This essay delves into an introspective examination of my own artistic practice, encompassing a multidimensional exploration of art history, pop culture, personal memory, and the captivating allure of the spectacle as expressed through visual language. Furthermore, personal memory serves as a significant wellspring of inspiration and reflection in my artistic practice. By analyzing these intersecting influences, delving into intimate recollections and examining the interplay between personal experiences and artistic creation, the essay aims to shed light on the dynamic relationship between cultural contexts and their impact on my artistic creation.

Submitted thesis The Portrayal of Czech Society in Petr Schulhoff's Film Comedies of the Normalization Era analyses the cinematography of the Czechoslovak Republic in the seventies and the eighties through the topic of social a ideological values which they present. Its primary concern is the question what are selected movies saying about Czechoslovak social reality of that time and which instruments of semiotic mediations are used for this purpose. The main assumption of the work is that also escapist entertainment described the era, setting and characters according to norms dictated by the communist government and thus help to stabilize the system.

The Shakespeare Salesman offers a comprehensive analysis of Vishal Bhardwaj's Shakespeare trilogy that consists of the films: Maqbool (2003), Omkara (2006), and Haider (2014). The trilogy only recently being completed, previous attempts to study Bhardwaj's work have been confined to chapters in books, with their analysis often relegated to the understanding of a greater theme about the industry as a whole, and hence this work intends to accord due space to Bhardwaj's films by making them the centre of the discussion. The analyses of these films show that Bhardwaj's work is torn between issues of authenticity, fidelity, and originality, often leading to what the thesis defines as "narrative crises" that are resolved with thought-provoking, at times problematic, but largely unique methods. Hence each of the three chapters, accorded to the respective film being discussed, focuses on the said crisis. By focusing specifically on these aspects the argument does not, by any means, intend to lessen or mis-portray the achievements, contribution and importance of Bhardwaj's work. On the contrary, all the space that this thesis can afford is accorded to these 'problems' precisely because they have hitherto not been aptly discussed, as the primary subject, in previous literature regarding Bhardwaj's work. The argument...

This master's thesis aims to answer the question of how "Japanese superheroes" in manga differ from their western superhero counterparts in terms of storytelling, design, or motifs. The hypothesis works with the assumption that although Japanese manga follows the superhero genre's basic rules, many differences can be traced between these two comics worlds. These differences stem from the cultural environment in which analyzed comics originated. The theoretical part is divided into several chapters, which deal mainly with the basic definitions and history of researched areas. It begins with the definition of comics as a medium and focused on its technical characteristics and modern predecessors. The next chapter focuses on the essential aspects of the superhero genre, its conventions, and its typology. This thesis wouldn't be complete without defining the term "manga", the history of Japanese comics, and its specific genres and subgenres. Finally, it is also necessary to explain terms such as culture, cultural values , and cultural environment. The work then uses narrative, semiotic, and comparative analysis to examine the properties of six comic titles - three from American and three from Japanese production. Subjects of the research are narrative structures, appearance, and motives of superheroes...

An automobile is one of the most important phenomenons of modern technology. Since its origins, it has profoundly shaped our physical, economic, politic, social, cultural and media habitat. The objective of this Master thesis is to analyze the evolution of the role of the car in the popculture from the 60s onwards and its dimensions, with a primary focus on Anglosaxon culture, with excursions to Asia and continental Europe, primarily Czechoslovakia/Czech Republic. The core foundation of the thesis lies in the analysis of the popcultural genres, selected films, TV series, computer games and comic books. The main purpose of the thesis is to reflect upon the identity and conceptual shifts of car, going from a mere transport machine through a vehicle of product placement towards the concept of the icon, a narrative hero of popculture. The hypothesis to verify is that the car has become an essential part of the popculture itself, reflected in many various dimensions: car as a toy, car as a friend, car as a status symbol, car as a narrative extension of the hero and finally, car as a hero and subject. The thesis is divided into five separate chapters, all including case studies. Following an introduction summarizing cultural, economic and historic factors of the car industry, the first chapter describes...

The following thesis titled Zavedené nepořádky: Českoslovenští fotbaloví fanoušci v letech pozdního státního socialismu thematises Czechoslovak football hooliganism from a historical point of view with a special emphasis on the contextualisation of the whole phenomena into the field of the Czechoslovak contemporary history. It is specifically concerned with detailing various aspects of this specific community's everyday life but it also thematises broader questions about the community's members relation to the social order in which they themselves lived and were surrounded by. On one hand, the thesis accepts some basic aspects from the subcultural theory, but at the same time it offers interpretative alternatives inspired by the concepts of socialist everydayness. The whole thesis is thus not only a description of a very specific community of football hooligans in the era of late state socialism but also a contribution to a broader discussion on the character of late state socialism in the last years of its duration. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This essay is one part of my Bachelor’s degree project, the other part being the dance performance OUR VISIONIS FROM HELL. / 34°10'26.6"N 118°39'50.4"W, which was presented in November 2022 at Stockholm University of the Arts. The work was inspired by certain events around the breakup between musician Kanye West and reality star Kim Kardashian. The text aims to further articulate, explain and discuss the topics of the piece, which were heartbreak, violence and pop culture in the arts, as well as referencing the American writers bell hooks and Susan Sontag and their approach to these issues. The essay also goes into the research, conversations and different thinking processes from and within the work. The text is written as a fictional letter to Kanye West and desires to question and criticize his behavior during the fall of 2022.

This diploma thesis will focus on music, film, literature and visual arts of Islamic coun-tries, as a material that leaves the original cultural and religious context and is being "sent" to be received in the context of the stabilised Western culture. Guided by her own judgment, the author of this diploma thesis shall select the most important and inte-resting artists who were born or are still living in one of the Islamic countries. And she will further interpret their work in terms of their influence and impact on the Western culture. As to the methodological approach, this diploma thesis is based on the concept of the cultural transfer, as it has been examined and defined in cultural studies in recent decades.

The diploma thesis focuses on the phenomenon of cult film, its theoretical definition, its history from the beginning to the present days, in world vide and Czech context. Another topic is the typology of cult films, selected cult directors. The other aim are fan activities, which are essential for the acquisition of the cult status of the film. The aim of this work is to reflect the phenomenon of cult film and to analyse selected Czech films in order to find out whether these films meet the cult film criteria according to the characteristics of selected theoreticians. The resulting analysis will confirm or will rebut my hypothesis and will show whether the use of the term cult film is accidental and has its backing in the Czech environment.

Diploma thesis "Media image of czech entertainment film production in magazines Eva, Módní revue and Pestrý týden in period 1939 - 1942" deals with analysis of three specific magazines from the era of Nazi occupation and "Protectorate Böhmen und Mähren", called Eva, Módní revue and Pestrý týden, with the accent of their entertainment character, especially their cover of czech protectorate film production, its changes and proceeding in the concrete period, as well as the activities of filmmakers and feature film itself. Diploma thesis also follows the influence of czech protectorate and Nazi authorities over these magazines, using the method of historical comparative analysis.