This diploma thesis Composition and Mystification (Jan Novák, Jan Lukeš, and T. R. Field) acquaints the reader with three personages of Czech literature of the twentieth century. So far they have been treated by literary science as rather marginal. Their work is associated with a great deal of literary mystification originating from the authors themselves or people influenced by their literary output and their personalities. All three authors belong to the category of so called 'loonies', which implies that their lives and their work were to certain extent shaped by the eccentricity of their personalities or perhaps even mental disorders. The introductory chapter with its synoptic character defines and describes the term of literary mystification which is further on related to terms such as play, ludism and myth. Particular emphasis is being put on the distinction between the literary mystifications and the traditional ones. Selected literary mystifications in Czech literature are exemplified. Attention is also drawn to the publications of Vladimír Borecký who was interested in the category of so called 'loonies' and 'weirdoes'. The following chapter is concerned with individual authors maintaining an identical procedure of their depiction. After the sources of information are mentioned, the...

This diploma thesis focuses on the problematic aspects of the journalistic profession nowadays, namely on the example of the penetration of the mystifying jokes to the mainstream media. In three specific cases where the authors of the mystifying pranks managed to penetrate the media, the work illustrates the most common mistakes journalists can make and focuses on trends, which stand for these tendencies. Part of this work is the analysis of the mystifying contents that appeared on jokes websites, on Facebook or in the context of interpersonal communication, and subsequent analysis of the media in which these mystifying reports appeared in the form of the real events. The interviews with both stakeholders - authors of the hoax contents and media representatives - will subsequently serve for the illustration of the overall issue and the final conclusion.

Klimpfjäll is a mountain village in the south of Lappland. In the middle of the 1970's a mine was set up in Stekenjokk about 20 km west of Klimpfjäll. A new housing estate was built, as an extension of Klimpfjäll, to accommodate the miners (about 170 people) and their families. This new part of Klimpfjäll was named, by the local inhabitants, Nybyn (The New Village), and the original village became known as Gammelbyn (The Old Village). For many of the people, the move to Nybyn was not just a case of being provided with the opportunity to earn a living. It was part of a life-objective. However, this way of life had an obstacle; the mine had a limited lifespan. A number of Nybyn's inhabitants could possibly remain in the village, even after the closing of the mine, but for the majority this was an impossibility. Nevertheless, the people still believed in the possibility of "saving" Nybyn as a whole, despite the unreasonableness of that belief. This was also the belief held by the local council, the state and the mining company. I have named this phenomenon "mystification". The future of Klimpfjäll became a mystery. The people would rather not discuss the future of Klimpfjäll because they know that it does not exist, they, nevertheless, want to believe in it. It is this mystification that made the establishment of the mine possible, and which holds Nybyn together socially. The Social Welfare Service in Vilhelmina had, for a long time, regarded Klimpfjäll as a social problem. The problem was defined as being traditional social problems, due partly to addiction and partly to loneliness. For this reason an action research project was started. But the real problem for the people of Nybyn was the uncertainty of the future. The project was doomed to fail. Why should the people of Nybyn "go to evening classes" when their village was being threatened with closure? The project became just one element in the continuing mystification. It was not possible to redefine the project as a "survival project", since everyone wanted to believe in a continue future for the mine. In this study I have attempted to understand why it was impossible for the action research project to succeed. In understanding its failure I believe that we can also understand the people of Klimpfjäll. / digitalisering@umu

The thesis is devoted to the following two representatives of literal decadence, Oscar Wilde, British dramatist, prose writer, poet and essayist, and Arthur Breisky, Czech prose writer, literary critic and translator. The thesis opens with providing a basic insight into the life and work of both authors. They were both influenced by decadence, which was not only an artistic trend, but also a specific spirit of the time that was reflected in the psychological and social roots and opinions of both authors. The thesis works with the basic assumption that the Czech decadent Breisky was significantly influenced by Wilde in his opinions and activities. The thesis sets up three areas to explore that mingle and influence each other: criticism, masque and mystification. The main similarities between Wilde and Breisky are analyzed in the thesis. Based on the comparison of individual motives, it is possible to trace how Breisky builds on Wilde's ideas and what, on the other hand, he invents newly or differently. Apart from the comparison of both authors, the thesis also provides a comprehensive overview of Breisky's opinions on literature and art at the theoretical level. Key words: Arthur Breisky, Oscar Wilde, decadence, critique, art, masque, mystification, dandysm

Language and style of the plays written for Jára Cimrman Theatre This magister thesis deals with language analysis of the stage plays of Jára Cimrman Theatre. The opening chapter describes general information about the theatre and it's authors as well. The thesis is divided into two parts, the theoretical part and the practical part. The theoretical part is based on results of theoretical studies of different authors, especially Bohuslav Brouk, Henri Bergson, Ladislav Dvorský and Vladimír Borecký. The practical part contains the detailed language analysis of all 15 stage plays. This diploma work analyzes which types of language comic we can find there and how much are they extended. Linguistic performances are separated on the principle of linguistics on individual linguistic branches. This diploma work also discusses mystification as a common framework for realization of all comic means. Keywords Jára Cimrman, stage play, Zdeněk Svěrák, Ladislav Smoljak, language comic, intertextuality, mystification

