Diploma thesis "Change of the Soviet Union image in the protectorate press based on comparison of the media content from the turn of August/September 1939 and June/July 1941" deals with the manner in which the protectorate newspapers informed about the Ribbentop-Molotov Pact and later about the German invasion of the Soviet Union. The examples of these events and their reflection in the Protectorate press demonstrate how flexibly the protectorate propaganda responded to the current political line. For the purposes of the thesis, there have been selected three newspapers: Polední list, Večerní České Slovo and Venkov. These periodicals were examined in two time-bound periods, from 23rd August till 27th September 1939 and from 16th June till 14th July 1941. The methodology used is a historical comparative analysis, which discusses the transformation of Protectorate propaganda attitudes in the dependence on the historical context, and semiotic analysis, which deals with period media discourse and reveals ideology sustained on the level of sign systems.

This paper focuses on the comic layers in Eddic mythological poetry, namely in Lokasenna, Hárbarðsljóð and Ϸrymskviða, and on their relation to the Old Norse religion. In the past, these comic and seemingly blasphemic poems used to be interpreted as a display of criticism of the religious system or, due to the impossibility to date their origin, as a product of late decadent paganism or even as a Christian satire of this religion. This paper shows that such interpretations are not necessary, and that the comic Eddic poems could have existed as a functional part of the Old Norse religion. It points out the affinity of the categories of religious humour and chaos. Subsequently, it presents various theories, mostly from the field of anthropology of religion, which show that a temporarily confrontation of order with chaos can be a desirable practise for a religion, and that humour can serve as a suitable means to achieve such a confrontation. The second part of the paper focuses on the particular Eddic poems. It analyses in detail their comic layers, and examines the possibilities of their function within the Old Norse religion on the background of the notion of piety and blasphemy in their time. It demonstrates their link to the tradition of ritualized verbal duels and other socio-cultural phenomena,...

The aim of this thesis is to compare similar cosmogonic narratives in Indian and Chinese culture. The most important elements are the motives of the egg and the giant/god who is formed from it. Comparative method consist of the comparison of the meanings and interpretations of the motives of these two elements, depending on the expectations and character of the source of this mythological narrative. Final findings are, that the importance of both motives in the texts and their participation in the process of creation of the world change chronologically, due to changes in religious, philosophical and social preferences. In Indian cultural environment in the begining, the vague motive of the egg slowly emerges and becomes a single creative element, gaining importance and continues to the stage where it reaches the same level of importance as the cosmic being. The primordial being on the other hand, loses its function of cosmic matter and passes it to the egg. The being itself then plays an active role rather than an object. China, for its religious scepticism suppressed motive of the egg until it was completely removed from texts. The primary role is played by the cosmic giant whose role is not focused on the creation of the world itself but the desintegration of the giants body, representing fission...

The first part of this master thesis is focused on the personality of Lorenzo deʼ Medici and his inclusion in the period and cultural contexts. The literary background of Italy in the 15th century is introduced, as well as the Lorenzo's life, the summary of his literary output and his contribution as a patron of the Florentine culture and arts. The second part analyzes four of the Lorenzoʼs works related to mythological themes going back until the ancient writers. Lorenzoʼs evident influence by these authors is illustrated with the specific quotations but at the same time his own innovations in texts and stories are referred to. The conclusion compares an extend of this influence on him and the contribution of his own invention to the particular works. It points out the uniqueness of the personality of Lorenzo deʼ Medici both in the cultural and literary spheres as well.

This thesis deals with the evolution of vampire as a literary character in contemporary production for young adults. Its aim is not to describe all existing works but to cover only the most interesting representations of a vampire in various epochs. The thesis describes the most influential works building the literary stereotype of a vampire and proposes an evolution line. The crucial works in this genre are: Vampire, Carmilla, Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Twilight, House of Night, Vampire Academy and Vampire Boardingschool. Based on them we create a typology according to the appearance, character and narrative role of a vampire. The thesis begins with an anthropological introduction, especially with the origin of the vampires in Easteuropean folk tradition. Farther more we deal with most common genres used to enrich the vampire literature and theory of a literary character as a narrative category. The analysis covers the evolution of a vampire character from its naturalistic appearance to its very civilized pole in the contemporary young adults fiction. We close with the chapter describing the character of a vampire as a literary symbol.

