! The thesis is exploring art and architecture in Denmark and Czechoslovakia in the period 1947-1957. The main interest was to see how the interwar avant-garde movements such as Functionalism and Surrealism, as well as the legacy of Bauhaus, developed after the WWII. Yet, Functionalism and Surrealism can also be seen not only as mere artistic styles but as two different attitudes towards life, Rational and Romantic respectively. The latter, which is a passionate protest against the status quo, can especially in its revolutionary or utopian dimension serve as a form of engagement free of the simplifying Cold War binaries.

The first part of the diploma thesis is focused on the history and activity of the literary and visually artistic Group Ra, especially in the years 19361948. The artistic output of Ra comes out of Surrealism and is notably influenced by it; however, later Ra creates its own style following Surrealism and at the same time going beyond it. This part devotes to the signs of Surrealism, similarities and differences between Ra and the previous generation, contacts of the Younger Surrealists and also displays the poetics of the group members and their works. The second half of the thesis is concentrated on one of the Younger Surrealists, on Ludvík Kundera and his various works and specific expression with which enriches the way how Ra reflects and depicts the world. The dissertation thus presents not only a group creating art during the German occupation and war, but also exposes the contribution of the Group Ra and Ludvík Kundera to the artistic avant-garde.

The aim of this Master’s thesis is to analyse formal and thematic layers of the artistic films produced by the pharmaceutic company Sandoz and to put them in the relation to the specific history of the company. Sandoz laboratories produced mainly in the 60’s and 70’s several artistic films (e.g. La Femme 100 Têtes which was the adaptation of Max Ernst’s collages or Images du monde visionnaire with the presence of artist Henri Michaux). The thesis explores some of the films and, at the same time, describes the production background and cinematographic context in the relation to the history of Sandoz laboratories.

The presented work is focused on the birth and evolution of radical thought in Syria and Egypt during the first half of 20th centrury and especially on it's interaction with art and literature. First of all it's focus is on the relation of Arab renaissance and radical left ideas and continuity of this thought in region under the study in the first half of 20th centrury. This work is as well focused on the common grounds of radical trends in Arab renaissance with Egyptian surrealist movement of the 30's and 40's. To this movement is dedicated final part of this work.

The content of the thesis is the surrealistic object and its reflection among the czech theorists. The first part of the thesis describes the problematic of surrealistic object and subject-objective relations in surrealism. Breton's philosophical approach is introduced, as well as his concept of object's crisis. The first part also outlines the meaning of found object, concept of convulsive beauty and Dali's paranoic-critical method as a source of surrealistic imagery. The second part of the thesis is focused on the reflection of surrealistic object presentation and on relations between arts and reality according to the concepts of Jan Mukařovský. The third part of the thesis is dedicated to conceptualization of aesthetics of Bohuslav Brouk in the light of surrealism. In this part the scope of Brouk's understanding of subject-objective relations is briefly described, as well his interpretation of surrealistic object.The last part of the thesis outlines the Teige's conception of surrealistic work in the terms of the sources of surrealistic imagination.

The diploma thesis deals with the topic of new myth in art since the end of 1920s to the February coup in 1948. The thesis focuses on the work of Josef Šíma and the artists of Groop 42 and it is based on the premise that there was a new myth emerging in both cases. This premise relies on historical sources and secondary literature and the idea is further developed in the thesis. Its structure responds to chronological order of the topics in question, which correspond to the individual chapters. Connecting link of the thesis is the personage of Josef Šíma, which was also role model for the younger artists of Groop 42. Important are also the approaches to the new myth of Václav Navrátil, Jindřich Chalupecký and Karel Teige. All of them commented on both work of Josef Šíma and the art of newly formed generation, all of them also commented on the political situation. The thesis stresses the difference between the artistic and political myth in that period and more attention to the new myth in political ideology is paid in the last chapter. This version of myth manifested itself in February 1948 by establishment of totalitarian political regime. Key words New myth, crises, revolution, symbol, Josef Šíma, Le Gand Jeu, Group 42, romanticism, Karel Hynek Mácha, Jindřich Chalupecký, Václav Navrátil, Karel...

