This work deals with the most famous novel, the Suffering of Prince Sternenhoch, of one of the most controversial Czech authors of first half of 20th century, Ladislav Klima, namely in terms of Klíma's philosophical approach to his literary work and life in general. We derived from the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, whose ideas inspired Klima in many ways. We are comparing the story of love and hate to the theater (David Jařab - first performance at the Divadlo Komedie, Praha 2007) and film (Jan Němec - In the Heat of the Royal Love 1990) adaptation and we are trying to find traces of his doctrine of solipsism and egodeism there, especially in style, composition and main characters. Greater focus was put on the character of Helga, because she represents the most of Klíma's philosophical views. Necessarily, we have touched on the question of will, authority, and the afterlife. Keywords: F. Nietzsche, higher / lower people, solipsism, egodeism, ludibrionism, afterlife, hallucinations, femme fatale

De légendaires, les grandes figures féminines des mythes anciens sont devenues, au fil du XIXe siècle, emblématiques. Le mouvement s’amplifie vers la fin du siècle et l’imaginaire « féminin » se nourrit alors d’un discours social qui contribue à construire la féminité en termes de menace et de dépravation. Les figures mythiques prêteront leurs traits à celle de la femme fatale, devenue le symbole de la dégénérescence de la société française. Engrangeant dans son corps représenté tous les vices du siècle, la figure féminine nous est apparue éminemment révélatrice quant à la compréhension d’une époque. Or, la figure de la femme fatale s’avère fondamentalement ambivalente et Lilith, pouvant à la fois incarner l’amour et la destruction, affiche ce double visage de la féminité. Nous démontrons qu’il existe une relation étroite entre la profonde ambivalence du mythe de Lilith et les représentations de la femme fatale et pour ce faire, procédons à une analyse comparative de l’œuvre de Rachilde et Octave Mirbeau qui, dans La Jongleuse et Le Jardin des supplices, réécrivent le mythe de Lilith. De la comparaison des deux Lilith, ressortent deux représentations extrêmement contrastées de la femme fatale : alors que Rachilde dresse toute droite son héroïne dans son désir ascensionnel, Mirbeau construit une Clara toute en mollesse et assoiffée de chair. Par l’analyse des rapports qui s’articulent entre deux écritures, nous démontrons que la dualité inhérente au mythe de Lilith répond à l’instabilité d’une société aux prises avec de multiples angoisses en matière d’identité sexuelle. Cette comparaison nous amène aussi à nous interroger quant aux traces d’une certaine sexuation dans la voix littéraire. / Over the course of the nineteenth century the legendary female figures of ancient myth had become emblematic of the female sex. This association grew stronger toward the end of the century and the “feminine imaginary” fed itself on a social discourse that contributed to the construction of femininity in terms of menace and depravity. The mythical figures that lent their faces to representations of the femme fatale became symbols of the degeneration of French society. With all of the vices of the century gathered into her body, this female figure appears to us as eminently revealing as to the understanding of an era. However, the figure of the femme fatale is fundamentally ambivalent, and the mythical figure of Lilith, which can embody love as well as destruction, represents the two opposing aspects of nineteenth century representations of femininity. This study shows that there is a direct relationship between the profound ambivalence that characterizes the myth of Lilith and representations of the femme fatale. To this end, we undertake a comparative analysis of the works of Rachilde and Octave Mirbeau, who rewrite the myth of Lilith in The Juggler and The Torture Garden. Two extremely contrasting representations emerge from the comparison between the two “Liliths”: as Rachilde portrays her upstanding heroine’s desire to transcend her body, Mirbeau constructs his Clara as soft and mired in the body, thirsty for carnal pleasure. By examining the relationships that become apparent between these works, we demonstrate that the duality inherent in the myth of Lilith responds to the instability of a society grappling with multiple anxieties regarding sexual identity. This comparison, therefore, allows us to interrogate the traces of a specific mode of sexuation in the literary voice.

