The aim of this thesis is to define Jan Opolský′s prosaic works with emphasis put on his evident inspiration through fine arts. The work of Jan Opolský does not exceed limits of a short stories. It almost falls short of an action. The predominant feature would be reflexion and visual description. That is especially the case with voluminious parts devoted to the bright light and the color nuances - with their changing expresions and diverse shades reflected on the presented object of art. The whole momentum of his prosaic work tends to be included in exactly these parts of his ouvre. In his writing, Opolský uses his skills he earned as a craftsman and as an expert in various artistic fields. Because of his obsession with the world of art, he can be considered a good example of a decadent artist. A number of his texts, especially given these features it is focusing on, have symbolic legitimacy anyway.

The topic of this dissertation is a Medieval collection of 116 love letters (and fragments thereof), composed in all likelihood in the 12th century and commonly known today as "Epistulae duorum amantium". The only extant copy, penned by the Librarian of Clairvaux Abbey, comes from the latter half of the 15th century. The manuscript was discovered no sooner than in the 1970s and has been a subject of many questions ever since: It is not clear who the author of the original is or if the scribe copied a collection of genuine intimate correspondence or a work of rhetorical fiction (of the "ars dictaminis" genre). Nevertheless, certain aspects of the narrative and the relationship between the two lovers as depicted in the texts make some contemporary Medieval scholars believe that the collection might be an authentic record of the correspondence between the influential French theologian Abélard and his student Heloïse, written during the period of their mutual intensive romantic attachment. The aim of this dissertation is to present a complete Czech translation of the collection, accompanied by commentary and, using relevant works of secondary literature, to assess the current stage of research regarding the authenticity of the correspondence and its authorship.

The thesis presents a typology of characters in short prosaic works of Jaroslav Durych. In the introduction the readers get acquainted with contemporary approaches of the theory of literature towards the characters and with the ways to make typologies of characters. The author's opinions about art and man are quoted too because Durych's fiction is influenced by his artistic and religious opinions. Next, Durych's prosaic works are characterised in relation to trends in literature. Information about previous works concerning characters in prosaic works of Jaroslav Durych is also given in the introduction. The central part of the thesis is focused on the analysis of characters in short prosaic works. Both female and male characters are analysed by means of the same criteria: character-definition v. character-hypothesis, character-subject v. character- object, name, appearance, soul, death, love to God and their human partner. Within each section, e.g. Appearance, short prosaic works are analysed in chronological order to show how the characters were altered and how they were influenced by various trends in literature, etc. Eventually, differences between female and male characters are named, and two basic types of female characters and two basic types of male characters which can be found in Durych's...

This thesis focuses on the prosaic writing of Jaroslav Vrchlický. In the first part it monitors an extension of the reception in these novels (it analyzes their editions with the help of the database Caslin). It also observes character of the period reception from the first publication of the corresponding titles up to the year 1918 (there is a support of the database Retrobi and Lexikon české literatury). The second part of the thesis analyzes the Vrchlický's novels according to methods of naratology and literary thematology. The third part of this writing focuses on a genre and a themed characteristic of the Vrchlický's novels in the context of that period.

Abstract, Ancrene Wisse, "Guide for Anchoresses" A Czech Translation (2015) Klára Petříková Ancrene Wisse (Guide for Anchoresses) is a remarkable work of the Middle English literature dating back to the first half of the 13th century. Its author (presumably a Dominican) conceived it as "spiritual life guidelines" for three sisters of a noble origin who decided to renounce the world. Besides its didactic purpose, its character is meditative and contemplative. Riveting in its style, its rich metaphors and heightened sensibility link it with the later tradition of the English mystical writers (Julian of Norwich), The work abounds in quotations, paraphrases of the continental monastic authors (St. Augustine, Bernard of Clairvaux). Surviving in seventeen manuscripts, it had been quoted till the Renaissance and its importance is further confirmed by a contemporaneous translation into Latin and French. Present translation aims to introduce this work to the Czech readers and to put it in its historical, social and literary context.

The work focuses on the analysis of the poetics of Vladimir Nabokov's novel Invitation to a Beheading in terms of its cultural context. Specifically deals with its relation to the Soviet theatrical avant-garde, with mythopoetic symbolism and early avant-garde. We approach to the novel as a parody of the post-revolutionary avant-garde Soviet theater experiments. Special attention is paid to the fact that due to the theatralization of the text, i.e. assimilation of the novel space with the theatricals, diegesis of Invitation to a Beheading is divided into two equal opposing worlds, each of which represents particular poetics. World built around main character of Cincinnatus is comparable to symbolism, namely to the symbol and symbolistic perception of Andrei Bely. The central principle of this reality is semiotization of the world. The surrounding fictional world creates its opposite as it is shaped by the principle of desemiotization which - as a central aspect of formalistic-futuristic avant- garde - systematically dismantles hero's world. However neither of these worlds is winning. In the end it is the synthesis, which helps the hero get emancipated from the novel's world. The Invitation to a Beheading can therefore be interpreted as original artist's world manifesto which through presentation and...

This diploma thesis is focused on the titles of the contemporary Czech authors of the books for the preschool children. The main target of the thesis is to find and recommend the valuable children's books (published after year 2000) to the preschool teachers, parents and other educators, with the main emphasis on the esthetic, literary-didactic and educational quality aspects. In the theoretical part of the thesis I aimed on the characteristics of the preschool child in relation to reading. I was mainly interested in child's psychological development in the context with the examined issue. The theoretical part of the thesis also provides the definition of the prereaders period and terms of non-reader and prereader are explained here. Prosaic genres intended to this age group are also examined in this part of the thesis. Criteria for selection of children's books by the adults and the knowledge of five book titles are examined through the questionnaire survey. The practical (analytical) part of the thesis contains the analysis of the selected children's books ("Medvídek Kuma" by Martina Skala, "Už se nebojím tmy," "Kozí knížka" by Tereza Říčanová, "Jak Cílek Lídu našel" by František Skála and "Dobrodružství pavouka Čendy" by Pavel Čech) according to the predefined criteria. The Conclusion provides...

(anglicky): In this thesis, two representative works of two post-war schools of Japanese detective fiction are analysed based on the knowledge of modern narratology. Two mentioned schools are so called social school of detective fiction (shakaiha 社会派), which appeared at the beginning of 60ties, and new authentic school of detective fiction (shin honkakuha 新本格派), which appeared at the beginning of 80ties. This thesis focuses on a theoretical understanding of the term "detective fiction", it describes the development of the detective genre in post-war Japan while focusing on the debates on "authentic" and "inauthentic" detective fiction and describes typical features of two previously mentioned schools. The by using a theoretical apparat suitable for analysing works of very schematic detective genre, two works - Points and lines (Ten to sen 点と線, 1958) written by Matsumoto Seichō 松本清張 (1909-1992) and Tokyo Zodiac Murders (Senseijutu satsujin jiken 占星術殺人事件, 1981) written by Shimada Sōji 島田荘司 (1948 - ) - are analysed. Analyses focus on composition schemes of both works and on the example translated from original works, existence or absence of elements typical for both schools are demonstrated while a different usage of these elements is showed.