1 2 HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ JOURNAL OF ANGLOPHONE STUDIES Published: Department of English Language and Literature Faculty of Education University of Hradec Králové Víta Nejedlého 573 500 03 Hradec Králové Czech Republic ISSN: 2336-3347 Vol. 4 No. 2 2017 Web: http://pdf.uhk.cz/hkjas/ Volume’s editor: Michaela Marková Original illustrations: Ivan Mečl Print: Optys, spol. s r.o., Dolní Životice 3 4 HRADEC KRALOVÉ JOURNAL OF ANGLOPHONE STUDIES Editorial Board James David Clubb, University of Hradec Kralové, Czech Republic Bohuslav Mánek, University of Hradec Kralové, Czech Republic Michaela Marková, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic Helena Polehlová, University of Hradec Kralové, Czech Republic Editor in Chief Jan Suk, University of Hradec Kralové, Czech Republic Advisory Board Richard Burt, University of Florida, Gainesville, USA Yilin Chen, Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan Kacie Hittel Tam, University of Georgia, Athens, USA Ema Jelínková, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic Şevki Kömür, Muğla Sıtkı Koçman University, Kötekli/Muğla, Turkey Pavla Machová, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic Marcela Malá, Technical University of Liberec, Czech Republic Ryuta Minami, Shirayuri College, Tokyo, Japan Atilla Pató, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic Hana Pavelková, Czech Technical University in Prague, Czech Republic Jozef Pecina, University of Ss. Cyril And Methodius, Trnava, Slovak Republic Jaroslav Peprník, Palacký University Olomouc, Czech Republic Věra Tauchmanová, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic Olga Vraštilová, University of Hradec Králové, Czech Republic Yukari Yoshihara, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan 5 Hradec Králové Journal of Anglophone Studies CONTENTS Michaela Marková Cause for Concern and/or Admiration: Introduction to Hradec Králové Journal of Anglophone Studies 8 Martin Procházka Senses against Proportions: Visuality and Vision in the Czech Modernist Reception of William Blake 12 Kateřina Bártová The Environmental Ethics in Cormac McCarthy’s Novels 24 Mark A. Brandon The Cultural Legacy of Aleš Hrdlička: Changing Ideas about Race since 1943 33 Veronika Briatková Freeze-dried Immigrant Heart: Discovering Identity and a Sense of Self in Anya Ulinich’s Graphic Novel Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel 42 Šárka Bubíková Fans of Literature and the Borders of a Text 50 Eva Čoupková The Flying Dutchman as an Early Example of a Nautical Drama 57 Pavlína Flajšarová One Woman Festival on the Verandah: Contemplative Poetry of Jean Binta Breeze 67 Markéta Gregorová Evil Doppelgängers and Matryoshka Dolls: Emotional Landscapes of Edinburgh in Kate Atkinson’s One Good Turn 76 Martin Holub Deconstruction and Metafiction in British and American Comics of the 1980s 86 Ema Jelínková Adapting Jane Austen’s Male Characters in Selected Film Versions of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility 96 6 Tomáš Kačer Shakespeare according to Early American Actor Dynasties 101 Bohuslav Mánek Jiří Levý and Czech Anglophone Studies 111 Lenka Pánková Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea on Page and Screen 117 Hana Pavelková The Impact of Brexit on Universities 122 Jozef Pecina Superheroes in Antebellum Popular Fiction 128 Helena Polehlová Venerable Bede and Stephen of Ripon: Two Accounts of Anglo-Saxon History 134 Alice Tihelková The Human Cost of Austerity in Britain since 2010 140 Calls 148 Notes on Contributors 151 Mission Statement and Guidelines for Submissions 155 Ethical Statement 159 7 Cause for Concern and/or Admiration: Introduction to Hradec Králové Journal of Anglophone Studies The ongoing successful running of the Hradec Králové Conference of Anglophone Studies has proven that the event has established itself as a staple in the field of English cultural, linguistic and literary research. This year’s conference provided platform to academics, school teachers, as well as to postgraduate students, which enabled them to share the outcomes of their work, to discuss important concerns, or simply to find inspiration. The wealth of the discussed topics, which attests to the rich variety of the field, is reflected in the two current issues of the Hradec Králové Journal of Anglophone Studies. The one which you are reading is devoted to cultural and literary topics, the other one explores linguistic and methodological themes. Despite the fact that overall both the issues provide for an uplifting reading, some of the authors indicate that the matters they inform about have caused grave concern. This is particularly the case with the articles in this issue. When the current president of the United States, Donald Trump, announced his decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Change Agreement, public