Fantastic Society: Social Themes in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld
| Thesis title in Czech: | Fantastická společnost: Společenská témata v zeměplošských knihách Terryho Pratchetta |
|---|---|
| Thesis title in English: | Fantastic Society: Social Themes in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld |
| Key words: | Terry Pratchett|Zeměplocha|fantasy|rasismus|náboženství|feminismus |
| English key words: | Terry Pratchett|Discworld|fantasy|racism|religion|feminism |
| Academic year of topic announcement: | 2019/2020 |
| Thesis type: | Bachelor's thesis |
| Thesis language: | angličtina |
| Department: | Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures (21-UALK) |
| Supervisor: | Colin Steele Clark, M.A. |
| Author: | hidden - assigned and confirmed by the Study Dept. |
| Date of registration: | 15.01.2020 |
| Date of assignment: | 15.01.2020 |
| Administrator's approval: | not processed yet |
| Confirmed by Study dept. on: | 10.02.2020 |
| Date and time of defence: | 03.09.2020 00:00 |
| Date of electronic submission: | 11.08.2020 |
| Date of proceeded defence: | 03.09.2020 |
| Submitted/finalized: | committed by student and finalized |
| Opponents: | Mgr. Miroslava Horová, Ph.D. |
| Guidelines |
| Terry Pratchett is best known as the author of the Discworld series. It is a series of more than forty books and several short stories set in a world that is often described as humorous fantasy. Pratchett, however, uses this genre and its imaginative and satiric opportunities not only to tell stories, but also to mediate his own views on some of the biggest social themes such as feminism, religion, or racism. He uses the stereotypical fantasy roles and settings and subverts them to point out real world problems and issues. The fantasy genre enables Pratchett to present his views to a broader audience, and to create a world mirroring and distorting the real one as to show the importance and impact of these themes on society. This will be illustrated mainly on the books Equal Rites, Jingo, Monstrous Regiment, Thud!, and Small Gods, although Pratchett’s other works may also be referenced. This thesis aims to evaluate Pratchett’s views on these topics, their presentation in his works, and assess whether or not they constitute a part of his literary thesis. |
| References |
| Primary literature Pratchett, Terry. Equal Rites. London: Transworld Publishers Ltd, 1987. Pratchett, Terry. Jingo. London: Transworld Publishers Ltd, 1997. Pratchett, Terry. Monstrous Regiment. London: Transworld Publishers Ltd, 2004. Pratchett, Terry. Thud! London: Transworld Publishers Ltd, 2005. Pratchett, Terry. Small Gods. London: Transworld Publishers Ltd, 1995. Secondary Literature Butler, Andrew M., Edward James and Farah Mendelsohn. Terry Pratchett: Guilty of Literature. Baltimore: Old Earth Books, 2004. Cabell, Craig. Terry Pratchett - The Spirit of Fantasy. London: John Blake Publishing Ltd, 2012 Hunt, Peter, and Millicent Lenz. Alternative Worlds in Fantasy Fiction. London:A&C Black, 2004 Pratchett, Terry. A Slip of the Keyboard. London: Transworld Publishers Ltd, 2015. Rana, Marion, ed. Terry Pratchett’s Narrative Worlds: From Giant Turtles to Small Gods. Cham: Springer International Publishing AG, 2019. Swinfen, Ann. In Defence of Fantasy: A Study of the Genre in English and American Literature since 1954. Abingdon: Routledge, 2019. Tolkien, John Ronald Reuel. Tree and Leaf. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2011. |