The prominent representative of young Slovak theatrological generation states that the characters of Slovak drama after 1990 represent a whole complex of diverse individuals reduced from dramatic characters to standardized ones. Sometimes there are presented the realistic characters, which are hyperbolized, banal and mock. Another time, they are replaced by a certain 'live' metaphors. Their physical appearance, a visual side of the characters, is not clearly established rather they can be distinguished through their speech. The vast majority of the characters are neutral or negative, while positive figures are the exception. The characters are passive there is not the slightest tendency to change the circumstances which they are experienced. Following the line hero - antihero - non-hero, the authoress believes that most of the characters can be categorized as non-heroes. She defines non-hero as a person who does not want even fight, neither hold pinion or clearly articulate on a position, but is also against anything (that is no longer against something). The authors often put their characters straight into the constructed or pre-set situations that result in further changes, e.g. in the structure, concept, dialogues and the language of drama. Dramatic characters were replaced by ambivalent, non-solid and uncertain types. Uncertainty is often complemented with them fleeing into the virtual or unreal and parallel (sometimes dream) world that these characters merge with reality, or are melt in a different reality. Characters loose confidence in their own being and they loose consciousness of themselves. The loss of context (of history, culture, nation, situation, individual, relationships, language) makes the characters harder to succeed, to find their own way, to communicate and understand, depriving them of the opportunity to make a move.
The study focuses on dramatic texts inspired by the Slovak National Uprising which were written in 1945 – 1949, i.e. at the time when the theme of the Uprising was not subject to a politically motivated interpretation. The author briefly introduces individual titles (altogether six dramas), but she focuses primarily on the interpretation and analysis of plays by three authors: Ivan Stodola – Básnik a Smrť (The Poet and Death, 1946), Leopold Lahola - Štyri strany sveta (The Four Sides of the World, 1947), Peter Karvaš – Bašta (The Bastion, 1948). She points to the problematic aspects of these plays, as well as to some features which distinguish them from plays by other playwrights writing about the Slovak National Uprising in this period (Rudolf Latečka-Repický, Ján Skalka, Viera Markovičová-Záturecká) and which can be in a sense considered interesting or original. The study also addresses the rise of “the period iconography of the Uprising”, i.e. a set of certain recurrent themes, motifs and methods which occur in works of art depicting the Slovak National Uprising from the period of 1945 – 1949, including film, visual arts and drama.
Zakhar Prilepin is a 34-year-old writer, critic, social and political activist with a remarkable wartime experience, essay writer and TV presenter, who is highly popular and prospers very well in the media zone. Apart from three successful novels The Pathologies (2005), Sankya (2006) and Sin (2007), he also published a collection of stories which are subject of analysis in the present article. Boots Full of Hot Vodka. Boy Stories (2008) is a collection of stories full of brutality, humour, and lyricism, from which a delightfully coherent image of the protagonist and the world emerges. The coherence results for instance from the closeness of the protagonist and the author. The latter says of himself: “I am a happy man who occasionally keeps himself busy writing books.” Prilepin seems to be creating a new topos, absent from Russian literature so far — the topos of a happy man.
The author deals with the messianic traits of a hero who is a protagonist of contemporary mainstream film. Basic assumption of this paper is observation that despite the so-called “end of grand narratives” proclaimed by postmodern philosophers at the end of the last century, there are phenonema in culture clearly contradicting former predictions: renaissance of a novel, rising popularity of historical and fantastic stories and new heroes with complex character and genuine humanistic qualities. According to the author this proves the fact that human need for transpersonal values, moral patterns and stories carrying the message of meaningfulness of human destiny, is historically stable. The paper examines various representations of film hero within the broader context of social meanings in cinema (social dimension of film). The author describes psychoanalytic and anthropological concepts of hero as well as Jesus Christ as an archetype of Savior. Some of his special traits serve as a model for conceptualization of messianic hero and his basic characteristics. The text provides numerous examples of strong and weak heroes who alternately resurfaced the mainstream film through the decades. The author believes that the former narcissistic action hero and insecure hero is being replaced with more authentic and vibrant hero: a character who is vulnerable and commited to sacrifice in favor of others at the same time.
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