Sociology, social science and human sciences in general are interested in the study of culture since its inception. This concern, however, have transformed over the years and the development of individual disciplines, especially in the 20th century, where the phenomenon of culture has become one of the main indicators of social coexistence. The concept of culture itself represents a very wide range of activities, objects and characteristics tied with the human and his behavior. This work focuses on the process, during which social scientists have begun to perceive the culture no longer just a file or a store of values, but as part of power struggle, hegemony, ideology and oppression in their everyday impact on the scientific knowledge and the creation of social discourse. It notes the rise of critical theory, which arose mainly in the context of the so-called "cultural turn", starting in the postwar period. It records the development of social theory as a discipline combining several approaches, grounded in a larger frame of reference, the main aim is to highlight the difference between social science typical for modernity and more or less postmodern authors, which we nowadays consider the leading scientists and philosophers of the 20th century. This report covers the Frankfurt School of T. Adorno,...

This thesis focuses on the definition of the term postmodern marketing in the area of marketing literature. The postmodern marketing aims adaptation of innovative marketing strategies to specific changes in society and consumer behavior. In this context, there are introduced concepts as tribality, hyperreality, fragmentation or increased activity during the perception of consumers etc., in order to demonstrate described changes. Because the postmodern marketing is closely linked to the symbolism and meanings of consumption, this thesis includes the application of specific semiotics approaches and brand development with an emphasis on the fact that the brand itself is made up of sum of aspects, such as the logo or products, but its value is also constructed by meanings with which consumers associate the brand. The next part is devoted to community marketing and communication via social networking sites such as progressive approach that is able to connect the issues of the previous chapters (reaction to changes in society and consumers' requirements and space for the construction of the symbolic value of the brand). The summary of these individual components is described in the conclusion, in the case study analysis from ILP in order to examine whether it is possible to build a successful marketing...

The dissertation is following both theoretical and practical sides of Victor Burgin's early work. The structure of this thesis mainly reflects a hybrid attitude of the artist/theorist - the text digress from theoretical comments to related art works which are arranged chronologically. The principal focus lies in Burgin's concers for ideological, social and cultural impacts of photographic advertising practice in Great Britain during the 1970s which he assesed through theories derived from marxism, semiology and psychoanalysis. Keywords: Victor Burgin, photography theory, minimal art, conceptual art, cognitive science, semiotics, modernism, postmodernism, LEF (Left Front of the Arts), marxism, psychoanalysis, feminism

The aim of this thesis is the examination and analysis of postmodernist overtones in the medium of comics. It is concerned both with the postmodernist content in comics, and comics' possibilities and attributes as a postmodernist medium. The first part of the thesis elaborates on sequential art in general and the essential elements of postmodernism, such as deconstruction, metafiction, and intertextuality, within its context. The second part of the thesis is concerned with selected postmodernist works of prominent comicbook authors: Alan Moore and Grant Morrison. Key words Comics, comicbook, graphic novel, postmodernism, metafiction, intertextuality, continuum, narration, binary oppositions, deconstruction, superhero, author, creation, Watchmen, Animal Man

Geographies of sexualities started to develop within the Anglo-American academic context during the late 1980s. In the 1990s, propelled by the cultural turn, the swelling of post-structuralist and postmodern critiques, and a growing recognition of the limitations to scientific knowledge production and representation, geographers of sexualities introduced queer theory into human geography. Queer theory provided human geography with powerful tools for approaching not only straightforward spatialities of sexualities, but this new lens contributed to the development of human geographies as such. Currently, at least in the Anglo-Saxon geographical context, the field of geographies of sexualities is considered part of mainstream human geography. Therefore, the main goal of this thesis is to provide a few lines of reasoning for the development of geographies of sexualities in Czechia and Central Eastern Europe (CEE) and introduction of post-structuralist understandings, specifically queer theory. In contrast to other phenomena that may be locally exclusive or particular, human sexualities are everyplace, albeit quite variable and dependent on the context in which they "enter into language," become institutionalized, and are regulated. Geographers have been specifically insightful about the ways in which...

