Gothic and Realistic Features in the Works of Flannery O´Connor and Carson Mccullers

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Gothic and Realistic Features in the Works of Flannery O´Connor and Carson Mccullers Jihočeská univerzita v Českých Budějovicích Pedagogická fakulta Katedra Diplomová práce Gothic and Realistic Features in the Works of Flannery O´Connor and Carson McCullers Spojení gotických a realistických prvků v prózách Flannery O´Connorové a Carson McCullersové Vypracovala: Bc. Zuzana Záhorová Vedoucí práce: PhDr. Kamila Vránková, Ph.D. České Budějovice 2021 Prohlašuji, že svoji diplomovou práci jsem vypracovala samostatně pouze s použitím pramenů a literatury uvedených v seznamu citované literatury. Prohlašuji, že v souladu s § 47b zákona č. 111/1998 Sb. v platném znění souhlasím se zveřejněním své diplomové práce, a to v nezkrácené podobě archivovaných pedagogickou fakultou elektronickou cestou ve veřejně přístupné části databáze STAG provozované Jihočeskou univerzitou v Českých Budějovicích na jejích internetových stránkách, a to se zachováním mého autorského práva k odevzdanému textu této kvalifikační práce. Souhlasím dále s tím, aby toutéž elektronickou cestou byly v souladu s uvedeným ustanovením zákona č. 111/1998 Sb. zveřejněny posudky školitele a oponentů práce i záznam o průběhu a výsledku obhajoby kvalifikační práce. Rovněž souhlasím s porovnáním textu mé kvalifikační práce s databází kvalifikačních prací Theses.cz provozovanou Národním registrem vysokoškolských kvalifikačních prací a systémem na odhalování plagiátů. V Českých Budějovicích dne . Zuzana Záhorová Acknowledgement I would like to thank PhDr. Kamila Vránková, Ph.D. for her valuable advice, comments and support. Poděkování Na tomto místě bych ráda poděkovala vedoucí práce PhDr. Kamile Vránkové, Ph.D. za její cenné rady, připomínky a podporu. Anotace: Diplomová práce se zaměřuje na komparativní analýzu děl dvou autorek americké jižanské literatury – Flannery O’Connor a Carson McCullers. Zvláštní důraz je kladen na posouzení vztahu gotických a realistických prvků v jejich dílech. Východiskem analýzy je charakteristika jižanské gotické literatury (hlavně místa a prostředí), na jejímž základě jsou stanoveny hlavní znaky tohoto žánru. Samostatné kapitoly jsou věnovány životní zkušenosti obou autorek. Vlastní komparativní analýza je zaměřena na charakteristiku postav a jejich vztahů, funkci prostředí, význam groteskních prvků, spojení tragična a komična, vliv minulosti, úlohu náboženství a otázku dobra a zla. Klíčová slova: Jih, gotika, groteskno, osamělost, postižení, šílenec, vykoupení, bizarnost, zděšení, černoch, dospívání Abstract: The diploma thesis focuses on a comparative analysis of Flannery O’Connor’s and Carson McCullers’ Southern Gothic literary works. Special emphasis is put on the relationship between the gothic and realistic features. The comparative analysis is based on the characterisation of Southern Gothic literature (the landscape and environment as the main focus), which leads to the specification of its main features. Individual chapters contain O’Connor’s and McCullers’ biographies. The comparative analysis itself concentrates on the description of the heroes and their relationships, the function of landscape, the meaning of grotesque motifs, the connection of traditional and comical features, the influence of past, the role of religion and the issue of good and evil. Keywords: South, gothic, grotesque, loneliness, disability, freak, redemption, bizarre, terror, black man, adolescence Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 1 1. TERMINOLOGY .......................................................................................................................... 3 1.1. THE GOTHIC ................................................................................................................................ 3 1.2. THE FEELING OF TERROR ................................................................................................................ 4 1.3. THE GROTESQUE .......................................................................................................................... 4 1.3.1. Flora’s Approach .............................................................................................................. 4 1.3.2. Spiegel’s Approach ........................................................................................................... 5 1.3.3. O’Connor’s Approach ....................................................................................................... 6 1.4. CORELATION BETWEEN THE GROTESQUE AND TERROR ......................................................................... 7 2. GOTHIC STORY FEATURES .......................................................................................................... 8 2.1.1. Punter’s Themes ............................................................................................................... 8 2.1.2. Bridget M. Marshall’s Approach ...................................................................................... 8 3. GROTESQUE CHARACTER ......................................................................................................... 11 3.1. SPIEGEL’S THE GROTESQUE ........................................................................................................... 11 3.2. HAAR’S REPULSION, FEAR AND OTHER FEELINGS .............................................................................. 12 4. HISTORY OF GOTHIC LITERATURE ............................................................................................ 13 4.1. EUROPEAN CLASSIC GOTHIC FICTION .............................................................................................. 13 4.1.1. Horace Walpole.............................................................................................................. 14 4.1.2. The Gothic Revival .......................................................................................................... 14 4.1.3. The Gothic During the Industrialization ......................................................................... 15 4.1.4. Decadence and Gothic ................................................................................................... 15 4.2. AMERICAN GOTHIC ARISES ........................................................................................................... 16 4.2.1. Charles Brockden Brown ................................................................................................ 16 4.2.2. Southern Myth and Edgar Allan Poe .............................................................................. 17 4.2.3. Antebellum Gothic ......................................................................................................... 17 4.2.4. Post Bellum Gothic ......................................................................................................... 18 4.2.5. Modern and Postmodern Southern Gothic .................................................................... 18 4.2.6. Gothic and Southern Renaissance .................................................................................. 19 5. REALISM .................................................................................................................................. 21 5.1. HISTORICAL CONTEXT .................................................................................................................. 21 5.2. REALISM IN AMERICAN LITERATURE ................................................................................................ 22 5.3. REALISM AND SOUTHERN WRITERS ................................................................................................ 22 6. FLANNERY O’CONNOR ............................................................................................................. 24 6.1. BIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................... 24 7. CARSON MCCULLERS ............................................................................................................... 45 7.1. BIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................................... 45 8. THE RELATION OF O’CONNOR AND MCCULLERS ...................................................................... 79 8.1. O’CONNOR ON MCCULLERS ......................................................................................................... 79 8.2. MCCULLERS ON O’CONNOR ......................................................................................................... 79 8.3. SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES ..................................................................................................... 80 9. DEFINING CHARACTERS IN THE WORKS OF O’CONNOR AND MCCULLERS ............................... 82 9.1. THE LONELY AND UNWANTED ....................................................................................................... 82 9.1.1. McCullers’ Wedding Members and Lonely Hunters ....................................................... 82 9.1.2. O’Connor’s Bizarre and Ambivalent ............................................................................... 88 9.2. THE MAIMED ............................................................................................................................. 92 9.2.1. McCullers’ Lonely and Hunched ..................................................................................... 92 9.2.2. O’Connor’s Ambiguous Characters ................................................................................ 93
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