This diploma thesis deals with the way material artifacts participate in the creation of the retrospective depiction of the past in the second season and the third season of the series Vyprávěj, which takes place in the years 1873 - 1989. In the empirical part of the thesis a semiotic analysis was made. The goal of the thesis was to determine which material artifacts evoke the atmosphere of the past in the series and if these artifacts can be considered the carrier of visual information and semantic levels. We focused on stage properties which can be found in the settings of individual households, workplaces and other places which can be seen in the series and we made an analysis from the viewpoint of their occurrence. At the same time in connection with the chosen material artifacts we focused on their function in the narration and their meaning for depicting the past. The study also deals with the ways the viewers of the series remember the period of time which the series depicts. As a part of the analysis the viewers' opinions recorded on the official Facebook websites of the series Vyprávěj which were related to the stage properties and the memories of the period of normalization were gathered.

This thesis focuses on the ways of depicting female beauty in ELLE magazine. In the theoretical part, the concept of beauty is defined and the development of the ideal of beauty and the influence of the media on people are described. The attitudes and research on beauty in the media are mentioned and primarily the emphasis is put on depiction of female beauty in the media. The reasons for women accepting the ideal of beauty presented by the media, the real nature of beauty in the media and the possible influence on women's self-esteem are dealt with, as well. The thesis also introduces the development of female magazines and their current role on the Czech market. At the end of the thesis, the campaigns aiming at unreal ideal of beauty in the media are critically evaluated. Mixed research method is used in the thesis; by means of the content analysis the photos of women (in advertisements as well as other pictures) are investigated with emphasis on their characteristics and in connection with the topic of the articles. The semiotic analysis examines the front pages and the message they convey. The aim of the analysis was to determine the most frequent depiction of women and to establish the proportion of articles dealing with appearance.

The Diploma thesis The Semiotic Analysis of campaign spots of parliamentary election in 2013 uses the semiotic analysis to analyse campaign spots broadcasted by the Czech Television before the elections in 2013. With regards of the purpose of this paperwork we chose the spots of victorious political parties, the ones who have exceeded the minimal level of 5% of total votes to gain the mandate, thus ČSSD, ANO, KSČM, Top 09, ODS, Úsvit and KDU- ČSL. We emphasise signs and means of expression used in chosen campaign spots. The aim of this paperwork is to answer the question what message campaign spots address to voters. Moreover, the diploma thesis tries to answer the question, if all victorious campaign spots contain the same signs and means of expression which could help them to influence the result of elections. The hypothesis of this diploma thesis suppose that all campaign spots will contain the same signs and that they will ask people to vote. Furthermore, we expect that none of the campaign spots will directly criticize other political parties or their policy. The theoretical part of the paperwork presents the basic concepts of political communication, political advertisement and its regulation in the Czech Republic. The paperwork introduces the electoral system of the Czech Republic and current...

This diploma thesis, called Hyundai commercials from the semiotic point of view, deals with audiovisual commercials and their meanings, which can be hidden in them. The thesis is inspired by the book Mythologies which was written by Roland Barthes. The first part of the thesis is a chapter about the car manufacturer Hyundai, its background in the Czech Republic and also the reason for the choice of this brand is stated here. This part is followed by a chapter about advertising. Advertising is a type of persuasive communication, it is a part of mass media and is connected to other sciences such as psychology, social studies, linguistics and others. Relevant knowledge of these fields is used as well. The theoretical background of the thesis is extended in the next chapter which focuses on the science of semiotics. Key terms such as semiosis, sign, denotation, connotation, primary and secondary semiological systems and myth are defined. Also the method of semiotic analysis is explored. In connection with the terms mythology and ideology a subchapter on Roland Barthes follows. In the methodology chapter the research design is stated and research questions are formulated. The analytical chapter consists of the denotative parts of analyzed commercials (the plot together with the scene and sound is...

According the research there were noticed few interesting elements of simulacra "comportment" and about the nature of hyperreality itself. First of all there was described, that the nature of hyperreality is very different compared to realities of lower levels. Hyperreality is a semantic space which is filled with simulacra. Those simulacra are holding very strong meaning, which is technically one of the basic elements of their nature. At the other hand not every meaning did pass to the hyperreal stadium. It means that in the end hyperreality suffers the lack of meanings. Its spectre of meanings is simply very limited. Although simulacrum holds a very strong meaning, it can disappear. In this paper there were described two ways, how it can happen. Both ways are directly connected with interest of audience, which mean in this case the interest of public. Simulacra can simply disappear when the audience forget them because of change of the cultural rules. The other way is a kind of simulacra duel. Against older simulacrum is putted a new one. If audience because of any reason decide, that the new simulacrum fits better to their needs, that the old one, the old one disappears. It was described, that there is wide spectre of objects which are able to pass through simulation and become simulacrum. In the...

