Czech

Marek Nekula - Lucie Rychnovská: Jazyk Smetanových dopisů v dobovém kontextu / The Language of Smetana’s Letters and Diaries in the Context of His Time. / Die Sprache von Smetanas Briefen im Kontext seiner Zeit. In: Bedřich Smetana, Korespondence I (1840-1862). Kritická edice. Hg. Olga Mojžíšová u. Milan Pospíšil. Praha: Národní muzeum – Koniasch Latin Press 2016, 28-73, 123-181, 235-291, 429-444.

The Sedlec Ossuary is a small Roman Catholic chapel, located beneath the Cemetery Church of All Saints (Czech: Hřbitovní kostel Všech Svatých), part of the former Sedlec Abbey in Sedlec, a suburb of Kutná Hora in the Czech Republic.
The ossuary is estimated to contain the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have, in many cases, been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel.

Four enormous bell-shaped mounds occupy the corners of the chapel. An enormous chandelier of bones, which contains at least one of every bone in the human body, hangs from the center of the nave with garlands of skulls draping the vault. Other works include piers and monstrances flanking the altar, a coat of arms of the House of Schwarzenberg, and the signature of František Rint, also executed in bone, on the wall near the entrance.

In 1278, Henry, the abbot of the Cistercian monastery in Sedlec, was sent to the Holy Land by King Otakar II of Bohemia. He returned with a small amount of earth he had removed from Golgotha and sprinkled it over the abbey cemetery. The word of this pious act soon spread and the cemetery in Sedlec became a desirable burial site throughout Central Europe.

In the mid 14th century, during the Black Death, and after the Hussite Wars in the early 15th century, many thousands were buried in the abbey cemetery, so it had to be greatly enlarged.

Around 1400, a Gothic church was built in the center of the cemetery with a vaulted upper level and a lower chapel to be used as an ossuary for the mass graves unearthed during construction, or simply slated for demolition to make room for new burials.

After 1511, the task of exhuming skeletons and stacking their bones in the chapel was given to a half-blind monk of the order.

Between 1703 and 1710, a new entrance was constructed to support the front wall, which was leaning outward, and the upper chapel was rebuilt. This work, in the Czech Baroque style, was designed by Jan Santini Aichel.

In 1870, František Rint, a woodcarver, was employed by the Schwarzenberg family to put the bone heaps into order, yielding a macabre result.
The signature of Rint, also executed in bone, appears on the wall near the entrance to the chapel.

Přednáška základně představuje v současnosti velmi prominentní teorii, která si klade za cíl být sjednocenou teorií funkce mysli a mozku. Hlavním principem je, že se mozek neustále snaží předvídat následující vstupy a díky tomu si tvoří model světa. Teorie se na základě toho snaží vysvětlit takové jevy jako je vnímání, pozornost, učení, tvorba přesvědčení, jednání, ale i např. jáství, schizofrenii či autismus. Stojí na konceptech jako je Bayesovský mozek, prediktivní kódování a tzv. free energy principle. Tento přístup srovnám s přístupy jako je kognitivismus, vtělená kognice a pod.

The article deals with methodological aspects of the diachronic linguistic discipline called history of language. On the example of the history of Czech language it shows and evaluates various types of interdisciplinary relations to other linguistic and non-linguistic disciplines.

The aim of this minireview is to analyse the existing Czech research in the field of Queer Linguistics with the use of the meta-linguistic perspective. After a short introduction of Queer Theory ideas and ideas of Queer Linguistics focusing on the terms queer and heteronormativity, the author deals with the Czech denomination of this field. Against the backdrop of the state of Czech Gender Linguistics, additional circumstances of the current state of Czech Queer Linguistics are presented. Those include (apart from the unavailability of relevant literature in Czech libraries) a limited number of experts dealing with the topic, offering queer-linguistic lectures and seminars at Czech universities. In the next part of the article, the existing publications dealing with various topics from the field of Czech Queer Linguistics are analysed. In the final part of the article, some topics which may extend the publication basis of the field are outlined as they also may help to reflect the current social topics in the Czech Republic.

