Šumava between Reality and Fantasy: Czech-German literary and cultural landscape

The topic of the following thesis is an analysis of the changing perception of Šumava as a space in selected Czech and German texts that belong to the literature of the Šumava district. The basis of the thesis is the theory of spatial turn which was developed during the 1980s and is particularly associated with Michel Foucault's concept of "different spaces". Within the framework of this theory, the thesis deals with the arrangement of spaces that are typical of the Šumava region: the space of forest, mountains and borders. Šumava as a literary space is then characterised as a background scenery, a space influencing the plot and a personified space. In the last section of the thesis, two tendencies of landscape representation are highlighted: the fantastic and the realistic. Part of the thesis is also devoted to a literary overview of Czech and German literature from the Šumava district written in the period from the 19th century to the present day