Zuzana Wrana

This thesis deals with the possible influence of the Islamic culture on Dante Alighieri and his Divine Comedy. The main objective of the thesis is to find out to what extent Dante was inspired by Christian and Muslim eschatology, and why the poet placed in his Hell besides pagans and Christians also Muslims – Avicenna, Averroes, Saladin, Muhammad and Ali.

The diploma thesis deals with the Cathedral of St. Matthew in Salerno and its entrance areas in the Norman epoch. It describes the historical situation in Salerno before and after the conquest of the Normans and tries to date the beginning of the construction of the cathedral based on Norman chronicles and external epigraphs in the entrance areas. In other parts of the work deals with individual parts of the atrium, especially the alloy doors that adorn the main portal.

This thesis focuses on the ciborium columns of the Saint Mark's Basilica in Venice. It predominantly seeks to discover the material, of which the columns are made of, as well as to determine the age and the origin of this sculptural complex. Based on the Venetians Chronicles and additional written sources, this thesis aims to find out the original location of the columns that could be related to the unusual selection of the scenes depicted on the relief of the ciborium columns. It also attempts to ascertain, whether this artefact could be a spolium.

Summary of thesis "Dante and Islam".

(This thesis deals with the possible influence of the Islamic culture on Dante Alighieri and his Divine Comedy. The main objective of the thesis is to find out to what extent Dante was inspired by Christian and Muslim eschatology, and why the poet placed in his Hell besides pagans and Christians also Muslims – Avicenna, Averroes, Saladin, Muhammad and Ali.)

Riassunto della tesi "Dante and Islam" in italiano.

(Questa tesi si occupa della possibile influenza della cultura islamica su Dante Alighieri e la sua Divina Commedia. L'obiettivo principale della tesi è di scoprire fino a che punto Dante si ispirò all'escatologia cristiana e musulmana, e perché il poeta collocò nel suo inferno oltre a pagani e cristiani anche musulmani - Avicenna, Averroè, Saladino, Maometto e Ali.)

Dreams and fairy tales have always been connected in some way. Various fairy tale motifs in the Mediterranean traveled constantly and were transmitted by oral tradition, which to some extent reflected the collective national memory of different Mediterranean national literatures. It is speculated that some fairy tales and myths originated precisely from the dreams of our ancestors. In my talk, I would like to discuss the different functions of dreams in the original collections of Italian and Sicilian fairy tales (Giambattista Basile, Giuseppe Pitré), since their take is very varied: in some cases the dream reveals the future, in others it advises the protagonists where to find a treasure or how to defeat the antagonist, etc.
In this context, it is certainly interesting to compare the dream motif with other contemporary dream motifs elsewhere in the Mediterranean I am thinking in particular of the Arabic tales collected by Antoine Galland in his collection The Thousand and One Nights, but also of Charles Perrault's well-known collection of French fairy tales from the late 17th century, as the dream motif often appears in contexts strikingly similar to those of traditional Italian fairy tales. Interestingly, although fairy tales change significantly over time, the dream motifs in them remain stable.

Sogni e fiabe sono sempre stati collegati in qualche modo. Diversi motivi fiabeschi nel Mediterraneo hanno viaggiato costantemente e sono stati trasmessi dalla tradizione orale, che in qualche misura rifletteva la memoria nazionale collettiva delle diverse letterature nazionali mediterranee. Si ipotizza che alcune fiabe e miti abbiano origine proprio dai sogni dei nostri antenati. Nel mio intervento vorrei discutere le diverse funzioni del sogno nelle raccolte originali di fiabe italiane e siciliane (Giambattista Basile, Giuseppe Pitré), poiché la loro presa è molto varia: in alcuni casi il sogno rivela il futuro, in altri consiglia ai protagonisti dove trovare un tesoro o come sconfiggere l'antagonista, ecc.
In questo contesto, è sicuramente interessante confrontare il motivo del sogno con altri motivi onirici contemporanei in altre località del Mediterraneo penso in particolare ai racconti arabi raccolti da Antoine Galland nella sua raccolta Le mille e una notte, ma anche alla nota raccolta di fiabe francesi di Charles Perrault della fine del XVII secolo, poiché il motivo del sogno appare spesso in contesti sorprendentemente simili a quelli delle fiabe tradizionali italiane. È interessante notare che, sebbene le fiabe cambino in modo significativo nel corso del tempo, i motivi onirici in esse presenti rimangono stabili.

