Marie Kudeříková: The Vitality of Myth and Human Experience

This diploma thesis focuses on Marie Kudeříková (1921-1943), an almost forgotten figure of the Czech resistance to Nazi occupation, but previously a significant heroine of the Czech state socialist era. It observes her representations in various stages since 1946 to the present and scrutinizes the vitality of her myth and her personal life experience. The thesis tries to show how her life experience was connected to the officially constructed socialist myth, while this fact had determined her following representations and reading of the figure. Hence it shows how the myth of Marie Kudeříková was given by the changes of the official discourse, cultural policy and contemporary ideologies. The mythical constructions of the state socialism are then compared with post-communist representations of her person