L’intégralité des textes de Marcel Schwob a d’abord paru en journaux. On se propose d’étudier l’influence de cette « matrice » journalistique, avec ses fortes contraintes, sur l’écriture de Marcel Schwob, et symétriquement l’influence de la publication ultérieure des mêmes textes en recueils sur leur réception par le lecteur.Les textes de Marcel Schwob, s’ils demeurent référentiels (descriptifs du réel, récits d’anecdotes ou de choses vues, réflexions sur des cas judiciaires) sont le lieu d’une fictionnalisation de la chronique, ce qui pose le problème des contraintes auxquelles Marcel Schwob souscrit et de celles (comme la contrainte de référence directe à l’actualité) dont il s’exonère. Mais cette fictionnalisation de l’écriture journalistique n’est pas originale à la fin du XIXe siècle, et il s’agira de la replacer dans une tradition. Il serait alors possible de considérer l’écriture journalistique chez Schwob comme une expérience déterminante des techniques d’insertion d’un savoir sur le passé ou sur le réel contemporain non seulement dans une chronique, mais aussi dans une fiction. On montrera d’ailleurs que la frontière entre écriture dite « journalistique » et écriture dite « littéraire » n’est pas pertinente pour Marcel Schwob, pas plus que pour les écrivains journalistes qui lui sont contemporains.L’érudition dont Marcel Schwob fait spectacle sert à cacher (puis, dans Mœurs des diurnales à exhiber) des références et allusions apparemment savantes mais fictives, en tout cas douteuses pour le lecteur, tant il est vrai qu’il serait impossible de tout vérifier, ce que démontre bien l’impossibilité d’une édition critique exhaustivement annotée des œuvres de Schwob. / The full texts of Marcel Schwob first appeared in newspapers. It is proposed to investigate the influence of this journalistic "matrix", with its strong constraints on writing Marcel Schwob, and symmetrically the influence of the subsequent publication of the same texts in collections on their reception by the reader.The texts of Marcel Schwob, they remain repositories (descriptive of reality, stories or anecdotes of things seen , reflections on court cases) are the site of a fictionalization of chronic, which poses the problem of constraints Marcel Schwob subscribed and those (such as duress direct reference to the news) he is exempt. But this fictionalization of journalistic writing is not original to the late nineteenth century, and it will be replacing it in a tradition. It would then be possible to consider journalistic writing in Schwob as a defining experience of insertion techniques of knowledge about the past or contemporary reality not only chronic but also in fiction. Moreover, we show that the boundary between writing called "journalistic" and write so-called "literary" is not relevant to Marcel Schwob, nor for writers-journalists who are her contemporaries.The erudition Marcel Schwob shows is used to hide (and, in Moeurs des diurnales to exhibit) references and scholarly but apparently fictitious allusions in any doubtful case to the reader, as it is true that it would be impossible to verify all, which demonstrates the impossibility of exhaustively annotated critical edition of the works of Schwob.

Claude Louis-Combet est un auteur discret qui élabore son œuvre comme à l’écart du monde. D’abord peu soucieux de ses manuscrits, il a pourtant accepté, en 1994, de les transmettre au Centre Jacques Petit. Aujourd’hui intégralement numérisé, le fonds d’archives représente plus de 20 000 folios.Notre travail consiste à explorer le dossier des Errances Druon pour reconstituer la genèse de ce roman contemporain, tout en recueillant la parole de son auteur. La disponibilité et la présence régulière de Claude Louis-Combet à la Faculté des Lettres de Besançon offrent en effet la possibilité d’une véritable interaction entre les chercheurs et l’écrivain. Ainsi notre étude sur la quatrième mythobiographie de l’auteur s’est-elle réalisée in vivo, dans le sillage d’un horizon génétique imaginé par Pierre-Marc de Biasi en 1993 et initié par Irène Fenoglio en 2006 avec ses travaux sur Pascal Quignard.Nous avons ainsi découvert un autre Claude Louis-Combet. Non pas l’écrivain bien connu, celui qui, sérieux et grave, est entré en littérature après avoir violemment rompu avec la religion, mais un Claude Louis-Combet bien différent, fantaisiste et facétieux, un romancier mystificateur, inventeur de ses propres sources apocryphes, comme la fameuse Vie secrète de saint Druon. / Claude Louis-Combet is a discreet writer who built his work away from the world. Even though he did not feel concerned by his own manuscripts at first, he accepted to entrust them to the Centre Jacques Petit in 1994. These archives are now completely digitalized and represent more than 20, 000 folios.This thesis intends to explore the folder of the Errances Druon to reconstruct the genesis of this contemporary novel by collecting the author’s words. The availability and the regular presence of Claude Louis Combet at the Faculty of French Literature in Besançon indeed allow a true interaction between the author and researchers. Therefore, this study on the fourth mythobiography of the writer was conducted in vivo, following the path of a genetic horizon imagined by Pierre-Marc de Biasi in 1993 and initiated by Irene Fenoglio in 2006 with her works on Pascal Quignard.We have thus discovered a different Claude Louis-Combet. Not the well-known serious writer, who took to literature after a violent break-up with religion, but a facetious and mischievous author, who knows how to mystify his readers and who created his own apocryphal sources, such as the famous Vie secrète de saint Druon.