Convegno di studi “«Notturna tenebra». Il sogno come funzione nel testo letterario” (Udine, 22-24 maggio 2024)

Folk tales are an important pillar that reflects the times, realities, culture, but also the language or dialect of the area. However, the current form of many traditional fairy tales is significantly altered from its original version. Many have been censored to make the stories less violent and thus suitable for young listeners. However, with each new edition of the fairy tale collections, the language has also been modified to keep pace with the natural development of spoken language and thus be more comprehensible to readers. In some cases this was certainly justified and desirable, but often it was a somewhat violent alteration that changed the story and thus the fairy tale per se. In my paper, I would like to address the issue of frequent linguistic adaptations of folktales, whether they are traditional Czech tales or Czech translations of well-known foreign collections (e.g. the tales of the Brothers Grimm) or lesser-known collections of tales of Mediterranean provenance, whether European or Arabic.

Folk tales usually told of supernatural magical entities, often featured remnants of legends and religious motifs (in Europe, mostly biblical), animals were encountered as the bearers of wisdom and justice, and fairy tales reflected the daily lives of ordinary people. The last motif and type of fairy tale, which is based on a foundation similar to that of the novel, is thus a rewarding theme in making fun of the stories of foolish women and young men who were not among the most intelligent individuals in these stories.
Giovanni Francesco Straparola attempted to develop the fairy tale theme and included several of them in his collection of novellas. This work was followed shortly by the Neapolitan writer Giambattista Basile, who wrote a collection of fairy tales and stories from Neapolitan folklore. These two authors are thus considered the pioneers of the fairy tale genre in Italy and Europe. But was Giambattista Basile the real discoverer of the fairy tale?

Rinascimento letterario – La ricerca dei giovani studiosi, Seconda edizione, 4-5 May 2023, Accademia Pontaniana, Naples, Italy

What do the Norwegian fairy tale Tre sitroner, the Catalan fairy tale Las tres taronjas del amor, the Italian fairy tale L'amore delle tre melagrane or the Maltese fairy tale Is-Seba' Tronġiet Mewwija have in common? In all these cases the fairy tale story is quite similar, but the plants that play the main role differ. In each geographical location, the reader may encounter a plethora of flowers, probably based on local climatic conditions and traditions.
Magic stories of the 408 ATU type are among the well-known and widespread stories. The story of this type of fairy tale can be very varied and we encounter this type of fairy tale across Europe, with a few also found in South America and the Arabic-speaking world. On closer analysis, one can examine the variation in the plants and their fruits that appear in these tales: the most commonly discussed are various types of citrus plants, especially lemons and oranges, but also tangerines and pomelos. In other versions one can find magic apples, pears or pomegranates.
In some versions, the protagonist of the story - a mysterious beautiful girl - undergoes a series of transformations after being freed from the fruit and regains her human body. This transformation may be gradual and the girl changes several times, or the girl may turn from a fruit into a virgin and then into a dove. Some scholars see symbolism in different types of plants that is traditionally associated with local culture, e.g. the generative function of the apple, the light hair being likened to the colour of the rind of a lemon, etc. This cycle of transformation also appears in Iranian stories, where these features of transformation may refer to the Iranian deity of vegetation. To what extent, then, can culture, literature and symbolism be linked to a particular type of plant or fruit and its signifying properties? How central a role can a flower play in a fairy tale? 

International Conference, Flower Power Blossoms and Petals between Beauty, Classification, and Dominance
(May 11–13, 2023, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich)

Perhaps the most famous monument of Arabic folk literature, the monumental collection A Thousand and One Nights (Alf lajla wa lajla) is standardly classified as Arabic literature, mainly for linguistic reasons, but also because the Arabic environment played a major role in its formation. It is worth pointing out, however, that although we can also debate the vagueness and over-generality of the label 'Arabic literature', the collection A Thousand and One Nights contains within it the creations of the popular imagination and fiction of the Orient in a broader sense, from India to Persia to the Middle East and North Africa. It is thus a transnational work that stands somewhere at the intersection of several literatures, cultures and continents.
However, fairy tales, and not only oriental ones, cannot be studied only from a literary point of view, or if we were to study them only in this limited way, we would miss out on a whole series of precious results that research will show us indirectly. The very centre of gravity of research on folk or folktales is naturally connected with literary science, but also with aesthetics, which is supplemented by semiotics, folklore studies, religious studies, cultural anthropology and psychology. Given this interdisciplinary nature and the wide range of thematic focuses, this research itself becomes a very varied insight into the very depths of the fairy tale soul.

