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  • af Juan de Urda
    583,95 kr.

    Este volumen es un estudio sobre la obra de Francisco Zamora, miembro de la primera generación de autores de Guinea Ecuatorial después de su independencia. Su ficción, su poesía y su ensayo son tan ricos que permiten un atractivo análisis sobre la poscolonialidad, el exilio, la hibridez personal y creativa y la explotación del continente africano. Es la suya una producción complejísima y no sólo porque abarca múltiples géneros y subgéneros: Cuando escribe sobre África en general, es una voz poderosa y amena que denuncia el racismo y la discriminación del inmigrante. Pero, cuando se centra en Guinea Ecuatorial, es una voz nostálgica que añora y re-crea.

  • af Beatriz Alvarez Garcia
    864,95 kr.

    En tiempos de la Guerra de los Treinta Años, el conflicto hispano-inglés de 1625-1630 supuso una amenaza potencial para la estabilidad de la Monarquía Hispánica, debido al riesgo de que se formalizara en alianzas geopolíticas más amplias a través de coaliciones internacionales. Las estrategias para aunar seguridad, reputación y neutralidad se convirtieron en un aspecto fundamental de la política internacional hispánica, articulada a través de sus agentes diplomáticos. Este libro analiza la guerra y la posterior paz desde la perspectiva de la interacción entre diplomacia y opinión pública y las dinámicas que surgieron en torno a ellas, demostrando cómo los conflictos menores tuvieron una dimensión estratégica, político-diplomática y comunicativa mucho más amplia. Con el análisis de las diferentes aristas de la comunicación política del conflicto y la negociación, se ponen de relieve el surgimiento de discursos retóricos, la capacidad performativa del poder desplegado por los diversos agentes en su dimensión pública y la importancia del control de la información y los mecanismos de representación.

  • af Gian Luca Gardini
    839,95 kr.

    This book explores three key issues to understand the redefinition of relations between the European Union (EU) and Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC): the international context, foreign policies of EU member states towards Latin America, and crucial topics on the EU-LAC agenda. At the theoretical level, the book aims to rebalance two debates on EU-LAC relations. First, in the debate between agency and structure, the book stresses that context is a limiting factor of the agent¿s preferences and actions. Second, in the debate between values and interests, it finds that interests should not be made invariably dependent on values.At the empirical level, two aspects stand out. First, the change and continuity in EU member states¿ foreign policies also impact the EU¿s own role in the continent. Second, new topics on the bi-regional and global agenda have the potential to redefine the relations between the two regions.At a time of European alleged decline, this volume argues that the EU remains a highly significant actor in Latin America and the Caribbean."EU-Latin American relations are in a phase of redefinition. This timely book addresses both the structural obstacles and the prospects and areas for deeper cooperation. Against the background of diverging positions of Latin America and the EU in international politics, the proposed decoupling of political and functional agendas should be considered."Detlef Nolte, German Institute für Global and Area Studies (GIGA)"This book makes an original and significant contribution to the study of the relations between the European Union and Latin American and the Caribbean. The volume blends wisely the right doses of scholarly research and policymaking sensitivity, thus making for an innovative read for academics and an insightful contribution for practitioners."Andrés Malamud, University of Lisbon

  • af Wolfgang Jacobmeyer
    863,95 kr.

    Die Neuordnung des preußischen Gymnasiums im 19. Jahrhundert stellte eine unvergleichliche Reform dar. Durch seine Einheitsschule für höhere Bildung, sorgfältige staatliche Überwachung und beständige Bildungsprinzipien erlangte es anerkannten Erfolg. Von entscheidender Bedeutung waren die Lehrkräfte: Sie stammten oft aus nicht-akademischen Verhältnissen, doch ihre wissenschaftliche Kompetenz und hingebungsvolle Berufsverpflichtung waren unumstritten. Diese Studie analysiert die Perspektiven, Qualifikationen und soziale Herkunft der Lehrer sowie ihre Integration in das Gymnasiumssystem. Zusätzlich wird die Interpretation zeitgenössischer Veränderungen und die politischen Visionen der Lehrkräfte beleuchtet. Als Hauptquelle dienen die wertvollen und oft übersehenen Jahresberichte der Gymnasien (¿Schulprogramme¿).