Tato diplomová práce zmapuje románovou tvorbu současného italského spisovatele Alessandra Baricca. Úvodem bude představen autor v kontextu současné italské prózy. V další části práce nastíníme charakteristiku postmoderního románu, zejména pokud jde o tříštění či dekompozici prostoru, času, příběhu a s tím související žánrovou heterogennost textu. V centrální části práce rozebereme jednotlivá díla, přičemž se budeme soustředit jak na příběh, jeho hlavní motivy a témata, tak na jeho kompozici a strukturu. Ve čtvrté kapitole využijeme dílčích analýz jako východiska ke komparativnímu přístupu k textům a pokusíme se najít společné i odlišné konstrukční principy jejich výstavby a návratná témata či motivické konstanty Bariccových próz. Závěrem zhodnotíme přínos tvorby Alessandra Baricca pro současnou italskou prózu.

From Metafiction to Self-reflexive Narration (Theory and Practice of Self-disclosing Fiction in Czech Literature) Mgr. Vladimír Trpka Abstract The doctoral thesis deals with metafiction as a key theoretical concept influencing both theoretical contemplations on self-reflexivity in narrative fiction and interpretation of the development of self-reflexive practice in literature. The main objective, based on an analysis of the most influential theoretical approaches to narrative self-reflexivity, is to propose such concepts of metafiction and self-reflexive narration that could be applied in the analysis of the self-reflexive practice in the Czech narrative fiction. The theoretical part focuses on examining the relationship between metafiction and narrative self- reflexivity. Metafiction is viewed as a concept that has not only replaced the concept of self-conscious novel, but it has also adapted it to the postmodern conception of fiction. The concept of fictionality in the theoretical concept of metafiction is directly related to postmodern discourse in which this concept was born. Consequently, an explicitly formulated and/or hidden relationship with constructivist philosophy of language, performativity, and linguistic nature of reality is found in the existing approaches to metafiction. Thus if the...

The thesis deals with significant moments in the relationship between methodology of economics and implications of the financial crisis culminating in 2008 and 2009. Its key insight rests upon the claim that some theoretical concepts developed within mainstream economics do not tackle the reality adequately and contributed in a significant way to the sequence of events leading to the financial crisis. Most of those concepts were introduced in the second half of the 20th century, during a "high tide" of positivistic ideas in the domain of methodology of mainstream economics. Though the same ideas had been already discredited to a large extent by the philosophy of science at the time, mainstream economists did not reflect it satisfactorily. Aside from a historical expose the thesis consists also of an outline of a possible future development of the prevailing form of economic theory; four scenarios of future potential development are presented. In the final parts of the thesis, which are focused more specifically, the author appraises negatively options of the Austrian School as well as post-Keynesianism to influence in a more significant manner the mainstream economics during the post-crisis era.