This thesis deals with the depiction of death in the Sandman comic books written by Neil Gaiman. It aims to explore the forms of death that the author presents in his comics through pictorial and textual codes. The work begins with a reflection on the phenomenon of death and how this phenomenon and its depiction stand in time and in current perception. The theory of visual semiotics is used for research, especially the findings of Ch. S. Peirce and the theory of multimodality, which is described in the theoretical part. The focus is then shifted to the comics itself and towards the characteristics of individual elements of visual language applicable for describing comic images, such as color, perspective, panel size, framing, etc. The analysis of images is preceded by research depicting death from the perspective of western culture in its historical context. In the description of the images, the essential features of the individual modes are determined and their meanings are interpreted. The conclusion is summarizing author's findings and try to confirm the initial thought presented at the beginning of the work: that Gaiman perceived the character of Death very differently than is usual in contemporary commercial images.

This thesis aims to provide analysis of chain emails during the second direct presidential election in the Czech Republic. The main goal of this work is to set out a semiotic analysis in order to provide detailed research of emails related to both candidates Miloš Zeman and Jiří Drahoš. The chain emails usually using a specific linguistic terms and persuasive procedures. Therefore, the attention will be paid mainly to linguistic and persuasive procedures which are identified. In order to examine the phenomenon the theoretical framework will be based on several key words and terms such as: chain emails, disinformation, hoax, semiotics, etc. Aforementioned, this work is aiming to provide a detailed overview of chain mails. In order to address the topic, I will approach the political background within the media context to present solid foundational analysis, which will conduct disinformation topics.

The aim of this thesis is to define the growing use of health symbolism in the consumer goods industry. Powerful group of consumers, focused on the value of health and an active lifestyle, is the base for developing a long-term emerging market with portfolio of brands and products, which are building its image on the basis of health connotations. This "medicalization of consumption" takes place mainly at the level of signs with relevant references, according to which consumers are oriented at different levels of awareness of that fact. On the example of semiotic analysis of Activia brand we would point out how could each sign build a product, permanently associated with required values.

The subject of the thesis is the problem of portrayal of the elderly in Vecernicek animated cartoons for children. Content analysis is conducted on twenty-two selected animated Vecernicek stories that portrayed older characters (371 cartoons for a total of 2974 minutes). The objective of this paper is to examine the depiction of the elderly in Vecernicek cartoons and to point out age stereotypes. The first part of the paper consists of a theoretical framework necessary for the subsequent analysis, particularly media depiction, media representation, construction of reality, the relationship between media depiction, reality and stereotyping, which are then accompanied by characterization of the stories, their meaning and also by definition of old age. Next, all twenty-two analyzed cartoons are briefly introduced. Quantitative content analysis is conducted to examine the frequency and context of depiction of male and female elderly characters, and the overall message. Using qualitative content analysis, six coherent groups of media depiction of the elderly are created, then using semiotic analysis, six specific examples of age portrayal in Vecernicek cartoons are introduced.

This diploma thesis on the "Non-Parliamentary Political Parties in Media Communication Process. Communication Behaviour of Non-Parliamentary Parties in the Czech Republic prior to the Parliamentary Elections of 2006" suggests that political parties wishing to succeed in the dynamically changing media environment today need to present themselves through the refection of contemporary trends in the development of political communication. Based on the hypothesis that the non-parliamentary (i.e. small) political parties fail to master these principles of media and political communication, which is one (but not the single) reason why they fail to reach spectacular results in elections, this diploma thesis investigates four Czech non-parliamentary political parties participating in the parliamentary elections of 2006. The theoretical part of this diploma thesis introduces the current phenomena of political communication, including the mediatisation and personalisation of politics and the concept of politics as entertainment, with a focus on the examples of professionalization of political communication, political marketing and the importance of public opinion. In the practical part of this diploma thesis, the fundamental definitions are used and the method of semiotic analysis applied to the media...