"Based on a doctoral thesis written ... (at)--Gregorian University." / Includes bibliographical references.

Tesi dott.--Saarbrücken--Università del Saarland, 1999. / Bibliogr. p. [541]-560. Index.

Texte remanié de--Tesi dott.--Napoli--Università degli studi Federico II, 1999. / Contient la trad. italienne par Giovanni Brancati du livre VIII de l'"Histoire naturelle" Bibliogr. p. [561]-584. Glossaire.

Vitaliano Brancati was a Sicilian prosaist, playwright and essayist. The Czech reader knows him mainly as an author of The Handsome Antonio, the only novel translated into Czech so far. Brancati is a writer of the first half of the 20th century. In his work he utilized his own experience with fascism-youth passion, succeeded by disappointment, scepticism, and gradual transition into open anti-fascist positions in a completely idiomatic style. He can be undoubtedly considered one of the continuators of modern narrators who contributed to the formation of the image of Sicily not only at home but abroad as well. Due to the autobiographical character of Brancati's works, the first part of the thesis is concerned with Brancati's life story under historical circumstances. The core of the thesis is the analysis of Brancati's most popular novels, which due to the common theme of gallism are often considered as a trilogy: Don Juan in Sicily, The Handsome Antonio and Hot Paolo. Based on this analysis, we present, at the end of the thesis, a picture of the "Brancatian" Sicily.

(in English): This diploma thesis deals with the literary image of Sicily by analysing characteristic works by four Sicilian authors in the historical period from the process of the Italian unification to the end of World War II. The authors are Giovanni Verga, Luigi Pirandello, Vitaliano Brancati and Leonardo Sciascia. This thesis is based primarily on the assumption that these writers are subjective and empiric authors and their works clearly reflect the fact that they hail from Sicily having been influenced by its societal norms and traditions. The author supports her arguments by the theoretical essays written by Leonardo Sciascia, who devoted his lifetime to the study of Sicily from the historical, social, political and anthropological perspective. The basic prerequisite for this work therefore consists of three theoretical publications: Pirandello e il pirandelismo (1953, Pirandello and the pirandellism), Pirandello e la Sicilia (1961, Pirandello and Sicily), La Sicilia come metafora (1979, Sicily as a metaphor). In this thesis the author attempts to trace the common attributes and linking motifs throughout selected characteristic works and their analysis. As a conclusion, the author summarizes her observations and intends to find more general parallels between the historical development of...