This thesis examines the novels Die Entdeckung der Currywurst, written by the German author Uwe Timm in 1993 and Der Vorleser, written by the German author Bernhard Schlink in 1995. In each story the main protagonist is a woman. Incorporating the ideas of the feminist movement, the thesis focuses on the notion that the literary role of women does not coincide with realistic representations of women rather it derives from traditionally stereotypical images of a femme fatale or a femme fragile. The goal is to analyse the depiction of women as literary protagonists in both novels. Do they truly comply with the traditional images of feminism or are there certain traits that deviate?

Fairy tales are usually described as short narratives that end with happily-ever-afters, imposing patriarchal ideologies. The Grimm’s fairy tales serve as the foundation of many other stories which promote stereotypes like woman passiveness, submissive beauty, while men are put on a pedestal for being active and violent at the same time. Angela Carter’s collection The Bloody Chamber depicts patriarchal oppression in classic fairy tales by challenging what can be identified as patriarchal binary oppositions with a strategic subversion of gender roles. Through problematizing and critiquing the patriarchal fairy tales, Carter’s texts can be read through the lens of écriture féminine. Following Hélène Cixous’s notion of écriture féminine, outlined in “The Laugh of the Medusa”, this essay explores how Carter’s  “The Lady of the House of Love'' can be read as a narrative that has strong echoes of the kind of female writing Cixous advocates. Moreover, this essay argues that  “The Lady of the House of Love” contradicts the Western myth of femininity by resisting, exploring, even undermining the patriarchal representation of woman as “heroine”-the fairy tale princess who needs a man to save her -and “femme fatale.”

In this study I have compared the two movies Blade Runner: The Final Cut (2006) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017) in regards to their visual identity and female representation. The first of these films is the latest version of Blade Runner, a movie which have undergone an unusual amount of editing and therefore exists in multiple iterations. The latter of the two is a direct sequel, released 35 years after the original version of Blade Runner. I have done a thorough account of the respective plot, visual characteristics and of how the women are portrayed whitin each film. Due to a comparison of these I have been able to outline some interesting themes in regards to how both films incoporate themes of commersialisation of the female form, although in varying degrees. This is sometime undermined by the films problematic portrayal of some of these characters. I have also been able to observe a shift in regards to how the films portray a futuristic Los Angeles. Rather than mixing noir-inspired, believable locales with elements typical of science fiction, Blade Runner 2049 portrays the future as more coherent and stylistic. Some scenes in Blade Runner 2049 consists of only a few tones of a single colour, such as blue, grey and orange, a stylistic choice Blade Runner: The Final Cut does not use.

Alone in a Crowd: Charles Baudelaire and 20th-Century and Contemporary Art The dissertation called Alone in a Crowd explores the influence of the poet Charles Baudelaire's personality and work on 20th-century and contemporary art. Due to the field of study, the main focus is on the visual arts, but literature, music, philosophy, and film are also included to a large extent. This dissertation is divided into four substantive chapters. The first chapter, The Inner Message, introduces the poet's life, his family and acquaintances, as well as Baudelaire's poetry collection The Flowers of Evil. Themes of evil, ugliness, fear, death, and even a relationship to their mother, father and women are common for 20th-century and contemporary artists. This chapter presents Félicien Rops, James Ensor, Edvard Munch, Hans Bellmer, Francis Bacon, Joel-Peter Witkin, Kurt Cobain, members of the Young British Artists group, Lars von Trier, and others. The second chapter pursues the correspondence theory. The character of the Swedish philosopher Emanuel Swedenborg and his successor, William Blake, is followed by Baudelaire's understanding of sensual and spiritual correspondences, as his principles are adopted by modern artists in a distinct manner. The third chapter called "On the Edge of Society" covers the curse...