  • af Daniel Scott
    891,95 kr.

    The beginning of the 21st century saw the rise of "New" Atheism and a resulting conflict with Theists ¿ at the same time as the resurgence of fantasy in popular culture. This volume analyses the impact of Theist and Atheist thought on the narratology of four highly popular works of contemporary fantastic fiction. In doing so, the work demonstrates how the ideological stances and the associated patterns of thought colour the novels¿ stylistic and narrative devices. The book also presents a new conditional genre metric that not only helps overcome previous impasses within fantastic genre categories but also allows insight into the aforementioned patterns of Atheist and Theist thinking.

  • af Yi Zhao
    838,95 kr.

    ¿Das hohe und dynamische Wachstum der chinesischen Wirtschaft und der erfolgreiche Übergang von einer zentral geplanten Wirtschaft zur Marktwirtschaft in den letzten vier Jahrzehnten gehen mit der rasanten Entwicklung und einer großen Transformation des chinesischen Bankensektors einher. Dies hat zur Folge, dass sich das chinesische Bankenaufsichtsrecht zu einem interessanten Forschungsgebiet entwickelt. Um aussagekräftigere Untersuchungsergebnisse zu erzielen, wurde das deutsche Bankenaufsichtsrecht unter dem Einfluss der europäischen Vorgaben als Vergleichsgegenstand ausgesucht. Die rechtsvergleichende Reise geht von der historischen Entwicklung der Bankenaufsicht aus ins geltende Bankenaufsichtssystem über die Marktzugangsaufsicht hinaus bis hin zur laufenden Aufsicht über die Bankgeschäfte, um die Suche nach einer besseren Bankenaufsicht zu inspirieren. Diese Dissertation wurde mit dem Dr. Feldbausch-Förderpreis im Jahr 2023 ausgezeichnet.

  • af Julian Lahner
    651,95 kr.

    Das Buch ist die erste historische Darstellung des Tiroler Ständewesens in der zweiten Hälfte des 18. Jahrhunderts. Es wird darin en détail die institutionelle und personelle Entwicklungsgeschichte der Tiroler Landschaft im Zeitalter des Aufgeklärten Absolutismus der Habsburgermonarchie rekonstruiert. Dadurch wird nachgewiesen, dass die vier Stände ¿ Klerus, Adel, Bürger und Bauern ¿ ihren regionalen Herrschaftsanspruch während der maria-theresianischen und josephinsichen Reformära behaupten konnten. Mit der vorliegenden Monographie wird somit der regionalhistorische Topos von der ¿Entmachtung" und dem ¿politischen Stillleben" des Tiroler Ständewesens im späten 18. Jahrhundert widerlegt und gezeigt, dass es den Landesherren nicht gelang, die landständische Selbstverwaltung zu zerstören.

  • af Merle Wilm
    734,95 kr.

    Virtuelle Sitzungen und Beschlussfassungen haben für das Betriebsverfassungsrecht in den letzten Jahren immer mehr an Bedeutung gewonnen. Die hierdurch entfachte Diskussion über die Zulässigkeit und Umsetzung virtueller Beschlussfassungen mündete 2021 in der Aufnahme neuer Regelungen durch das BRModG. Die Autorin arbeitet zunächst die alte Rechtslage hinsichtlich der Zulässigkeit virtueller Beschlussfassungen im Betriebsverfassungsrecht auf, bevor sie auf die Umsetzung der neu aufgenommenen Regelungen eingeht. Ausgangspunkt ist die virtuelle Beschlussfassung des Betriebsrats nach den neuen Regelungen in § 30 II, III BetrVG. Ausgehend davon erörtert die Autorin zudem die Möglichkeit anderer betriebsverfassungsrechtlicher Organe, virtuelle Sitzungen und Beschlussfassungen wirksam durchzuführen. Dabei stehen insbesondere solche Organe im Fokus, die der Gesetzgeber bei der Aufnahme neuer Regelungen durch das BRModG außer Acht gelassen hat.

  • af Adil Akinci
    897,95 kr.

    This volume is a collection of empirical and theoretical research papers regarding Economics, Public Finance and Business written by researchers from several different universities. The studies include a wide range of topics from issues in Economics, Public Finance and Business. The book is aimed at educators, researchers, and students interested in Public Finance, Business and Economics.

