The Boundary between the Archetype and Stereotype in the Love Romance Stories

The aim of this thesis is to cover the structure and functioning of archetypes, stereotypes or emblems in selected genres of popular literature - the romance novels and comics. A similar structure of mythization in the popular genres is revealed through mutual comparison. Selected works are analyzed on the basis of Jungian psychology and its concepts of the unconscious and the archetypal image. The original myths, fairy tales, other popular genres and some works of the European fictional tradition are involved in the comparison. Among others, this thesis also draws from approaches included in various works of sociology, ethnography, Religious Studies and feminist literary criticism. The comparative analysis has shown that provable connection between popular literature and the original myth structures can be traced and the collective unconscious serves as a transmission medium. The genres of popular literature are worthy of further research because they reflect not only contemporary social situation but also essential structures of the human psyche. This thesis clearly demonstrates that the romance novels and comics are valid parts of the literary sphere and suggests one of the possible ways suitable for further study of the subject