This doctoral thesis is concerned with autobiographical forms, their general characteristics as well as with three examples of Czech works of art that prove how difficult it is to make that general characteristics and show various kinds of autobiographical narrative. It aims to show the often heterogeneous character of the so- called autobiographical genres, and present some approaches in their study. In the opening chapter, we define the term autobiography or autobiographical form in regard to literary history and theory, and special attention to Czech research in this field. We concentrate on the genre specifics of autobiographical forms, the opposition of "literary" and "authentic" diary, the term "autobiographical pact" coined by Philippe Lejeune and several patterns of autobiographical memory introduced by James Olney. The key aspect of our study is the nature of autobiographical form derived from the subject's style and illocutionary acts, i. e. stylization as defined by John Searle followed by Jean Starobinski or Paul de Man. Out of the wide spectrum of issues connected with autobiography we focus on the description of the subject's narrative structure, mainly on its language, style, frequent motifs, its memory and relationship to other characters in its text. The complexity of the very...

This thesis emphasizes the debate about the use of written correspondence as a source for the study of the History of Education and especially the history of Catholic religious education. The research focuses specifically on Chiara Lubich´s epistolary writing, an Italian Catholic school teacher who, in the 40s of the twentieth century, founded the Focolare Movement, a movement that emerged in the religious sphere, spread in over 180 countries and has ecumenical openness, as well as promoting inter-religious and intercultural dialogue. Chiara used letters as a privileged way to keep in touch with the people she was forming in the spirit of the Movement and it became a standard practice in her life and in the history of the Focolare. The thesis defended is that Chiara took letters as a training resource able to reach people and places where she could not be physically present and, throughout her life and mediated by the Focolare Movement, created an educational approach by epistolary means that, by its reputation in religious and social contexts, can be considered as a different perspective in Catholic pedagogy. The research aims to identify and analyze how Chiara´s teaching activity through epistolary medium was configured and, specifically, what formative approach is contained in these writings. The temporal cut of the analysis has been established according to various frameworks: Chiara´s educational performance as a primary school teacher, during the decades of the 30´s and 40´s of the twentieth century, the epistolary practice in those decades, and the production of messages for collegamenti (wide range connections among many), in the 80´s of the same century. This research has an historical approach and uses letters as an object and as a source. The main field of research consists of two sets of letters of Chiara: the first set contains letters between 1943 and 1949, and the second one, writings between 1981 and 1984. The analysis was carried out by reading and classification with preparation of thematic charts. The theoretical foundation of the research is based on the concepts of representation, ownership and materiality, by Roger Chartier; habitus, charisma, religious field, symbolic relations and cultural capital of Pierre Bourdieu; in addition, Michel de Certeau´s strategy and tactic were used. Studying Chiara´s epistolary writing helped to understand the life of a Catholic teacher in fascist Italy and also get to know the activities of a woman who, even outside the school walls, provided training, education and transmission of Catholic values to people from different parts of the world, through letters imbued with the principles of unity, mutual tolerance, communion, solidarity and fraternity. / Esta Tese enfatiza o debate acerca dos usos das correspondências como fonte para os estudos de História da Educação e, sobretudo, da História da Educação religiosa católica. A investigação se debruça de modo específico sobre a escrita epistolar de Chiara Lubich, uma professora católica italiana que, na década de 40 do século XX, fundou os Focolares, um Movimento nascido no âmbito religioso, foi difundido em mais de 180 países e possui abertura ecumênica, diálogo inter-religioso e intercultural. Chiara utilizava correspondências como um meio privilegiado para manter-se em contato com as pessoas e isso se tornou uma prática constante em sua vida e na história dos Focolares. Defende-se a Tese que Chiara adotou as cartas como um recurso de formação capaz de chegar a pessoas e lugares onde ela não poderia estar fisicamente e que, ao longo de sua vida e mediada pelo Movimento Focolarino, criou uma abordagem educativa por meio epistolar que, pela sua notoriedade em âmbito religioso e social, pode ser considerada uma perspectiva diferenciada de pedagogia católica. A investigação tem como objetivos identificar e analisar como se configurou a atividade docente de Chiara por meio epistolar e, especificamente, verificar qual a abordagem formativa contida nestes escritos. O recorte temporal da análise foi estabelecido em diferentes marcos: a atuação docente de Chiara como professora primária, durante as décadas de 30 e 40 do século XX; a prática epistolar nas referidas décadas e a produção das mensagens para os collegamentos, na década de 80 do século referendado. Esta investigação tem enfoque histórico e utiliza cartas como objeto e como fonte. O principal universo pesquisado é composto por dois epistolários de Chiara: o primeiro com correspondências entre os anos 1943 e 1949; e o segundo, com escritos entre 1981 e 1984. A análise foi realizada por meio de leitura e fichamento com elaboração de quadros temáticos. O suporte teórico da pesquisa está fundamentado nos conceitos de representação, apropriação e materialidade, de Roger Chartier; habitus, carisma, campo religioso, relações simbólicas e capital cultural de Pierre Bourdieu; além de estratégia e tática de Michel de Certeau. Estudar a escrita epistolar de Chiara possibilitou conhecer a vida de uma professora católica na Itália fascista e ainda acompanhar as atividades de uma mulher, que mesmo fora dos muros da escola, proporcionou, por meio de cartas (imbuídas nos princípios de unidade, tolerância mútua, comunhão, solidariedade e fraternidade), formação, instrução e transmissão de valores católicos a pessoas de diversas partes do mundo.

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My thesis examines the nature of contemporary fictional narration and explores its relations to other types of narration - mainly texts where educational or informative function prevails over the aesthetic one. The whole work is divided into four parts. The first part is theoretical; it sets up basic areas of interest and names methods, tools and models that will be tested on selected examples from Slavonic literatures. The second part analyses spatial and temporal relations of fictional narrative. Chapter 2.1 treats time and space in a novel mostly from the compositional point of view (based on the example of Sasha Sokolov's A School for Fools), while in the next chapter, focusing on ideational interconnections between literary and social- political utopias, both fictionality and temporality are understood more broadly than mere narrative categories: they serve as certain points of connection between the immanent occurrence of meaning in the "world of text" and its historical background. The third part continues in this direction, only what we mean by context here is not the collective historical background, but an individual sphere of everyday life. Our focus switches to two genres standing on the boundary of literary fiction and non-fiction - personal correspondence and a travel journal (travelogue). The...