ENGLISH SUMMARY

The book "Worlds To Be Continued. Analysing Possibilities of Serial Narrativity" (in Czech "Světy na pokračování. Rozbor možností seriálového vyprávění") is built upon the assumption that fictional stories presented as serials have been a longstanding part of nearly everyday experience with narrative arts; capitalizing on the case of TV shows, it presents the intellectual framework, research background and analytical tools to effectively describe, explore and explain serial fiction.

The approach is theoretically grounded in serial fiction poetics, which aims to (1) present a systemic explanation of serial fiction, (2) capture a variability of artistic possibilities of serial narrative and, (3) offer tools for the analysis of actual serial works.

The original concept of seriality serves as foundation for the first and second aims; it remains as mere background for analytical hypotheses with regard to the third aim. Serial fiction poetics, as presented here, assumes the presence of a space-time continuum, which is created by the work through interaction with its audience. This is process is termed a fictional macroworld: narrated stories take place within its conditions and settings. Each episode of a serial constitutes an episodic world; seriality denotes a relationship between the state of affairs in a macroworld at the end of a current episode and the state of affairs in the macroworld at the end of the previous one. Depending on the intensity of connectedness between these two states and the relations of fictional characters to them, the book presents a typology of seriality, which serves as a functional and heuristic categorization, yet not as a substantive one.

(1) In the case of a separate seriality type, no fictional characters share the state of affairs at the end of the current episode with the state of affairs at the end of the previous one (e.g. The Twilight Zone, 1959-1964).
(2) In the case of a non-sequential seriality type, the current episode shares at least one fictional character with the state of the macroworld at the end of the previous one, without any open connection between these episodic worlds on the level of narrative causality (e.g. Columbo, 1968-2003).
(3) In the case of a semisequential seriality type, episodic worlds represent rather closed narrative units but they include at least one causal line of events, which continues in the state of affairs in the following episode (e.g. most of House, M.D., 2004-2012).
(4) In the case of a sequential seriality type, there are prevalent causal connections among episodic worlds on various levels (e.g. most of Dallas, 1978-1991; Pride and Prejudice, 1995; Stranger Things, 2016-?).
(5) Lastly, in the case of a disrupted seriality type, the standing linear composition of episodic worlds is problematized; instead of a line, it creates a network of relations among fictional elements in both states of affairs in a macroworld, where the currently valid state of affairs in a macroworld is being rewritten or retrospectively changed (e.g. Arabela, 1980-1981; Day Break, 2006; Lost, 2004-2010).

Worlds To Be Continued is divided into three parts, which are all based on analyses of a sample of roughly four hundred television serials from various countries and times.

1. SERIALITY AS A SYSTEM

The first part of the book gives a systemic explanation of seriality, using the five types top-down, and in these contexts, it describes ways of mediating information (a narrative outline) and issues of identifying fictional entities across episodes (a fictional macroworld arrangement). Both aspects turned out to be functionally related, and they expose a logic of an inner composition of seriality as a specific kind of fictional representation. The first part stands for a theoretical-descriptive dimension of the serial fiction poetics. It deals with relationships of seriality within a theoretical frame and, while considering its systemic transformations, it aims at a clarity of explanations.

2. SERIALITY AS A REGISTRY OF POSSIBILITIES

The second part of the book explores variable possibilities of serial narrative. It approaches the types of seriality from its material, bottom-up, as it explores preferred registries of artistic solutions both within the types of seriality and in the crime serial as a mode of fictional worldmaking. In these contexts, it studies (1) narrative process through an original question-based model of the analysis of a work, one which is not based on knowledge of a whole work, as in various other narratological concepts, because knowledge of this kind cannot be assumed in case of a serial work. The second part further focuses on (2) a fictional macroworld dynamics, which it explains through an original composite model, understanding a fictional macroworld as a dynamic interaction between various areas of a macroworld (microworlds and subworlds); this dynamics can be utilized to explain its happening. The second part of the book stands for a descriptive-analytical dimension of the serial fiction poetics. It deals with the art of seriality in a creative frame, explores registries of preferred artistic solutions, and aims at a productive depiction of a field of possibilities.

