CHARLES UNIVERSITY IN PRAGUE FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Institute of International Studies Elisabeth Anna Hobl Changing the interpretation of monuments for the purpose of influencing the Czechoslovak collective identity through Rudé Právo and presidential speeches (1948-1957) Masters thesis Prague 2015 Abstract The Communist Party of Czechoslovak (KSČ) tried self-servingly to shape the interpretation of Czechoslovak history. National identity can theoretically change over time by adapting amongst others collective memory. As collective memory also consists of several components the thesis focuses on early attempts to influence Czechoslovak national identity by altering the meaning of certain historical events represented by specific monuments in the period 1948- 1957. A monument's meaning derives from discourse and traditions. The analysis shows that Rudé Právo articles and Presidential speeches were part of a discourse used to influence the meaning of monuments. The case studies: Bethlehem Chapel was to symbolize the historical Hussite legacy continued by the KSČ; the Monument of National Liberation was to commemorate World War Two soldiers and important communists; the Monument of the Soviet Tank Drivers was to commemorate the Red Army as Czechoslovakia's sole liberator. These interpretations were meant...

This thesis further analyses the question of political representation of ethnic minorities. Its main theoretical framework is created by theory of cleavages by S. Rokkan and S.M. Lipset, which describes conflict lines within the society and its influence on the party system. Further on, different definitions and approaches to the topic of ethnic identity, ethnic conflict and and ethnic and regional parties are introduced. Second part of this thesis is composed of four case studies of selected European cities with relevant ethnic minorities. These are Leicester in United Kingdom, Espoo in Finland, German Frankfurt am Main and Romanian Cluj-Napoca. These cases are firstly analyzed by context of political representation of ethnic minorities. That is in the first place the share and nature of minority population and in the second place attributes of local political systems within both horizontal and vertical dimension. Factors with direct impact on political representation of ethnic minorities like electoral system, election right and any other special measures are analyzed further on.

This thesis deals with Japanese foreign and security policy through the optics of critical geopolitics, specifically the "geopolitics as culture" notion developed by Gearóid Ó Tuathail. Using this notion as an analytical framework, the development of Japan's foreign and security policy from the establishment of a modern Japanese state till present days is analyzed, with three main concepts being addressed: (1) foreign policy traditions; (2) geopolitical and geostrategic discourses; (3) and strategic and geopolitical culture. For reasons of narrowing the topic down and applying the concept more consistently, one specific element of Japanese foreign and security policy is at the centre of attention: Japan's "maritime identity". The goal of the thesis is to identify and characterize Japan's geopolitical imagination and attempt to determine if and how has this imagination been expressed in the country's security policy with regard to the maritime identity. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and the Irish Football Association (IFA) were founded in the 1880s and throughout the history have become more than mere sport organizations. Mainly because of the violent history of Northern Ireland during the Troubles, both associations became entrenched in the respective cultural memories of the two competing identities of Northern Ireland. The large-scale violence ended in 1998 with the signing of the Belfast Agreement that was meant to bring peace and inter-communal cooperation to the region. This paper analyses the development of the two associations after 1998 in the context of the theory of cultural memory created by Jan Assmann. It concludes that the IFA has changed profoundly since the end of the Troubles. It left its post in the unionist-protestant cultural identity and now represents part of the new Northern Irish identity which transcends the social division and is still in an early stage of development. The GAA, on the other hand, went the other way and decided to strengthen its position among nationalists and Catholics in spite of its anti-sectarian and anti-racist ethos and gestures. This difference stems mainly from different history and structure of both associations and the fear of the GAA of becoming marginalized by the British sports if it...

The thesis explores differences among values and traditions of various (christian and jewish) social services run by religious NGO and focuses on strategies how non-religous employees cope with their work in such organizations. The thesis is focused on two Christian organizations (Charita, Diakonie) and one jewish organization run by Jewish Community. The thesis describes a history of church social services and their present state, questions of interactions between individual and corporal identities, culture of organization, faith and influence of the group. The specific characteristics of organizations run by church are part of their culture and should be a part of the way they are being managed too. Besides describing strategies used by employees who do not belong to the church, the thesis also describes some recommendations for the management, which would be also benefitial for employees' support. The aim of the thesis is not to compare Christian and Jewish institutions, but to focus on their specifics, which influence workers from the outside. In the research part the thesis tries to map attitudes of these employees, their strategies of managing differences, which they meet while working for religious NGOs. Powered by TCPDF (www.tcpdf.org)

This thesis examines the relationship between Southern literature and socio-cultural realities of the Southern region of the United States of America. Analyzing works of five distinguished Southern writers, this thesis examines the reflection of specific Southern culture features in literature of the region in the period from the end of the American Civil War to the second half of the 20th century. The thesis oppose the opinion that the primary goal of Southern literature was to promote Southern identity and its cultural superiority above the North. The central hypothesis, that is being verified by this thesis, is that despite the indisputable contribution of highly recognized Southern writers to building of Southern identity, these authors expressed in their works also often sharp critiques of the social conditions in the South.

Mgr. Klára Soukupová Autobiography in the Context of the Positioning Theory Abstract This doctoral thesis is a theoretical and an interpretative study that deals with the genre of autobiography, its position in the contemporary literary theory and problems related to an interpretation of autobiographical texts. Autobiography as a genre of non-fictional literature refers to real characters and events, but at the same time it is a literary work of art, a verbal construct in which the representation of reality is subject to the intentions of the author and to the rules of construction, that are close to the compositional techniques of fictional texts. The first part of the thesis concentrates on the theory of autobiography and its interdisciplinary context. It summarizes the development of theory of autobiography from the late 19th century to the present. Also, the concepts of the memory studies (especially the concept of collective memory) and the problem of distinguishing fiction and non-fiction (discussed in philosophy of history in 1970s and 1980s, fictional worlds theory, pragmatics of fiction, etc.) are taken into account. The theoretical chapter critically reflects P. Lejeune's definition of autobiography, based on the concept of the autobiographical pact. In relation with the problem of how to define...

During World War II, seaports Brest, Lorient and Saint-Nazaire were heavily destroyed because of their strategic location on the Atlantic coastline. Those historical events could be considered as new opportunities for the seaports to realise new thoughts and ambitious architectural projects in order to improve the functionality of the urban organism. In these days, a new occasion has come. Military and industrial areas, which were always thoroughly separated from the town centres, have been now releasing from their original activity. There are huge free building sites in the middle of the cities, waiting for the urban architects.

My thesis titled Attributes of corporeality is a continuation of my thinking on the topic of identity. Now I approach identity as a category, not as an identity that belongs to a particular person. I consider the question of how is identity shaped in a postmodern, globalized world and how is it related to corporeality. My answer is based on the reality I know, on the current state of society. However, the intention of my work is above all to express my idea, which is rather a utopian scenario than anything else.

Despite the reducing number of active players football remains an important factor in social life of a village. A homeground itself is a distinctive place with its own folklore comparable to a historic village center. The design works with existing identities in the micro-region around the Litava River. New type of competition called The Litava League is created.