Dans le contexte politique national si paradoxal de République monarchiste [1871-1879], la presse satirique radicale marseillaise est essentiellement animée par une poignée de jeunes journalistes à l'humour corrosif qui s'assignent pour mission de s'attaquer aux moeurs et aux vices de leur temps. De cette équipe, une personnalité controversée se détache : Léo Taxil, personnage à la conscience « accommodante », pris dès l'adolescence dans une sorte de fuite en avant et une volonté d'indépendance, dues à la nécessité de très tôt devoir gagner sa vie et qui côtoie les grands courants de pensée de son époque, se rangeant tour à tour dans les deux camps profondément antagonistes de la période. Sa conversion au catholicisme et la mystification dont il s'est rendu coupable à travers l'affaire Diana Vaughan ont fait couler beaucoup d'encre et focalisé l'attention de ses contemporains, puis des chercheurs. Pourtant, si de nombreux ouvrages évoquent le parcours atypique de Léo Taxil pour tenter d'expliquer son formidable canular, ils passent de façon succincte sur des épisodes marquants de son existence. Or, qu'en a-t-il été de la vie même de Taxil ? De ses premiers combats exaltés, feints ou réels, de son anticléricalisme militant, associé à des activités lucratives, éléments qui préfigurent son invraisemblable conversion au catholicisme et ses révélations sur la « franc-maçonnerie luciférienne » auxquelles une partie non négligeable du clergé s'est ralliée ? En quoi ce polémiste marseillais est-il révélateur des problèmes de son temps, complètement investi dans les luttes féroces que se livrent républicains laïcs et catholiques conservateurs ? / In such a paradoxical national political context of a monarchist Republic [1871-1879], the radical satirical press of Marseille is essentially run by a handful of young journalists with a sharp sense of humour who set themselves the task of tackling the custom and vices of their time. Out of this team, a controversial figure stood out : Léo Taxil. Manipulator, with an "accommodating" conscience, desperate to achieve his aims, caught as early as a teenager in a kind of headlong rush with a desire of independence due to the very early need to earn a living, he met the great currents of thought of his time, and unscrupulously and seemingly without a second thought, alternately sided with two strongly antagonistic camps. His conversion to Catholicism and his hoax in the Diana Vaughan case were much written about, and were the focus of attention for his contemporaries and later for researchers. Yet, if these works evoke the atypical path of Leo Taxil in order to try and explain his tremendous hoax, they succinctly go over significant events in his life. But beyond the very much narrated and commented hoax, what about Taxil's very life? What about his early enthusiastic battles, whether feigned or real, what about his militant anticlericalism, coupled with lucrative activities, elements that prefigure his improbable conversion to catholicism and his revelations about the "Luciferian Freemasonry" eventually joined by a significant part of the clergy? In what way is this Marseille polemicist indicative of the problems of his time, fully invested in the fierce battles between non religious Republicans and conservative Catholics ?

This Diploma thesis deals with the plays of the Divadlo Járy Cimrmana. I will use description and explanation to examine the influence of mystification, intertextuality and comicality on the success of this Prague theatre. Recordings of the Divadlo Járy Cimrmana performances and the book issues of their plays will be instrumental to this goal. The theory will be largely adopted from B. Brouk, V. Borecký, J. Homoláč, H. Bergeson and L. Dvorský.

This diploma thesis is examining hidden presence of a French author Romain Gary in the works of Émile Ajar. Only after Gary's death the public learned, that Émile Ajar was in fact Gary's pseudonym, although he has publicly denied this connection throughout his life. Because of this unrevealed mystification, Gary was given Goncourt prize twice, despite the fact that each author is only allowed to receive it once. Gary claims in his testament, that an observant reader of his work should immediately discover the connection. Can we agree with him, even if literary critics failed to find out? This work investigates various literary practices used by authors to hide their identity. The "lives" of both authors are presented. Gary did not only create Émile Ajar's life story, he also persuaded his nephew to pose as Ajar in public. The stories are followed by a comparative analysis of eight novels: four published under Gary's name and four under the pseudonym. Comparing the selected works from diverse aspects, we try to answer the principal question: Was it possible to prove that Émile Ajar was Gary's creation during his very lifetime?