Peter Carey has been discussed in academia since the 1980s. And since then these discussions revolve around postmodernism, postcolonial studies or, indeed, both at once. So, either Peter Carey has been writing the same old novel for nearly thirty years by now, or there are whole worlds in his writings that have yet to be uncovered. Since I claim the latter is the case, this thesis sets out to chart at least a few areas of these vast forgotten territories, to use a consciously colonial metaphor. The theoretical ‘vehicle’ with which the new areas are entered is agency. Which means that the thesis investigates how individual characters manage to become successful actors, or fail to do so. The thesis first provides an overview of Carey's writing (Chapter 2), then traces three typical 'Carey themes' through his entire oeuvre and shows how they are relevant for agency (Chapter 3), before discussing the concept of agency itself at some length in Chapter 4. Chapters 5, 6 and 7 are close readings of My Life as a Fake, Illywhacker and Tristan Smith and investigate the novels' main characters' development in depth. The appendix contains research that would be relevant for a biographical approach to Carey's works. It explains the climate of Australian literature production in the 1970s in which Carey emerges as an author and that is relevant for his writing up to his latest works Amnesia and a Long Way from Home. It also relates a few biographical notes that are relevant for many of his works.:1. Introduction 4 2. Literary Overview of Carey’s Writing 18 3. Agency in Carey’s Writing: Three ‘Carey Themes’ 29 4. Agency 49 4.1. Important Terminology 49 4.2. Agency: A New Phenomenon? 53 4.3. The Ancient Sources of Agency 62 4.4. The Agency Game: The Sociological Concept of Agency 67 4.5. Agency, Nature, and Metaphysics 76 4.6. The Problem of Normativity 84 4.7. Getting the Moral Framework Back into the Picture 89 4.8. Getting Intrinsic Capacity Back into the Picture 95 4.9. The Whole Picture 100 5. My Life as a Fake 109 5.1. The Story 109 5.2. The Central Conflict: Apollo and Dionysus Caught in a ‘Deathlock’ 112 5.3. My Life as a Fake and the Struggle for Authenticity 125 5.4. Chubb and McCorkle Revisited: Authenticity and the Social Arena 132 5.5. Conclusion 138 6. Illywhacker 141 6.1. Lies and control 148 6.1.1. Book I 149 6.1.2. Book II 156 6.1.3. Book III 164 6.2. Compulsive Visions and Compelled Selves 171 6.2.1. The McGraths: Molly and Jack 185 6.2.2. The Young Compulsive Mistresses 190 6.3. Peter Carey’s Entrapped Dreamers 199 6.4. From the Aircraft Factory to the Museum: Baudrillard in Australia 204 6.4.1. The Three-Tiered Advance of Australia Fair 205 6.4.2. Agency in the Hyperreal Condition 214 6.4.3. Illywhacker and the Western World: Anti-Depressants 217 6.5. Final Remarks on Illywhacker 221 7. Tristan Smith 224 7.1. Tristan as Narrative Voice and as Character inside his Story 228 7.2. Tristan’s Bildung: A Study in two Mirror Phases 231 7.2.1. Initial Conceit 232 7.2.2. The Gaze of the Other 236 7.2.3. The First Mirror Stage 241 7.2.4. Interlude 246 7.2.5. The Voyage 249 7.2.6. The Second Mirror Stage 252 7.3. Tristan’s Subversiveness: “Bodies […] out of Control” 258 7.3.1. Postcolonial Approaches and External Reality 259 7.3.2. Cultural Simulation: Ghostdorps and Ghost Lights 264 7.3.3. Confronting Simulations: Tristan and Peggy 270 7.3.4. Not Escaping the Now: Felicity 275 7.3.5. Jacqui: From Self-Realisation to Escapism and Back to the Now 280 7.4. The Radical’s Conceit: Peter Carey’s Political Activists 287 8. Conclusion 292 9. Bibliography 303 10. Appendix 314 10.1. Publishing Carey: The Emergence of an Author 314 10.2. Peter Carey and the New Nationalism 320 10.3. Biographical Notes on Peter Carey’s Writing 330

The author of this thesis endeavours to create a comprehensive portrait of Hanuš Bartoň, a Czech contemporary composer, pianist, and academic educator. The thesis is focused on his compositions and his contribution as a pianist and a teacher with the aim to establish a practical source of information. This source ought to fulfil both its musicological potential, especially concerning the analysis of Czech classical music of the end of the 20th century up till now, as well as its potential in the field of education, noting Bartoň's works for children and his academic pedagogical contribution. The thesis is systematically organised into several parts. The main body starts with the composer's biography. The attention then moves to his compositions, which are systematically presented and commented on from the perspective of Bartoň's musical style development and its tendencies. His works adhere to the postmodern ideal considering the fact that the music deals in a specific way with the synthesis of stylistic elements. The scope of his oeuvre is relatively wide. It mostly encompasses instrumental pieces, although there are many others including, for example, musical-dramatic works, vocal pieces, electroacoustic music, and music for the theatre. The individual compositions and their performances are...