The aim of this thesis is a translatological analysis of three major works of Czech literature: the play R.U.R. by Karel Čapek, the novel Babička (Grandmother) by Božena Němcová and the poems collection Maminka (Mother) by Jaroslav Seifert. The translations analyzed in this thesis were made by Kei Kurisu (one of the two R.U.R. translations, Babička), Chino Eiichi (the other R.U.R. translation) and Itaru Iijima (Maminka). I have based this analysis on two different concepts - one by Jiří Levý and the other by Peter Newmark. I focus on the translation phenomena typical for the individual literary forms (drama, prose and poetry) as well as on the phenomena that all three literary forms have in common (the instances of misunderstanding the original, the cases of interpretation (not) following the intention of the original author).

Submitted Thesis consists of two parts theoretical and practical. The theoretical part aims at the chronological mapping and analyzing of all available Czech editions of Karel Čapek's play R.U.R. from 1920 until 1989. It also deals with design-transformations of Čapek's Robot on the examples of selected theatre plays in Czech lands as well as in foreign countries performances. The Thesis pays attention to stage executions on the basis of period photographs, drawings and reviews. It is created a united survey of this Čapek's play in the Czech lands in the given time period from its origins until its theatre realizations and book publications. The practical part of the Thesis will then extend the historical play book covers given in the theoretical part by creating an original author book based on Čapek's play, which will be the visual interpretation of the text. By that will be produced a continuity between the theoretical and the practical part of the Thesis.

The thesis deals with intertextuality in Karel Čapek's drama R.U.R. and Dan Wells' trilogy Partials Sequence. The aim of the thesis is the interpretation and subsequent comparison of the above-mentioned works and finding mutual resemblances mostly in the main motives, but also in genre characteristics, environment, story sequence and other topics reflected in both works. Since the topic of the thesis already assumes the existence of intertextual relationship between the two works, therefore the aim of the work is not proving its existence but we are trying to determine how far these similarities goes and whether they are just random intertextual similarities or whether Dan Wells, although he does not admit it publicly, necessarily had to be inspired directly by Čapek's drama. Keywords: intertextuality, Gerard Genette, Roland Barthes, Karel Čapek, R.U.R., Dan Wells, Partials Sequence, robot.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze two Spanish versions of Čapek's drama R. U. R. with regard to the English text they both originate from. The theoretical part examines the phenomena of indirect translation, metatextuality (especially as far as adaptations for children are concerned) and translation of theatre plays according to Jiří Levý (1963). In the empirical part, R. U. R. is first analyzed with regard to various quotes the author himself said about his play. Next, Paul Selver's English version of R. U. R. is examined: it is explained how the text originated, what kind of changes it contains in comparison to the original text and how it was received. Finally, the thesis focuses on Consuelo Vázquez de Parga's Spanish rendition of R. U. R., which is a translation of Selver's English text. Again, changes on both compositional & ideological-esthetical level and stylistic level are analyzed. Here, Popovič's (1975, 1983) typology of stylistic shifts and changes in translation was used as the main methodological instrument. Last but not least, the thesis also addresses Juan Cervera Borrás's Spanish adaptation of R. U. R. for youth theatre. Key words: R. U. R., Čapek, Spain, indirect translation, metatextuality, adaptation, mediating text, adaptations for children, Selver, Vázquez de Parga,...

From 1922-1942, the Austrian-American architect and designer Frederick Jacob Kiesler (1890-1965) designed architecture based on the idea that it must complement the physiological and psychological processes of the human body. In order to reconcile the technological changes wrought by industrialized production with the need for structures that promoted human health, he developed an inspired model for interactive design. His formative experiences in Europe working with De Stijl and the G-Group, along with his exposure to Central European examples of architecture, art, and science set the agenda for his later works. Yet he never stopped experimenting with new concepts that would bolster his essential philosophy of body-generated space. After he immigrated to the United States in 1926, Kiesler’s pursued his ideas about physiological and psychological architecture within a new cultural milieu and a network of encouraging personal connections. He forged relationships with a sympathetic community of émigré industrial designers and architects who promoted his efforts to integrate modern technology with new design idioms. During his first fifteen years in New York City, Kiesler looked to contemporary science as a way to advance a model of flexible architectural design. He also worked at the cutting edge of industrial design research and was an early protagonist of human factors engineering methods. His body-centered methodology stood in opposition to aesthetic and reductive approaches toward modernism and functionalism. Instead of designing according to a priori determinations of what was functional and what was not, Kiesler’s functionalism was based on an iterative design practice that would reveal progressively more useful and universally applicable forms. / text