The thesis deals with Czech art of the 1980s and with the way it was at its own time reflected in relation to the concept of postmodernism. As a widely discussed topic postmodernism enters Czech art scene in the middle of the 80s. At that time key texts were written (primarily by Jana and Jiří Ševčíks and Ludvík Hlaváček) and first unofficial exhibitions of students of Prague art academies known as Confrontations took place. "New painting" or "new art" was interpreted and perceived as an expression or manifestation of the ethical, political and life attitudes of the "postmodern generation". In this context generational theatrical, musical and performative activities were of particular importance (theatre ensembles of Pražská pětka, musical performances of Vladimír Skrepl and Martin John at the openings of their exhibitions, Vaclav Stratil's, Margita Titlova Ylovsky's and Vladimír Merta's band Apage Satanas and others). The thesis discuses some shared attributes of postmodern "mood" and in this broad framework interprets work of some particular artists (Martin John, Vladimír Skrepl, František Skála, Martin Mainer, Jiří Kovanda, Margita Titlová Ylovsky, Jiří Surůvka and others).

The desintegration of the USSR, the resulting release of censorship, and the related publication of earlier prohibited texts, as well as the new charakter of the book market entirely tranformed the shape of the literary field of the nineties. This thesis concerns itself with a specific segment of the professional literary production of this period. With its topic, this work aspires to contribute to the serious research of the little explored postcommunist period in the Russian literature. In order to assess and interpret the evolution of opininions in this period of time, the chosen method is the one of commented overview of literary criticism and of literary-theoretical texts published mainly between 1986 and 2000 in Russian publications (mostly in so-called "thick magazines"). The thesis focuses on studies interested in the work of the middle and younger generation of the Russian prose writers, and more precisely on studies concerning the structural aspects of the literary situation in the nineties. On the background of the specific cultural and social situation, the method of the ample commentary is an appropriate way regarding how to interpret the literary theorists' basis of thoughts and opinions, and at the same time how to affect these experts' relationship to the new tendencies in the...

The thesis aims to explore the artistic personality of Hunter S. Thompson, one of the most distinctive cultural figures of post-war America, and his genesis as an author, journalist, and a counterculture idol of the 1960s. The era is now widely regarded as a turning point in contemporary American history as its deep-rooted values and norms were, over the course of a decade, gradually transformed by the young generation of social and political activists toward allegedly a more tolerant and liberal kind of community. Crucial in such an endeavor was the role of the countercultural movement that produced some of the most capable intellectual minds of the time, including Thompson. The paper thus analyzes the role and nature of the alternative culture in America as perceived by one of its most observant participants. Also, the thesis focuses on the author's role in establishing a new genre called New Journalism which can be linked with the era's countercultural efforts as well. In general, Thompson, in his texts, examines various phenomena surrounding the counterculture and provides us with a distinctive portrayal of the era's zeitgeist. However, unlike some of his contemporaries, he also remembers to examine numerous flaws and fallacies existing within contemporary American society, the American Dream...

This thesis focuses on the work of two contemporary authors, Ali Smith and Jeanette Winterson, and their treatment of the concepts of history and gender in their fiction. I argue that, by openly speculating about the nature of time and history, and by making their readers think about the origin of these notions, Smith and Winterson uncover the seemingly stable but, in actuality, very fragile roots of the 'truths' we take for granted. They explore the potentiality of the past, which, in turn opens up the present and the future. To support my argument, I turned to Hayden White and his theory of historiography and Paul Ricoeur's philosophy of time and history. The latter part of the thesis deals with gender, as well as biological sex and sexual orientation, and the way in which Smith and Winterson's texts put into practice Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity, and work towards the subversion of gender norms as well as the destabilisation of heteronormativity. Both parts of the thesis are closely connected; history serves to keep the laws that define gender, sex and sexuality intact, and, in turn, these laws are often adhered to solely by the virtue of their historicity. What is more, myth and language are equally exposed to be supporting these norms. The aim of this thesis is to...