3. SERIALITY AS ANALYTICAL BACKGROUND

It was deemed necessary in the last, analytical part of the book to limit the range of types of seriality considered appropriate for research interest. Despite the descriptive potential of the typology, it represents a limiting set of categories for a dynamic analysis, disregarding the fact that one serial work often uses various types of seriality in a variety of patterns (e.g. Doctor Who, 1963-1988; The X Files, 1993-2016). What is specifically focused upon in the third part of the book are those tools which have so far constituted the basis for an analytical framework (narrative outline, fictional macroworld arrangement, question-based model of a narrative process, and composite model of macroworld dynamics) or its auxiliary categories (a cultural encyclopaedia, immersive spectatorship, and analytical spectatorship). The last two chapters attempt to offer the greatest possible degree of aesthetic sensitivity towards those works analysed and those explanations presented. An analysis of the serial 24 (2001-2010) explores tactics applied to achieve clarity and coherence within a very diverse system of narrative situates the work in the contexts of complex serials and those of action films of motion. The closing analysis of Mr. Bean (1989-1995) as a serial addresses the more general question of how can we systemically analyse the narrative and macroworld of serials that seemingly consist of a number of rather independent sketches. The third part of the book considers the analytical dimension of serial fiction poetics. It explores issues related to the explanatory potential of analyses of individual serial works within an aesthetic frame and aims at a maximum degree of adaptability in relation to the artistic uniqueness of these works.

The three parts of Worlds To Be Continued develop and transform, with respect to these three aims, which differ from each other but are also interrelated, only to answer the questions posed, in correspondence with the individual dimensions of serial fiction poetics, in ways that are at the same time systematic and aesthetically sensitive.

(= Slavonic names for mosque with special regard to Polish, Silesian, Czech and Slovak data). -- Abstract: Even though mosques are a typical element of the Islamic culture the channels through which their designations came into Slavonic (as well as some other European languages) are not really well known. This author divides Slavonic reflexes of the Arabo-Turkic word into eight groups and discusses the reasons for their various shapes. The essay is composed of three parts: (1) Background and Western European data; (2) Slavonic and German; (3) Results and questions. The most interesting aspect is that of a semantic difference between two types of words (meczet ~ mešita ~ mošeja and džamija) and its importance for the etymology, as well as some comments on the source of the Czech and Slovak word on the one hand and the Russian term on the other. In the end of part (2) particular attention is paid to the question whether the Silesian name was borrowed from Polish or from Czech.

The book Dějiny českých médií 20. století (A History of the Czech Media of the 20th Century) focuses on the development of print, radio and television as well as transformations in the press agency ČTK (Czech News Agency), media legislature, censorship practice and the journalism profession starting from the period when the Czech lands were part of Czechoslovakia (over the years 1918– 1992). The publication begins with a short description of Czech society, politics and fi rst and foremost the media prior to the establishment of Czechoslovakia in 1918 and ends with a brief summary of the transformation processes from the Velvet Revolution (1989) up to the dissolution of Czechoslovakia (1992). The core of the book consists of seven basic chapters organised in two different ways. While the longer, relatively stable periods are interpreted through particular types of media, the shorter, turning point periods are presented in direct relationship with the key political transformations. Although the authors did attempt to maintain a similar analytic structure for all of the basic stages of development of the Czech Lands during the demarcated period, that is the First Republic (1918–1938), the Protectorate (1939–1945), the founding period of Communism (1948–1967) as well as the ‘normalization’ period (1969–1989), they did have to keep the specifi c character of the periods in mind. Thus the analysis of the period of the First Republic focuses on the mutual links between political parties and media organisations while the chapter on the Protectorate makes mention of the phenomenon of journalistic collaboration. Then, the part discussing the fi rst decade of rule of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia analyses in detail the economic conditions which defi ned the media system while fi nally the ‘normalization’ period chapter places an emphasis on the development of informal communication channels of an oppositional or exile structure. These extensive analytical sections are linked up by the more dynamic, briefer, and narratively conceived divisions depicting the periods of the Second Republic (1938–1939), post-war Czechoslovakia (1945– 1948) and the Prague Spring (1968–1969). These briefer chapters serve to sketch in the historical context of the essential changes in the political, social, economic and cultural conditions which infl uenced the way media functioned in the Czech Lands. Each of the chapters is introduced by a list containing the key events and issues of the particular period. The chapters conclude with a summary reviewing in detail the most essential aspects of the analysis. Each chapter is supplemented by several recommended books providing interested readers with more information on the subject. The ends of the chapters also contain tables presenting the most important data characterising the state of the media and society within the relevant time periods.