indignation arose. Such a measure confirmed Trump’s unwillingness to deal with the consequences of climate change. To some it actually demonstrated his reluctance to acknowledge this phenomenon existed at all. However, the increasing number and frequency of natural disasters that have recently plagued certain regions of the Earth produce evidence for the contrary. Since the issues related to environmental problems pervade our everyday lives, it is only to be expected that they should manifest themselves in art as well, fiction included. Indeed, numerous authors have dealt with our ethical relationship with the natural environment. Cormac McCarthy is one of the contemporary writers whose literary works are fine specimens of ecocriticism. McCarthy, Kateřina Bártová’s article informs us, does not reflect on the most up to date American environmental politics only. He has been a longstanding advocate of eco-consciousness. The invaluable asset of his works which transcends the literary lies in the urge to appreciate and protect nature. Another contentious question at the centre of current socio-political debate, this time mainly in the European context, are the consequences of the British referendum on Brexit. One of the particularities people in academia are mostly concerned with is the effect Brexit is going to have on education and research in the UK and the EU. What is going to happen with the exchange programmes, and/ or funding of collaborative research? Hana Pavelková whose article addresses this question in the current issue states that despite the initial high levels of anxiety brought about by the said uncertainty, the situation has already calmed down a little. Her contribution lists a number of strategies the European academic community has come up with to avert or lessen the negative impact of Brexit. The prospective withdrawal of the UK from the EU, some might suggest, can be put down as one of the consequences of austerity measures prevalent in politics following the financial crisis of 2008. While the necessity of various budget cuts counts as a widely discussed topic, the human cost of austerity tends to appear on politicians’ agenda less often. Alice Tihelková details implications of austerity measures for the British citizens’ psychological wellbeing effected by the policies of David Cameron’s government. Her article thereby offers a link between such policies and the outcome of the aforementioned referendum on Brexit. An inquiring retrospective angle prevails, however, in all the articles present in this issue even when they do not deal with specifically political questions but inform about the output of literary or cultural figures. The readership has an invaluable opportunity to learn about the work of Czech cultural icons 8 Alois Hrdlička or Jiří Levý; or to find out more about the legacy of significant authors such as the Venerable Bede, William Blake, and William Shakespeare. It is also enlightened about the works of less known female authors: Jean Binta Breeze, Kate Atkinson and Anya Ulinich. Examination of the means Ulinich uses to explore the topic of self and identity, graphic rather than solely written, pervades, in fact, a number of articles in this issue. Jozef Pecina’s piece attests to the fact that not only did the first American comic book superheroes appear already in the late 1930s, but that American popular fiction was populated by characters possessing various superpowers much earlier. Martin Holub’s contribution then elaborates on the field of comics further, writing on the unparalleled fruitfulness of the 1980s and on the introduction of postmodernist themes and devices to the superhero genre. The question of the means seems, indeed, quite an important one. While a number of teachers of English might have voiced their frustration over their students’ unwillingness to read, Šárka Bubíková’s article suggests that the situation might not be as dire as feared. Bubíková writes on the phenomenon of fan fiction and on what challenges it poses to our perception of texts as stable artefacts. The complexity of the matter, and its development through time, becomes even more evident in comparison to the subject discussed in Eva Čoupková’s contribution which deals with the nautical drama. Both articles talk about the intricacies of literary productions and about the inveterate preconceptions concerning literature in general. The topic of the borders of texts is then expanded on in the pieces by Ema Jelínková and Lenka Pánková, which focus on film adaptations of literary works by Jane Austen and Jean Rhys respectively. This short introduction provides just a brief overview of the major topics covered in the articles present in this issue. Their richness, coupled with the contributors’ deep erudition, will surely provide for an interesting reading. It is, as has been mentioned above,