25th Annual International Congress
Mediterranean Studies Association
Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
May 31 - June 3, 2023

On 23 and 24 February 2023, the Department of Latvian and Baltic Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Latvia, hosted the International Scientific Conference "Literature and Religion: sin and salvation", organised by the Faculty of Theology, University of Latvia.

The idea of the conference "Literature and Religion" belongs to Professor Ieva Kalnins together with colleagues from the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Latvia and has been held regularly for more than fifteen years.

Academics from various humanities disciplines have offered scientific papers reflecting the dialogue between theology and literary studies, religious studies and folklore studies, the reception of ancient Christian and Arabic literary ideas, as well as various manifestations of religiosity and religious motifs in fiction.

Los diversos motivos de los cuentos de hadas del Mediterráneo vagaban constantemente y se transmitían a través de una tradición oral que, en cierta medida, reflejaba la memoria nacional colectiva de las diversas literaturas nacionales mediterráneas. Fue el encuentro de motivos familiares de bestiarios (o cuentos de hadas) del sur de Europa con motivos árabes lo que creó historias únicas en la isla de Malta, a caballo entre tres religiones: Islam, Cristianismo y Judaísmo. Aunque gigantes, brujas y dragones y otras criaturas que representan el mal en las historias aparecen en muchos cuentos de Europa, Asia y África, muchos cuentos malteses contienen criaturas míticas endémicas.
Sin embargo, los cuentos de hadas, y no sólo los malteses, deben estudiarse interdisciplinariamente. El propio centro de gravedad de la investigación sobre los cuentos populares o folclóricos está naturalmente vinculado a los estudios literarios, pero también a la estética, que se complementa con la semiótica, los estudios folclóricos, los estudios religiosos, la antropología cultural y la psicología. Dado este carácter interdisciplinar y la amplia gama de enfoques temáticos, esta investigación se convierte en sí misma en una visión muy variada de las profundidades del alma de los cuentos de hadas.

(CIFRE Olomouc, IV Coloquio Internacional de Filologías Románicas para Estudiantes, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Palacký, 27.– 28. 4. 2023, Olomouc, Czech Republic)

Manwel Magri (1851-1907) was an outstanding Maltese linguist, archaeologist and a devout priest who could preach in many languages. Magri always had a reverence and boundless love for his native archipelago and sought to map all Maltese traditions and to collect and record the cultural heritage and fairy tales of the Maltese Islands.

In all, Magri collected 62 tales (some of which have 13 variants) by visiting Maltese citizens and having these tales told. It is generally accepted that fairy tales are an important literary genre and aspect of social history, as they shed light not only on the way people lived, but also on the interactions and important cultural links between very diverse national circumstances. Various fairy tale motifs in the Mediterranean have constantly travelled and been transmitted by oral tradition, which may to some extent mirror the collective national memories of different Mediterranean national literatures. It is the meeting of familiar southern European bestiary (or fairy tale) motifs with Arabic ones that creates unique stories in Malta that straddle three religions: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.

While giants, witches and dragons, and other creatures representing evil in stories, appear in many tales across Europe, Asia and Africa, some Maltese tales contain endemic mythical creatures such as Kaw kaw, Il-Belliegha and L-Imphalla. The traditional Maltese obsession with maintaining spiritual (or ritual) purity meant that many of these creatures were tasked with policing forbidden or restricted areas of human interest and attacking individuals who violated the strict codes of conduct that characterised 19th century Maltese island pre-industrial society.

International conference  IMAGINATION - INSPIRATION - INTERPRETATION, Catholic Theological Faculty of Charles University, Prague, 2022.

