Sommerflut 2002. Der Leser erfährt, wie die Pflanzen in verschiedenen Lebensphasen auf die auentypische Umwelt reagieren und erhält umfassende Einblicke in physiologische Mechanismen, die der Anpassung an die typischen Bedingungen einer mitteleuropäischen Flussaue dienen. Eine Interpretation der Ergebnisse zeigt auf, welche der spezifischen Eigenschaften zur Gefährdung der drei Stromtalarten beitragen. Die Arbeit ist für den Arten-, Biotop- und Landschaftsschutz interessant. Darüber hinaus bietet sie zahlreiche Anknüpfungspunkte zur ökophysiologischen Grundlagenforschung. Die verstärkte Nutzung physiologischer Methoden bei der Klärung ökologischer Fragestellungen wird angeregt. / The thesis deals with the ecology of three endangered European river corridor angiosperms Cnidium dubium (Schkuhr) Thell., Gratiola officinalis L. und Juncus atratus Krocker. The study is based on different experimental approaches and field surveys in a wetland along the Lower Havel River, a designated German Ramsar-site (Wetland of International Importance). This involves the examination of aspects of seed bank dynamics, germination, nitrogen limitation, competitive ability, and the response of plants to summer drought and/or winter/spring flooding. The thesis continues with a detailed study of the population biology of the species at natural sites and the response of these plants to specific disturbances like mowing, herbivory and the severe summer flooding in 2002. The reader learns about the traits of the three plant species to tolerate the typical conditions their natural sites are exposed to in different phases of their life cycle. He gets a comprehensive look at physiological means by which plants can adapt to the prevailing conditions of European river lowlands. The interpretation of the results is used to reveal specific plant traits, which may contribute to the endangerment of the three river corridor plants. As such, this thesis is interesting for protection of species, biotopes and landscapes. Furthermore, it provides numerous close connections to fundamental research from an ecophysiological perspective. The increased use of physiological methods is recommended in order to be able to adequately resolve ecological problems.

The 1950s and 1960s in Czechoslovakia witnessed a fundamental shift in the dramatic and theatrical realms. Following the Communist takeover of 1948, Soviet-inspired Socialist Realism became the official aesthetic of the Czech lands, displacing the avant-garde trends that had dominated the pre-war era. This normative aesthetic program demanded a party-minded ideological perspective (partiinost) and a certain level of accessibility to the masses (narodnost). After the death of Stalin, as the political situation began to thaw, various theatre practitioners began to undermine these Socialist Realist demands, widening the literary horizons by experimenting with a variety of trends, and ultimately sowing the seeds that would lead to the flowering of the Czech theatre of the 1960s. This thesis investigates the ways in which the Socialist Realist model for dramatic and theatrical expression was subverted on the experimental stages of Prague in the late 1950s and 1960s. Specifically, it analyzes the changing role of ideology, dramatic and theatrical space, and objects during this period. By the 1960s, the earnest, socialist ideology that pervaded Socialist Realism in its purported message to the audience had become a stale aesthetic model. In 1963, Václav Havel’s Zahradní slavnost couches this ideology in an absurd dramatic world, subverting and satirizing the didactic nature of Socialist Realism while simultaneously drawing from the Czech avant-garde and foreign trends like the so-called Theatre of the Absurd. Prague’s experimental theatre movement in the 1950s and 1960s, though certainly present on large stages like the National Theatre, primarily sprang from the city’s small stages. Both Jiří Suchý and Jiří Šlitr’s Semafor Theatre and Otomar Krejča’s Theatre Beyond the Gate managed highly innovative productions despite limited stage space. This was made possible, in part, due to their remarkable use of the off-stage and imaginary action spaces. In his article “Man and Object in the Theatre,” Jiří Veltruský notes that human actors on stage operate between two poles: highly spontaneous and highly determined actions. Socialist Realism, which offered its audience models of behaviour for their lives outside the theatre, reduced characters to types, limiting their perceived spontaneity, as they exist primarily to fulfill necessary narrative functions (i.e., the positive hero). In a sense, human beings are objectified. In his adaptation of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu roi, director Jan Grossman takes this to the extreme. By presenting the actions of his actors as highly determined, he reduces the human figure to a manipulated object. When Ubu oversees the annihilation of these beings, Grossman both parodies the Socialist Realist approach to characterization and offers a stunningly subversive rebuke of the Czech political culture. In this work I show how the innovative spirit of Czech theatre and drama of the 1960s represented an era of shifting aesthetic norms, which reacted to the strict, normative Socialist Realist trend of the 1950s, borrowed from numerous foreign and domestic trends both past and present, and developed unique techniques of their own in order to create impactful works on the stage and on the page.

The 1950s and 1960s in Czechoslovakia witnessed a fundamental shift in the dramatic and theatrical realms. Following the Communist takeover of 1948, Soviet-inspired Socialist Realism became the official aesthetic of the Czech lands, displacing the avant-garde trends that had dominated the pre-war era. This normative aesthetic program demanded a party-minded ideological perspective (partiinost) and a certain level of accessibility to the masses (narodnost). After the death of Stalin, as the political situation began to thaw, various theatre practitioners began to undermine these Socialist Realist demands, widening the literary horizons by experimenting with a variety of trends, and ultimately sowing the seeds that would lead to the flowering of the Czech theatre of the 1960s. This thesis investigates the ways in which the Socialist Realist model for dramatic and theatrical expression was subverted on the experimental stages of Prague in the late 1950s and 1960s. Specifically, it analyzes the changing role of ideology, dramatic and theatrical space, and objects during this period. By the 1960s, the earnest, socialist ideology that pervaded Socialist Realism in its purported message to the audience had become a stale aesthetic model. In 1963, Václav Havel’s Zahradní slavnost couches this ideology in an absurd dramatic world, subverting and satirizing the didactic nature of Socialist Realism while simultaneously drawing from the Czech avant-garde and foreign trends like the so-called Theatre of the Absurd. Prague’s experimental theatre movement in the 1950s and 1960s, though certainly present on large stages like the National Theatre, primarily sprang from the city’s small stages. Both Jiří Suchý and Jiří Šlitr’s Semafor Theatre and Otomar Krejča’s Theatre Beyond the Gate managed highly innovative productions despite limited stage space. This was made possible, in part, due to their remarkable use of the off-stage and imaginary action spaces. In his article “Man and Object in the Theatre,” Jiří Veltruský notes that human actors on stage operate between two poles: highly spontaneous and highly determined actions. Socialist Realism, which offered its audience models of behaviour for their lives outside the theatre, reduced characters to types, limiting their perceived spontaneity, as they exist primarily to fulfill necessary narrative functions (i.e., the positive hero). In a sense, human beings are objectified. In his adaptation of Alfred Jarry’s Ubu roi, director Jan Grossman takes this to the extreme. By presenting the actions of his actors as highly determined, he reduces the human figure to a manipulated object. When Ubu oversees the annihilation of these beings, Grossman both parodies the Socialist Realist approach to characterization and offers a stunningly subversive rebuke of the Czech political culture. In this work I show how the innovative spirit of Czech theatre and drama of the 1960s represented an era of shifting aesthetic norms, which reacted to the strict, normative Socialist Realist trend of the 1950s, borrowed from numerous foreign and domestic trends both past and present, and developed unique techniques of their own in order to create impactful works on the stage and on the page.