Thesis--Cologne. / Includes index. Bibliography of the author's works: p. 161-172. Bibliography: p. 172-188.

This study examines Okudzhava’s depiction of the process of documentalization of the past as a defining feature of the novel Puteshestvie diletantov, giving reason to consider it a form of metahistory, or an artistic statement on the subject of historical knowledge. The image of the document plays a central role in the novel Puteshestvie diletantov. Through it, Okudzhava depicts the process of knowing and (re)creating the past, as well as the process of its deformation, supplementation and modification. In the form of a document, the past finds existence in time and space, finds its author and addressee, and becomes submerged in a constantly changing context. Okudzhava does not contest the truth of the past, but rather problematizes it, immersing the reader in its real element – the narrative one, permeated by the creative will of the individual. Within this element, two juxtaposed narrative streams stand out clearly: the fictional and the documentary, each shaping the picture of the past in different ways. By thematicizing the issue of documents as evidence, Okudzhava at the same time thematicizes the influence of narrativity on the process of our recreation of past events, as well as on the course of these same events. The act of compiling a document and the act of narration appear in the novel as the driving force of the action and are treated by the author of Puteshestvie diletantov as a fully fledged manifestation of human will in History. In this way, the metafictionality of the novel (its thematicization and problematization of various narrative forms) becomes the key to its metahistoricality (the thematicization and problematization of knowledge of the past, the composition of History), inasmuch as History itself is represented here in the form of a narrative stream.

Bulat Shalvovich Okudzhava, the originator of the style of Russian bards, was the first to express his nation's disillusionment over the country's political system and government in a new and alternative way. / For this purpose, he used the direct impact of his poetry, a part of which he would sing for audiences, accompanied only by his guitar. This sort of communication between the writer and his interlocutors remained in sharp contrast with the means traditionally used by the official Soviet mass culture. The spreading of guitar poetry was impossible to control by authorities, since for popularization it used not only public gatherings, but also a new piece of technology at the time, tape recorders, a medium brilliantly used by Magnitizdat. / As opposed to Okudzhava's prose, the body of his poetry is largely understudied. One of the possible approaches to his poetic works may be that of classifying them according to their themes. / In the poetry of Bulat Okudzhava, several distinctive thematic categories can be distinguished. The themes that dominated the poet's creative years interpenetrate and overlap one another, as well as provide a reference for his secondary themes. / In the present thesis, the dominant themes will be analyzed from a biographical and historical angle. War will be the first major theme explored. This will be followed by a description of Okudzhava's works dealing with the cult of Stalin and the associated personal tragedy of the author, who witnessed the execution of his father and deportation of his mother. Subsequently, the themes of work, creator and creativity, poet and poetry, music and painting will be discussed. Other themes typical for Okudzhava are those of the city (especially Moscow), the street (especially the Arbat), nature, folklore, and Georgia. The body of the present thesis will conclude with the description of the basic thrusts of Okudzhava's ethics and philosophy, that are most clearly expressed in his "philosophical" verses (concerning belief, hope, love, destiny, women, friends, and man's inner world). / Since Okudzhava's poetry is heavily grounded in the historical context of the Stalin and post-Stalin era and is an alternative voice to what was imposed by official literature, it is natural and valuable to see it against the background of the Socialist Realist canon of Soviet state-controlled literary production.

No description available.

In the Soviet Union, literary writers were required to produce their work within the bounds of the cultural doctrine of Socialist realism or risk being subject to sanctions of the authorities. During the Khrushchev Thaw after the death of Joseph Stalin, there appeared the musical genre of avtorskaya pesnya (or author’s song), which was often described as part of the dissident movement in the Soviet Union. The genre nourished on as well as voiced criticism of Soviet life, and its performers, also called bards, became highly popular. The Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) was a common theme in Soviet literature, and also one of the main themes in avtorskaya pesnya. This study analyses the war theme in the songs of the three main bards of this genre – Bulat Okudzhava, Yuri Vizbor and Vladimir Vysotsky – in order to examine the genre’s relation to the norms of Socialist realism. These definitions compose the theoretical framework that is applied to the songs in interpretative readings to determine their relation to Socialist realism. The study analysed 21 songs with a war theme of Okudzhava, Vizbor and Vysotsky. Contrary to what might be expected, it is concluded that the war theme found in avtorskayapesnya generally conforms to the norms of the officially approved Soviet literature of war, but that the bards in some instances venture outside of the bounds of Socialist realism.

No description available.

The diploma thesis focuses on the translation of Jaromir Nohavica's work. The aim of the thesis is to define Nohavica's translation style on the basis of detailed translatological analysis of his translations of Bulat Okudzhava and Vladimir Vysotsky. At the same time, the translations of Milan Dvorak and Petr Kovarik are analysed. The analysis is extended by a brief analysis of a song score which works as a verification of a hypothesis whether the chosen translations are songful not only in Jaromir Nohavica's presentation. The theoretical part of the thesis is dedicated to Jaromir Nohavica's personality, particularities of lyrics translation, author song and their authors. Thanks to a complex approach, the diploma thesis describes a translation style of a significant representative of Czech culture which has not been so far individually introduced. Key words Jaromir Nohavica, translation style, translatological analysis, authorial song, Bulat Okud- zhava, Vladimir Vysotsky, lyrics translation, score