Czech Centres are among the key actors in the field of Czech cultural diplomacy and thus also in the cultural sector of Czech foreign policy. They are a contributory organisation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic and currently have 25 foreign branches, mainly in Europe, but also in America and Asia. Equivalents of the Czech centres can be found in other countries (among European centres and institutes we could mention, for example, the British Council, the Italian Istituto Italiano di Cultura or the French Alliance francaise etc.). Although the directive of each centre is identical, the specific activities and functioning are largely autonomous and are mainly governed by the concept of the directors. This should reflect the requirements of the local audience as well as the possibilities and context of the country. Cultural diplomacy thus builds trust, presents the values and interests of a country, and dispels misconceptions about it, with the further aim of spreading the country's reputation in the world. However, for cultural diplomacy to be truly cultural diplomacy and not a tool of power for the ruling class, it needs to be guided by certain criteria that guarantee its independence. However, is it possible today to ensure that cultural centres are completely independent of their country as well as the country in which the centre is located? The cultural diplomacy of small states differs from that practised by large states in several specific ways: these can be categorised according to their objectives, the breadth and intensity of the topics covered, the legitimacy of their activities and the geographical focus of their activities. Czech Centres, as carriers of the Czech Republic's cultural diplomacy, seek to draw the attention of foreign audiences to the specifics of Czech culture and values. Is it therefore possible to build and strengthen good international relations based on common values and the promotion of culture? It certainly is as common values of even very distant cultures can help to find a similar point of view on several essential issues.

Peoples and Cultures of the World, 2nd Edition, International Conference; University of Palermo, Italy. 2022.

Sicily lies at the interface of two continental plates whose seemingly subtle movements are manifested on the island by earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. These eruptions aroused the interest and questions of Sicilians, who tried to answer and interpret various common natural phenomena in this way. The ancient inhabitants of the area around Etna believed that when the gods fought and quarrelled with each other, Etna showed it by its restless behaviour. The ancients subsequently told their interpretation of the volcano's behaviour to their descendants until these stories became tales that were common knowledge to all Sicilians. Among the most famous Sicilian myths associated with Etna are certainly those of Typhon and of Enceladus or Vulcan. But they are certainly not the only ones who have ever been engulfed by this myth-ridden volcano.

International Conference Paths to Idea. Inspiration – Realization – Interpretation; Charles University; Prague, Czech Republic. 2022.

Perhaps the most famous monument of Arabic semi-human literature, the monumental collection A Thousand and One Nights (Alf lajla wa lajla) is standardly classified as so-called Arabic literature, mainly for linguistic reasons, but also because the Arab environment played a major role in its formation. It is worth pointing out, however, that although we can also debate the vagueness and over-generality of the label 'Arabic literature', the collection A Thousand and One Nights contains within it the creations of the popular imagination and fiction of the Orient in a broader sense, from India to Persia to the Middle East and North Africa. It is thus a transnational work that stands somewhere between several literatures.


WRANA, Zuzana. Sbírka Tisíc a jedna noc známá neznámá. Partonyma. Literární čtvrtletník. Pardubice: Filozofická fakulta Univerzity Pardubice, 2021, roč. 10, 39.–40., s. 112–116. ISSN 1805-8558.

Maltese fairy tales can be thought of as a Mediterranean melting pot at the intersection of European and Arabic fairy tale motifs. The tales often combine familiar Mediterranean themes from fairy tales with Arabic ones to create unique stories at the intersection of three religions: Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The reader will also notice the often heavily biased tone of the stories, especially in terms of race or skin colour, and many of the tales could certainly be described as heavily racist or xenophobic, especially towards Africans. Is this just the way that the motifs in the tales naturally evolved and were inspired by the surrounding literatures, or were there other historical and cultural aspects of Malta behind this hatred?

WRANA, Zuzana. Úvod do maltských pohádek. Xenofobní a rasistické prvky ve vybraných maltských pohádkách. In PhDr. Lukáš Šutor, PhD. Ľudová rozprávka v súvislostiach. Zborník príspevkov z medzinárodného vedeckého kolokvia. 1. vyd. Košice: ŠafárikPress, 2024. s. 148-160. ISBN 978-80-574-0273-2.