La forme humaine de la racine de la mandragore est sans doute à l’origine de la fascination que cette plante exerce depuis des millénaires. On lui attribue des qualités surnaturelles : entre autres, elle rendrait son propriétaire infiniment riche. Les détails lugubres se rapportant au mythe de la mandragore font d’elle un thème de prédilection pour la littérature fantastique. Le but de ce travail est d’analyser la légende de la mandragore dans trois œuvres de la littérature fantastique allemande (Isabelle d’Égypte (1812) d’Achim von Arnim, Petit Zacharie surnommé Cinabre (1819) d’E.T.A. Hoffmann et Mandragore (1911) de Hanns Heinz Ewers), dans lesquelles ce motif est combiné avec un thème aussi très prisé du genre fantastique : l’homme artificiel. Dans une perspective intertextuelle, j’analyserai comment chaque auteur s’approprie le mythe de la mandragore et représente le personnage-mandragore. Je me concentrerai ensuite sur les nouvelles qualités créées par son statut de créature artificielle et sur la relation de cette dernière avec son créateur. Puis, j’examinerai le rôle du personnage-mandragore dans chacune des œuvres dans son contexte historique. Ainsi, je montrerai que les personnages-mandragores possèdent bel et bien des caractéristiques qui se réfèrent à la légende de la mandragore, mais que leur nature de créature artificielle leur fait endosser dans leur récit un rôle d’antagoniste qui s’apparente à celui du trickster. Finalement, j’expliquerai comment les auteurs utilisent le motif de la mandragore et la littérature fantastique pour dénoncer la corruption, critiquer les partisans des Lumières et créer une atmosphère de décadence qui justifie l’utilisation du thème de la femme fatale. / The fascination with the mandrake for thousands of years originates, without a doubt, from the human form of the plant root. Many supernatural qualities are linked to the mandrake. It is believed, among other things, to be able to make its owner rich. The gloomy details surrounding the mandrake myth make it a theme of predilection for fantastic literature. The aim of this thesis is to analyse the legend of the mandrake in three works of German fantastic literature — Achim von Arnim’s Isabella of Egypt (1812), E.T.A. Hoffmann’s Little Zaches, Surnamed Zinnober (1819) and Hanns Heinz Ewers’ Alraune (1911). These authors also combine the mandrake motif with another theme, much appreciated by the fantastic genre: the artificial man. In an intertextual perspective, I will examine how each author adapts the mandrake myth and represents his mandrake character. Then, I will analyze the new qualities created by their artificial creature status and the relationship of the character with its creator. Finally, I will bring to light the role of the mandrake character in each work in regards to the historical context. It will be proven that the mandrake characters do own qualities that refer to the mandrake mythos, but that their nature as artificial creatures puts them, in their story, in the antagonist role that is similar to the trickster’s one. In the end, I will explain how the authors use the mandrake motif and the fantastic literature to respectively denounce corruption, criticize the Enlightenment advocates and create a decadent atmosphere that justifies the use of the femme fatale theme. / Die menschliche Form der Alraunenwurzel verursachte eine seit Jahrtausenden von dieser Pflanze ausgehende Faszination. Übernatürliche Eigenschaften werden mit ihr verbunden: Sie würde unter anderem ihren Besitzer sehr reich machen. Die unheimlichen Einzelheiten, die mit der Alraune assoziiert werden, machen es zu einem beliebten Thema der phantastischen Literatur. Das Ziel dieser Arbeit ist, die Alraunensage in drei Werken der deutschen phantastischen Literatur zu analysieren: Isabella von Ägypten (1812) von Achim von Arnim, Klein Zaches genannt Zinnober (1819) von E.T.A. Hoffmann und Alraune (1911) von Hanns Heinz Ewers, die dieses Motiv mit einem anderen sehr beliebten Thema des Phantastischen in Zusammenhang bringen: dem künstlichen Menschen. In einer intertextuellen Hinsicht analysiere ich, wie sich jeder Autor den Alraunenmythos zu eigen macht und seine Alraunenfigur darstellt. Ich untersuche außerdem die neuen Vorzüge, die ihre Natur künstlichen Menschen schaffen, und das Verhältnis der Alraunenfigur zu ihrem Schöpfer. Schließlich konzentriere ich mich auf ihre Rolle im geschichtlichen Kontext. Es wird dann gezeigt, dass die Alraunenfiguren tatsächlich Eigenschaften haben, die sich auf die Alraunensage beziehen. Zudem stellen sie wegen ihrer Erscheinung als künstliches Geschöpf einen Antagonisten, der dem Trickster ähnlich ist, in der Erzählung dar. Schließlich erkläre ich, wie die Autoren das Alraunenmotiv durch die phantastische Literatur verwenden, um die Korruption anzuprangern, die aufgeklärten Menschen zu kritisieren und eine dekadente Stimmung zu kreieren, die die Verwendung des Themas der femme fatale rechtfertigt.