  • af Marcel Bienhüls
    583,95 kr.

    Im Juli 2017 wurde in Deutschland die Möglichkeit der selbstständigen Vermögensabschöpfung eingeführt. Dabei handelt es sich um ein Novum unter den Abschöpfungsinstrumenten, denn der von der Einziehung Betroffene muss einer Straftat nicht überführt sein. Es genügt der Verdacht, dass der sichergestellte Gegenstand aus einer Straftat herrührt. In der vorliegenden Arbeit wird dieses neue Abschöpfungsinstrument auf seine Vereinbarkeit mit strafprozessualen und verfassungsrechtlichen Prinzipien und Garantien überprüft. Im Fokus stehen dabei die Spannungen mit der Unschuldsvermutung, dem Eigentumsgrundrecht, der freien richterlichen Beweiswürdigung und dem Rückwirkungsverbot. Zudem wird der Frage nachgegangen, ob diese neue Maßnahme eine strafähnliche Wirkung zeitigt.

  • af Zuleika Rodgers
    694,95 kr.

    «This collection marks the coming of age of Irish Jewish Studies. Beautifully curated by Zuleika Rodgers and Natalie Wynn, it brings together the best of recent scholarship, covering history, politics, literature and everyday life. Taken together these essays show the complexity of both the Irish Jewish experience and responses to them.»(Tony Kushner, James Parkes Professor of Jewish/non-Jewish relations, University of Southampton)«A refreshingly nuanced exploration of perceptions and self-perceptions of Irish Jews. The authors interrogate political, religious, economic, social and cultural discourses from the eighteenth century to contemporary times to unravel less-familiar expressions of antisemitism, alongside occasional philosemitism, and offer critical insights on the many reimaginations of Christian Ireland¿s long-standing migrant Other minority.»(Guy Beiner, Sullivan Chair of Irish Studies, Boston College)Discourse, both scholarly and popular, around the Jews of Ireland has increased in recent years and this volume of essays takes up the challenge of placing it within the framework of Jewish historiography and the study of Jewish history and culture. The focus of the volume is to provide a critical re-evaluation of the study of Irish Jews looking at key areas such as Irish Jewish historiography, communal traditions, antisemitism, nationalism (Jewish and Irish) and representations in popular media. Underlying the contributions is the desire to reassess the ways in which traditional scholarship and representation of Irish Jews have been shaped by uninterrogated narratives and a lack of understanding and sensitivity to the context of Jewish history and the Jewish experience.

  • af Eduard Vlad
    1.073,95 kr.

    The book explores the key concerns in the United States of America, as well as around the world today, related to the significance of ecology, eco-consciousness and climate change.The chapters by individual authors reflect the topics both from a theoretical and from an ecocritical perspective. In the former case, they analyze effects of the present ecological crises (i.e. climate change and pandemics), the emergence and development of environmental humanities, posthumanism, ecocriticism, ecofeminism, and ecotheology. In the latter case, they offer readings of American literary texts of the 20th and 21st centuries as significant case studies.

  • af Kamil Zapa¿nik
    824,95 kr.

    During the last three decades, Europe has undergone numerous periods of economic and political instability. The process of European integration, once hailed as a beacon of a peaceful co-operation between many, if not all, European nations appears to be stagnating, giving rise to notoriously more frequent manifestations of xenophobic violence, nationalism and right-wing fundamentalism. This book evaluates the portrayal of the migrant Other in selected examples of contemporary French and German cinema from the period 1989¿2020 in the context of the ongoing debate about European identity and its socio-political significance. It focuses on the films of some of Europe¿s most prolific contemporary filmmakers, such as Michael Haneke, Claire Denis and Fatih Akin. It examines cinemäs importance not only in reference to various theoretical evaluations of the concept of European identity, but also many notable events that have taken place in Europe in the last thirty years, such as the collapse of the ¿Iron Curtain¿ in 1989, the historical expansion of the European Union in 2004, the migration ¿crisis¿ of 2015, ¿Brexit¿ and the war in Ukraine.

  • af Chao Qingchen
    1.057,95 kr.