Jiří Dynda Byliny of bogatyr Svyatogor: Structural and Comparative Analysis of Narrative (MA Thesis) Abstract This thesis is an analysis and interpretation of the thirty seven textual variants of the byliny of bogatyr Svyatogor. After the general introduction to the Russian folk epics and after the presentation of issues concerning the study of oral epic literature, author's own structural concept of myth and cultural representations is presented. In the central part the thesis attempts to apply these principles to the narrative of the byliny of Svyatogor and by means of a thorough analysis it indicates, which motives and their relations were fundamental for this narrative to make sense in the local context of bylinaic tradition. The thesis claims that these narratives primarily deal with the themes of the initiation of a young hero, the generation conflict and the transmission of a mentor's position to his apprentice (or, metaphorically, a father's position to his son). This hypothesis is subsequently tested via a two phased comparative analysis of the central motives and their clusters: Firstly, the comparison is made in the context of the bylinaic traditions per se and in the context of the ethnographic situation at the Russian North (internal comparison), and secondly, in the wider scope of the Eurasian...

Main focus of my Master's Thesis is to conduct a research of mythological elements and themes that appear within the narrative structure of selected episodes of BBC television series Doctor Who, deriving from the initial hypothesis that such mythological patterns are still recurring and repeating even in the structure of stories produced by modern show-business industries, which renders their content intrinsically more attractive for any audience. We analyse selected episodes from both arks of the Doctor Who's story individually - the old one, which began in the sixties, and the new one, which is considered to be a reboot of the original series and aired in 2005. The originally intended educative element of the series and its sudden disappearance is also a part of our research. Main analysis of our paper consists of a semiotic analysis of the text of the television series utilizing the point of view of the critical reader that was introduced by Umberto Eco, and deriving from the definition of modern myth that appears in works of Roland Barthes, archaic myth, studied for example by Carl Lévi- Strauss, and Jungian archetypes.

Résumé The dissertation called The Tarahumara Worldview is the attempt to indicate and clear up the relationship between the language and the culture. The work follows from the mytical arrangement of the Tarahumara natural world living in the Northwestern of Mexico from the description and analyses of some language elements and searching for its language features in the culture. The author puts a few questions: what is position of myth in the worldview - in case there is some?; what is the relation of the Tarahumara language and culture?; does exist any possibility to outcome of the relation of two parts of one culture as it is myth system and language system into thing what the anthropology consider as the worldview?, does myths and language could show in any way a setting of Tarahumara native world setting, their way of thinking?; does the myth shows the base for the cultural creation and how?; even if the question is dificult becouse of the European culture influences we are trying to ask for the origin of Tarahumara culture in the myth - what is the role of the myth and what is the role of the language in Tarahumara worldview. Basicaly I ask for the relation between language and myth in culture environment: where is the edge of this relation, is this relaiton important or it has marginal impact and it...

VELES SLAVIC DEITY IN COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE Bc. Michaela Šebetovská ABSTRACT The thesis deals with Slavic god Veles. The emphasis is put on primary textual sources about him. With regard to their fragmentary nature, there is a need to make use of comparative material. Informations about other Indo-European gods and beings from Slavic folklore similar to Veles are used as well. The purpose is not only to understand isolated functions, but also connections between them. This seems as the best way how to gain the idea of the whole character of Veles as the Slavs before Christianity could see it.

The thesis entitled Comparative Semiotic Analysis of Czech and Korean version of Elle Magazine Advertisings deals with the comparison of advertisings in the Czech and South Korean versions of global lifestyle magazine ELLE in terms of semiotic analysis. The thesis is structured in classical terms with theoretical starting points representing three key areas needed for analysis. The first part deals with the concept of the media, media product and its content. It also provides information about the ELLE magazine and its internationalization with special emphasis on South Korean cultural specificities. Also it cannot be forgotten the chapter devoted to the theory of socail construction of reality based on the work of Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann. The second part is key because it brings knowledge about the semiotics and the main representatives of the field. The thesis thus represents Charles Sanders Peirce, Ferdinand de Saussure and especially the mythology of Roland Barthes. The last theoretical part looked at the essence of marketing communication and advertising and the use of celebrities in advertising campaigns. The analysis part as based on the theoretical basis focuses on the semiotic analysis of advertisements targeting the Czech and South Korean markets, with almost 470 campaigns in the...