Houska Castle is an early Gothic castle, 47 kilometres north of Prague, in the Czech Republic. It is one of the best preserved castles of the period. Some notable features of the castle include a predominantly Gothic chapel, green chamber with late-Gothic paintings, and a knight's drawing room.

Houska Castle, and most specifically the chapel, was constructed over a large hole in the ground that is allegedly a "gateway to Hell", which was allegedly so deep no one could see the bottom of it.[6] Animal-human hybrids were reported to have crawled out of it, and dark-winged, otherworldly creatures flew in its vicinity. Legend has it that when construction began in the castle, all of the prisoners that were sentenced to death were offered a pardon if they consented to be lowered by rope into the hole, and report back on what they saw. When the first person was lowered, he began screaming after a few seconds, and when pulled back to the surface he looked as if he had aged 30 years. He had grown wrinkles and his hair had turned white.

According to the Prague Tourism web site, the castle is reputed to have various types of ghosts, "a bullfrog/human creature, a headless horse, and an old woman" as well as the remains of "demonic beasts who escaped the pit".

The castle was not built as a residence or as a protective sanctuary, but was instead built because the hole was thought to be a gateway to hell. Thus, by constructing the Gothic building's defensive walls facing inward, they were able to keep the demons trapped in the lower level's thickest walls closest to the hole of the castle.

Folklore considers this castle to cover one of the gateways to Hell, built to prevent demons (trapped in lower levels) from reaching the rest of the world

Louis Couperus (1863-1923) patří dodnes mezi nejdůležitější a stále čtené autory nizozemské literatury. Popularita jednotlivých knih toho všestranného autora se v průběhu doby ovšem měnila. Couperus patří mezi skutečné gentlemany nizozemské literatury. byl vždy zdvořilým, vzorně oblečeným zástupcem haagské haute bourgeoisie, opravdový dandy. Podobně jako jeho čeští současníci, symbolisté (např. Emanuel Lešehrad z Lešehradu), se zabýval gnózí a theosofií.
Ač měl mladý Couperus jako básník blízko k první generaci moderní nizozemské literatury (tzv. osmdesátníci), záhy se vyvinul v plodného romanopisce, jehož romány opakovaně získávaly literární ceny a brzy byly překládány do různých jazyků. Velmi cestoval, jako mnozí lidé z vyšších nizozemských kruhů pobýval také v tehdejší kolonii, Nizozemské Indii (dnešní Indonésie), kde se také odehrává část jeho románů.

The article presents current topic in Czech preschool education. Czech preschool education has been dealing with placing of two years old children to kindergartens. There is economic and social pressure for receiving two years old children into kindergartens, however, contemporary pre-primary education is for children from three until six or seven years old in the Czech Republic. The network of facilities caring and education for children a up to three years of age are missing in the Czech Republic. The article presents results of qualitative research focusing on adaptation of two years old children from teachers' perspective. The methods of questionnaire and observation were used. The research brings findings on kindergarten teachers working with two years old children in Czech kindergartens and how children develop in current conditions.