The thesis, entitled "The Avant-Postman: James Joyce, the Avant-Garde and Postmodernism," attempts to construct a post-Joycean literary genealogy centred around the notions of a Joycean avant-garde and literary experimentation written in its wake. It considers the last two works by Joyce, Ulysses and Finnegans Wake, as points of departure for the post-war literary avant-gardes in Great Britain, the USA, and France, in a period generally called "postmodern." The introduction bases the notion of a Joycean avant-garde upon Joyce's sustained exploration of the materiality of language and upon the appropriation of his last work, his "Work in Progress," for the cause of the "Revolution of the word" conducted by Eugene Jolas in his transition magazine. The Joycean exploration of the materiality of language is considered as comprising three stimuli: the conception of writing as concrete trace, susceptible to distortion or effacement; the understanding of literary language as a forgery of the words of others; and the project of creating a personal idiom as an "autonomous" language for a truly modern literature. The material is divided into eight chapters, two for Great Britain (from Johnson via Brooke-Rose to Sinclair), two for the U.S. (from Burroughs and Gass to Acker and Sorrentino) and three for France...

The main focus of this master?s thesis is to bring forward and describe the scope of options of how, with the help of fine arts and implementation of experiential pedagogy, young people are creatively aided in processing and grasping variety of topics of the motivational educational program VYTAX, that has as its primary goal to stimulate youth to active involvement in the church. In the theoretical section of this work, the author has attempted to explain the terms relevant to the program itself as they relate to the church and subsequently to clarify the basic ideological direction of the given program in the context of today?s postmodern era. The author places emphasis not only on the program and techniques, but most of all on the pivotal value and impact of quality pedagogical leadership of given collective of young people. In the practical section, the author proposes concrete treatment of 10 topics of the VYTAX program. The scope of topics regarded range from themes of personal spirituality to subjects that not only apply to integration to the church community, but also describe the course of implementation of motivational appeals that will lead participants to an active, creative integration into the church family.

This thesis deals with the analysis of two novels by Juan José Millás (El desorden de tu nombre and La soledad era esto), in which it concentrates on the characters in difficult life situations and their feeling of loneliness. The first part of work examines Spanish postmodern literature after 1975 and its characteristics which can be found in the work of Millás. The second and principal part is dedicated both to the typology of characters and also to the topic of loneliness, its cause and outcome. The aim of this work is an attempt to define main events which have influence on the evolution and current condition of the characters that these have in common or, on the contrary, different. There will be also taken into consideration whether the protagonist is a man or a woman. The work will be also focused on protagonists' characters, their inner world, existential questions which the persons ask themselves and their search of lost identity.

Theoretical part is focused on the philosophical and historical solutions which led to poststtructural and feministic approach to the gender identity. The art reflexive part seeks the visual parallel to above mentioned approach in art, respectively in the art depicting mother identity. Didactic part of the work provides possible option on how to get the gender identity theme over to the high school students. The work itself is a personal reflection of the maternity corporality topic.

The goal of this paper is to explore a visuality of sweetness. It is social construct with a sentimental meaning and it is used by marketing communication. We suppose that our phenomena is not build up on connotation such as a taste of sensation how it could be asssumed. It is build by a sentimental meaning. For a verification we establish conditions which have to be proved by a representation to be labeled as the visuality of sweetness. The selected phenomena is close to Barthes's theory of myth as a secondary semiotic system. That is the reason why we need to address this dilemma. The background of an origin of the sweetness visualitation could help us understand Hackley's critical view on prism of social constructivism. Both theories could not be complete in a measure of marketing communication and a whole concept of sweetness visualisation is completed in Kress's multimodality theory. The part of the paper is empirical semiotic material which helps us to demonstrate a scale of a use of sweetness visualisation from a binary oppossition to a complete use of visual sweetness in marketing communication.

This thesis is concerned with an analysis of how David Foster Wallace's treatment of technology defines his understanding of the self in late 20th-century and early 21st-century America. With a primary focus on how this understanding evolved between the publication of his major novel Infinite Jest (1996) and his posthumously published unfinished novel The Pale King (2011), this thesis also takes into consideration Wallace's ideas as expressed through his many short stories, non-fiction works, and critical essays, most prominently "E Unibus Pluram: Television and U.S. Fiction" (1993). This thesis first briefly places Wallace in the context of contemporary literary scholarship, evaluating the state and extent of the nascent field of Wallace Studies. It then proceeds to examine and map out the philosophical underpinnings to Wallace's conception of the self, emphasising the importance of existential thought and the notion that the self is to be created rather than pre-existing in the individual. Technology as it is presented in Infinite Jest and The Pale King is then examined in relation to this philosophical understanding of the self, proving itself consistently to be an impediment to the existential self-becoming valorised in the novels. Wallace's early interest in entertainment technology as...