This bipartite thesis presents and implements an intermedial model for co-reading poems and photographs in paper books, a genre I call photo poetry. A survey of the genre in Sweden was carried out and presented in a selected bibliography in my licentiate thesis. Two well-established poets, Katarina Frostenson and Rut Hillarp, made their debut in the genre in the 1980s and have since produced three books each. Frostenson cooperates with photographer Jean Claude Arnault and Hillarp created the poems as well as the pictures herself. Scholarly studies up to now have focused on the poems, however, and have therefore neglected the impact of the photographic pictures. The first part of the thesis elaborates a model based on the framework of the picture book and adapted to the text genre of poetry and the epistemology of the photographic picture. Two different narrative reading strategies are developed and applied to the material: the metonymical and the metaphorical linking. The metonymical linking implies that the diegesis on the spread is perceived to be part of a larger diegesis and that that diegesis has direct virtual contact with the diegesis on the next spread. The metaphorical linking implies that the diegesis on the single spread is perceived to be part of a larger diegesis, but that that diegesis has no direct virtual spatial contact with the next spread. Whether or not a diegesis is perceived to have direct virtual spatial contact with spreads depends on the story’s display of the contingency of characters, time and place. The model is based on the relations tied to the book’s construction: the schematic, the synchronic and the diachronic relation. The schematic relation concerns meaning created on all spreads, the synchronic relation meaning on a single spread, and the diachronic relation meanings on spreads in a row. The schematic and the diachronic may appear to overlap somewhat but in the schematic relation the focus is on tracing different story schemes, and in the diachronic relation the focus is on how the narration progresses and alternates between different schemes. The findings show that with the co-reading model the impact of the photographs gives a deeper understanding of not only the narrative interplay of word and image but also of semiotic, intermedial and intertextual connections. The reading strategies applied show that Frostenson’s and Arnault’s works gain from a metonymically linked interpretation whereas Hillarp’s mainly gain from a metaphorically linked interpretation. The study also discusses the impact of the photographic picture and connects it to the semiotic theory of C. S. Peirce as well as to Western picture practices.

This thesis investigates how Old English poets understood the processes of signification and interpretation through analysis of depictions of poor interpreters and the use of 'sign terms' such as tacen and beacen in the longer Old English poems. The first chapter deals with the Beowulf Manuscript, the second and third chapters consider Elene and Andreas within the network of related poems found in the Vercelli Book and the begin- ning of the Exeter Book, the fourth chapter is on the Junius Manuscript, and the conclusion looks at the use of the 'bright sign' motif across all four major poetic codices. I suggest that there is a 'heroic sign-bearing interpreter' character-type which several of the poems utilize or ironically invert, and that poor interpretation is nearly always asso- ciated with hesitation, which often resembles acedia. I also argue that there is greater nuance in the poems' depictions of modes of understanding than has previously been acknowledged: Eve in Genesis B does not stand for the senses which subvert the mind, but rather models the limits of rational thought as a means of understanding God, and Elene does not depict a simple opposition of letter and spirit, but a threefold mental pro- cess of learning about the Cross with analogues in exegesis and Augustine's Trinity of the Soul. Finally, I argue that there is a 'bright sign' motif which functions within a brightness-sign-covenant concept cluster, whose evocation as a traditional poetic unit is not identical to the denotation and connotation of its constituent parts. These strands of inquiry taken together demonstrate how Old English poems invest signs with significance by tapping into a specifically poetic network of allusion.

Nobel Prize in Literature laureate Gao Xingjian is well known especially as an author of drama and novels Soul Mountain and One Man's Bible. This thesis examines his early novellas and short stories that were created at the end of the 70s and in the 80s. An analysis of meaning contruction is focused primarily on motifs and narrative techniques. It explores the process of his literary creation in context of official ideological requirements on literature as well as in context of literature genres known as "scar literature", "literature of reflection" and "root seeking" literature. This thesis shows how Gao Xingjian is trying to create a unique and individual worldview of his characters.

The thesis deals with early short stories and novellas by Chinese woman writer Can Xue. The first part of the thesis presents the work of Can Xue in the context of author's life and focuses on finding motifs associated with her life experiences. The second part outlines historical development of Chinese literature in the 80s of the 20th century, observes position of Can Xue in the "avant-garde literature", and describes the writers literary sources of inspiration and authors own view on literary-historical context of her works. The third part is based on the analysis of specific stories. In the context of what other critics have discussed the thesis determines two main approaches to the interpretation of Can Xues work - the political and the psychological. The thesis concludes that there is a significant element of personal experience in Can Xues works. It should not, however, be considered a dominant element, as it mainly serves as means of examining general aspects of human psyche. The introspective nature of Can Xues works is also the key reason why this thesis puts the psychological interpretation of her works above the political interpretation.

This diploma thesis aims to study the protocol literature which originated mainly in the former German Democratic Republic. The protocol literature of the Federal Republic of Germany is mentioned only briefly. In connection with the protocol literature, it is vital to firstly deal with the ambiguity and nonuniformity of the term Protokoll-Literatur. It is also necessary to clarify the term Frauenliteratur and Männerliteratur. The main objective of the theoretical part is to set the protocol literature into its historical and cultural context, to characterise protocol literature - its features, mainly the authenticity and subjectivity of this type of literature. The important task of this thesis is to manage the classification of the protocol literature into a literary genre and answer the question whether the protocol literature can be regarded as an independent literary genre. Furthermore, the topics occurring in the protocol literature are presented. Each topic is accompanied with a list of literary works, which are briefly introduced. The second part of the thesis offers an interpretation of three selected works of the so called Männerliteratur. The inner and outer composition of each work is further analysed, attention is paid to the narrative perspective, to the titles of the works, as well as...

Resumé The diploma thesis represents a complex teaching method which is especially suitable for educating of students in their first year at secondary schools, or in the last year at lower secondary schools. This method introduces students to the basics of the secondary school literary education and to the "summary" characteristics of a literary work. The aim of the method is to guide students by means of the method of experiential pedagogy to acquire the whole complex of knowledge and skills in the field of interpretation and analysis which is required for the State part of school-leaving examinations. The method also aims to create and strengthen mutual relationships inside teams of students and the ability of students to cooperate more closely. The method is built up on four starting points: the constructivism, the creation or creativity, the comparison, and dramatic texts with drama education. We have chosen dramatic texts because, from the point of view of literary-theoretical analysis, they contain all the basic categories of "syuzhet" genres; all, apart from narration and narrators. In addition, and in contrast to epics, the interpretation of drama becomes a greater challenge due to the "gaps" which must be filled by the reader. In the method, we meaningfully connect the analysis and interpretation...