Identity with Reference to Ethics and Dilemma of Agency and Structure in Zadie Smith’s NW

• Thesis title in Czech: Identita ve vztahu k etice a dilematu jednání a struktury v románu NW od Zadie Smith
• Thesis title in English: Identity with Reference to Ethics and Dilemma of Agency and Structure in Zadie Smith’s NW
• Key words: identita, etika, struktura, jednání, postmodernita
• English key words: identity, ethics, structure, agency, postmodernity
• Academic year of topic announcement: 2014/2015
• Thesis type: Bachelor's thesis
• Thesis language: angličtina
• Department: Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury (41-KAJL)
• Supervisor: doc. PhDr. Petr Chalupský, Ph.D.
• Author: hidden - assigned by the advisor, waiting for guarantor's approval
• Date of registration: 03.11.2014
• Date of assignment: 03.11.2014
• Date and time of defence: 18.01.2018 10:00
• Venue of defence: M. Rettigové 4, Praha 1, R124, 124, 1. patro, vlevo, zadní trakt
• Date of electronic submission: 08.12.2017
• Date of proceeded defence: 18.01.2018
• Course: Diploma Thesis (OSZD004)
• Opponents: PhDr. Tereza Topolovská, Ph.D.

References

Ashcroft, Bill, Gareth Griffiths, and Helen Tiffin, eds. The Post-colonial Studies Reader. London: Routledge, 1995.
Bauman, Zygmunt. Life in Fragments. Essays in Postmodern Morality. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 1995.
Childs Peter and James Green. Aesthetics and Ethics in Twenty-First Century British Novels: Zadie Smith, Nadeem Aslam, Hari Kunzru and David Mitchell. London, New York: Bloomsbury, 2013.
Franklin, Ruth. “The Identity Crisis of Zadie Smith.“ New Republic 14 September 2012. 2 November 2014
<http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/magazine/107209/reader-keep>
Marcus, David. “Post-Hysterics: Zadie Smith and the Fiction of Austerity“. Dissent Spring 2013. 2 November 2014 <http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/post-hysterics-zadie-smith-and-the-fiction-of-austerity>.
Nussbaum, Martha. Love’s Knowledge: Essays on Philosophy and Literature. New York: Oxford UP, 1990.
<http://books.google.cz/books?id=oq3POR8FhtgC&printsec=frontcover&hl=cs#v=onepage&q&f=false>
Wood, James. “Tell Me How Does It Feel?” The Guardian 6 October 2001. 2 November 2014 <http://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/oct/06/fiction>.

Preliminary scope of work

Tématem bakalářské práce je zobrazení krize identity v románu NW významné současné britské autorky Zadie Smith. Toto významné téma multikulturní literatury je nahlíženo z několika různých perspektiv s ohledem na narativní a obsahovou mnohovrstevnatost díla. Hledání sebe sama je chápáno nejen jako individuální boj jednotlivce, ale rovněž coby širší společenský problém doby. Práce se tak dotýká jednak problematiky postmoderní etiky a etického rozměru díla, jednak dilematu mezi svobodnou možností aktérů ovlivnit své jednání a mírou determinace ze strany struktury.

Preliminary scope of work in English

The thesis explores the issue of identity crisis in Zadie Smith’s NW. This significant theme of multicultural literature is studied from different points of view in relation to narrative and thematic variety of the novel. The quest for identity is seen not only as a struggle of an individual, but also as a general societal problem of contemporary era. Consequently, the thesis cannot avoid the problematics of postmodern ethics. It deals with the ethical dimension of the work as well as the dilemma of protagonists’ chance to be in control of their action and the degree of determination by the structure, i.e. the society.