Walking and writing the world. An approach to modernity in Bohemia and France from the beginning of the 19th century to the 1940's In Christian allegoric texts the Pilgrim traditionally symbolizes the journey of mankind to heaven. From the second half of the 19th century on, poets, travelers, and vagabonds pursued the quest of an afterlife from within city walls. This dissertation examines the different representations of modern wandering via an in-depth analysis of the theme as encountered in French and Czech literature and arts from the early 19th century to the 1940's. It reveals, in chronological order, the different artistic approaches to modernity. By bringing out the various patterns that emerge from the texts, while taking into account the historical and social contexts in which they were created, this work adds to existing knowledge on the cultural similarities between France and Bohemia. It also examines the different literary genres which originate from mankind's need to walk and write the world.

This diploma thesis mainly deals with the relationships between the poetic manifestations of socialist realism and so called total realism in the early fifties. The first part focuses on general issues; within it I try to describe characteristic features of both poetics, for total realism it is done mostly in the background of comparison with like-minded concepts (Hrabal's poems from the fifties, the works of former members of Group 42). In other chapters of the text I am thinking about a total realism from two aspects: first, as an alternative form of realism, which defines itself against the official art, as well as a program that is dependent on the official art to some extent by paraphrasing or using some of its means and resources.

The time period during which the Surrealist Group in Czechoslovakia and during which Vítězslav Nezval was creating surrealistic works has several theoretical bases in psychology and philosophy. The purpose of this thesis is to list these bases and interpret them in connection with Nezval's surrealistic works. Sources used comprise of fictional and theoretical literature and also period press and publications about surrealism.

Dans les récits allégoriques chrétiens, le pèlerin est une figure symbolique représentant le parcours de l’Homme vers le Paradis. À partir de la seconde moitié du XIXe siècle, les poètes, promeneurs et flâneurs poursuivent la quête d’un au-delà entre les murs des grandes villes. La présente thèse examine les cas de figures des flâneries modernes. En étudiant des textes qui mettent en scène le thème de la marche, ce travail propose une analyse chronologique des approches de la Modernité dans la littérature et dans les arts français et tchèques du début du XIXe siècle aux années 1940. En étudiant les motifs constituants des récits de promenades modernes et le rôle du contexte historique et social de leur création, cette thèse apporte une contribution à la réflexion sur les parallèles culturels entre la France et la Bohême. En outre, elle livre une analyse de divers genres littéraires nés de la nécessité de l’Homme d’écrire le monde en marchant. / In Christian allegoric texts the Pilgrim traditionally symbolizes the journey of mankind to heaven. From the second half of the 19th century on, poets, travelers, and vagabonds pursued the quest of an afterlife from within city walls. This dissertation examines the different representations of modern wandering via an in-depth analysis of the theme as encountered in French and Czech literature and arts from the early 19th century to the 1940's. It reveals, in chronological order, the different artistic approaches to modernity. By bringing out the various patterns that emerge from the texts, while taking into account the historical and social contexts in which they were created, this work adds to existing knowledge on the cultural similarities between France and Bohemia. It also examines the different literary genres which originate from mankind’s need to walk and write the world. / V krestanských alegorických textech je poutník symbolickou postavou na ceste do Ráje.Od druhé poloviny devatenáctého století básníci, chodci a flânéri, se pokoušejí odhalitskrytou tvár reality na ulicích velkomest. Tato disertacní práce analyzuje podobymoderního poutnictví. Chronologicky razené rozbory del, týkajících se tématu chuze,sledují vývoj tvurcích postoju k modernímu svetu ve francouzské a ceské literature avýtvarném umení od zacátku devatenáctého století do konce ctyricátých let stoletídvacátého. Studiem dílcích motivu moderních poutnických textu, zasazenýchdo historického a sociálního kontextu doby jejich vzniku, tato práce prispívá k prohloubenípoznatku o kulturních paralelách mezi Francií a Cechami. Navíc tato disertace zkoumározlicné literární žánry, pro než byla prvotním impulsem potreba autora jít a psát.