The thesis is mainly concerned with popular dystopian book series Hunger Games and Divergent. The aim of the present diploma thesis is to summarize representative characteristics of a young adult dystopian novels featuring rebellious female heroes and to closely examine the social context of the aforementioned novels. The first part of the thesis is based on the analysis of young adult dystopian novels and the attitude of young female readers to the representation of strong female protagonists in literature. The second part od this thesis presents a qualitative research realized by interviews with young female readers and it attempts to answer the research questions about the attitude of readers to examined dystopian novels and the contemporary social role of women. Keywords: dystopian novel, Hunger Games, Divergent, female protagonists, gender

TITLE: The difference in Aldous Huxley's approach to the concept of dystopia in the 1930s and 1960s with references to his selected works AUTHOR: Marie Hronová DEPARTMENT: Department of English Language and Literature SUPERVISOR: PhDr. Petr Chalupský, Ph.D. ABSTRACT: This thesis is focused on the approach of Aldous Huxley to dystopian fiction. To explore this topic it analyses his two major novels, namely Brave New World (1932) and Island (1962). The aim of the theoretical part is to provide a context to these two works. Therefore, it describes the most important social changes which emerged after the First World War and further developed after the Second World War. This part is also concerned with the development of psychopharmacology and its consequences since it plays a major role in both analysed novels. Further context is given by outlining the basic ideas of selected eastern philosophies as they are crucial for one of Huxley's works. The practical part then analyses Huxley's imaginary society in Brave New World in order to pinpoint the features of the author's dystopian novel and his criticism of the society of the 1930s. Island is explored as a counterpart of Brave New World, since both novels deal with the same topic but in different perspectives. The aim of this part is to analyse and compare the...

This thesis aims to provide a thematic analysis of the leading Hebrew dystopian texts in contemporary Israel and to present a broader context of utopian thought within which these texts are best understood. The research attempts to explore and examine how the various anxieties and fears of Israeli society are reflected upon in contemporary Hebrew dystopian novels and how the Israeli reality is transformed and re-imagined, by means of authors' thought experiments, in the selected narratives. Dystopian fiction is an extremely useful tool for cultural studies inasmuch as it constitutes a direct interaction with the contemporary culture in that it describes an entire society suffering from oppressive and disastrous conditions which grow out of certain real-world social, political, and economic trends. Zionist utopian fiction which sought to imagine a Jewish homeland waned soon after the creation of the State of Israel and the local realities set the narrative on a much darker and more pessimistic course. Today many Israeli authors project a dystopian and (post-) apocalyptic future from the present Israeli reality by examining the current cultural and political situation. The thesis is, then, also an exploration of how these dystopian narratives come to terms with the current Israeli reality and what...

My aim with this essay is to analyse how the theme of sexuality and love in two dystopian novels – We  (1924),  by Yevgeny Zamyatin and Kallocain  (1940), by Karin Boye – relate to “the modern project”, a term I use to identify a cluster of important ideas that profoundly impacted society in the first decades of the 20th century. My analysis is based on a theoretical point of view claiming that dystopian novels present a critical perspective on society, and that they deal with issues, problems and values specific to the period in which they were written. Using a comparative method, where “the modern project” works asan “Ansatzpunkt”, I explore a variety of texts studying the theme of love and sexualityin We  and Kallocain  from different perspectives. I further discuss how both novels criticize societies where some of the ideas from “the modern project” are realized in unexpected ways: the “bourgeois family” is gone and the state performs some of its duties, sexuality is reduced to biological needs and reproduction, and love relationships are seen as egotistical and irrational. Even though these societies are trying hard, they can’t stop their citizens from using love and sexuality as a means to connect to one another and build a resistance. My conclusion is that both Zamyatin and Boye most likely were inspired by the writings of Sigmund Freud, who at that time was highly influential. In this light their novels can beinterpreted as presenting the human libido (We) and insights gained through psychoanalysis (Kallocain) as defences against collectivistic totalitarian states.

1 ABSTRACT The aim of this thesis is to describe, analyze and explain major influences on the development of dystopian literature of the 21st century written in English. Those influences are described and illustrated on selected literary works, specifically on Oryx and Crake (2003) by Margaret Atwood, Never Let Me Go (2005) by Kazuo Ishiguro, The Hunger Games (2008) by Suzanne Collins, Matched (2010) by Ally Condie, and The Bone Season (2013) by Samantha Shannon. The theoretical part aims to explain the term dystopia, to define dystopia as a genre, and to describe its history. This part also deals with the influences on the development of dystopia, focused especially on the 20th century, and with the summaries of the books selected for the use in the practical part. The practical part focuses on the major influences on the development of dystopian literature of the 21st century written in English. Those are influences relating to methods of social control, scientific and technological advancements, and from various apocalyptic ideas and visions, such as wars and diseases. The practical part includes descriptions of the influences, their explanations, and subdivisions, following by illustrations of those influences on the selected literary works. KEY WORDS Dystopia, dystopian novel, the 21st century, major...