This study explores the construction of the Gothic female body in three films by the director Tim Burton, specifically Batman Returns (1992), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Dark Shadows (2012). Through a deployment of Julia Kristeva’s theory of abjection, the intention is to indicate the degree to which Burton crafts his leading female characters as abject Others and embodiments of Barbara Creed’s ‘monstrous-feminine’. In this Gothic portrayal, the director consistently draws on the essentialised stereotypes of Woman as either ‘virgin’ or ‘whore’ as he shapes his Gothic heroines and femmes fatales. While a gendered duality is established, this is destabilised to an extent, as Burton permits his female characters varying degrees of agency as they acquire monstrous traits. This construction of Woman as monster, this study will show, is founded on a certain fear of femaleness, so reinstating the ideology of Woman as Other. / English Studies / M.A. (English Studies)

Pin-up images have played an important role in American culture, in both their illustrated and photographic configurations. The pin-up is viewed as a significant representational cultural artifact of idealistic and aspirational femininity and of consumerism and material wealth, especially reflective of the mid-twentieth century period in America spanning the 1930s to the 1960s. These images not only reflect great shifts in social mores and women’s social status, but also affected changes in both areas in turn. Furthermore, pin-up images internationally circulated in magazines, advertising and promotional material, contributed to the manner in which America was idealized in Europe and beyond. Crucially, they influenced how an eroticized and glamorous, yet unrealistic, example of femininity came to be generalized as a desirous model of femininity. In recent years there has been vital, though limited, scholarly research into the cultural and social impact of pin-up imagery, to which this thesis adds to. This thesis takes a genealogical approach, charting the development of popular female-centric “pin-up” imagery in America since the 1860s and up to the 1960s, and its resurgence since the 1980s onwards. In doing so this thesis aims to provide a social, political and cultural context to the emergence of a specific archetypal sexualized femininity, with the aim of challenging the tendency to dismiss sexualized imagery as “anti-feminist” or as trivial. Toward that end, I examine the complexity of intentions behind the production of “pin-up” images. In taking this revisionist approach I am better able to conclusively analyze the reasons for the resurgence and reappropriation of pin-up imagery in late-twentieth- and early-twenty-first-century popular culture, and consider what the gendered cultural implications may be.

In Günter Grass's Danzig Trilogy and novella, Im Krebsgang, an antagonistic female type makes a repeated appearance. She appears in the guise of Susi Kater and Luzie Rennwand in Die Blechtrommel, and as Tulla Pokriefke in the other works, Katz und Maus, Hundejahre, and Im Krebsgang. This antagonistic female type is not like other women in these works. A review of Le Deuxième Sexe by feminist Simone de Beauvoir reveals several crucial components contributing to woman's position in society. Most essentially, a woman's natural attributes and (dis)abilities and the conventions of society have enforced her historical submission to man. This thesis analyzes how the antagonistic female type, or villain, compares and contrasts with other female figures in these works by Grass, according to a paradigm derived from Beauvoir's description of woman. From this analysis, a better understanding of the female villain's nature emerges. Indeed, such a comparison demonstrates that certain female figures in the works of Grass transcend their historically oppressed or subdued status by refusing to submit to those natural handicaps and societal restrictions identified by Beauvoir, and thus become a threat to man's status or security as an antagonistic female type, or villain. However, the villain figure is not always inherently evil, but possesses the capacity to change. The villain and victim can reconcile their differences and may even form a friendly relationship. This evolving villain-victim duality becomes most clear in Grass's work, Im Krebsgang, and suggests the possibility of assuaging contemporary conflicts as educators sympathize with the experiences of both extremist groups and victimized parties and help them come to terms with their differences.