    China announced the national goal of achieving carbon peaking before 2030 and carbon neutrality before 2060. The great cause of achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality requires relentless efforts of the whole society. 100 Q&As on Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality explains in simple language some core and key issues about achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in the form of Q&As. This book will enhance the recognition and awareness of achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality among officials at all levels, enterprise personnel, and the general public.

  • af Steven L. Bindeman
    1.120,95 kr.

    Phenomenology and the Creative Process explores the subject of creativity from a vast range of perspectives. While the emphasis is placed on fundamental ideas taken from phenomenological philosophy and its precursors, the book also engages with related issues from the fields of psychology, physics, narrative studies, art, literature, cognitive science and neuroscience. Author Steven L. Bindeman¿s objective is to employ an analysis of creativity from the dual perspectives of "identity" and "difference," in order to develop a pluralistic and open-ended understanding of the creative process. His central position is that while creativity can and should be studied as a physical, measurable phenomenon, we need to integrate quantitative studies with a phenomenological perspective that enables us to appreciate the distinctive experiential features of creative activities in order to fully appreciate the complex nature of the creative process.Bindeman¿s approach is important in that it recognizes the value of phenomenological studies without being afraid to draw insights from other fields of inquiry.This book thus offers unique analysis of creative individuals and works, applying insights from phenomenological philosophers to enrich our understanding of the creative processes of great artists, philosophers, and scientists.

  • af Zhu Lingfei
    1.112,95 kr.

    Located in Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, Yushichang is a typical village of the Pumi ethnic group. With a current population of more than 360, the village has been home to the Pumi people for more than 500 years. Over the first six decades of the People¿s Republic of China, Yushichang village has managed to protect both its ecological environment and the Pumi culture. Drawing on a rich trove of oral history and ethnographic studies, this book tries to understand, at both the micro and macro levels, how this population has navigated the tension between tradition and modernity and what resources it might bring to bear to meet future challenges.

  • af Derrique Degagné
    557,95 - 1.390,95 kr.

  • af María Ángeles Naval López
    973,95 kr.

    Este libro propone el estudio transnacional de las literaturas transicionales en Europa. El corpus de la literatura transicional está formado por aquellos textos literarios cuya trama incorpora el relato del proceso de transición política en uno o varios de los países que lo experimentaron, ya en el Sur de Europa (1974-1975) o ya en el Este (1989-1991). Se propone una cronología conjunta para este estudio que vincula al año 1968 el origen cultural e ideológico de las transiciones políticas y sus relatos. La caída del Muro y la disolución de la Unión Soviética (1989¿1991) constituyen un segundo momento en la articulación de los relatos transicionales. Por último, la crisis financiera de 2007 trajo la reescritura y resignificación de los procesos transicionales, que sigue produciéndose en la actualidad.Este es un libro de estudios literarios atravesado por consideraciones sobre los géneros, formas y temas que cifran la experiencia histórica de haber alcanzado la democracia en Europa. El interés de estas páginas es histórico, ético y estético.

  • af Daniela Hofmann
    883,95 kr.

    Immer weniger Menschen sind bereit, sich in leitenden Positionen ehrenamtlich zu engagieren. Welche Motive haben Ehrenamtliche, um beispielsweise Vorstandsposten in eingetragenen Vereinen zu übernehmen? Kennen Ehrenamtliche ihre Haftungsrisiken und wie beeinflusst dieses Wissen ihre Motivation? Diesen Fragen geht die Autorin nach. Leitfadengestützte Tiefeninterviews mit sechs Vorstandsmitgliedern eingetragener Vereine, welche mittels qualitativer Inhaltsanalyse und Codierung ausgewertet wurden, liefern bemerkenswerte Erkenntnisse. Des Weiteren konnten hinsichtlich ihrer Motivation drei Typen von Ehrenamtlichen identifiziert werden. Empfehlungen unter anderem hinsichtlich der Implemen-tierung der Typenbildung in das Personalmanagement von NPOs runden die Arbeit ab.

  • af Ha¿im Özüdo¿Ru
    830,95 kr.

    This book is the fourth volume of Social and Economic Studies within the Framework of Emerging Global Developments. It includes empirical and theoretical original chapters written by researchers from different countries and universities. The target audience of this book is researchers, students and academics who are interested in social and economic studies.

  • af Paulina Mazurkiewicz
    761,95 kr.

    L¿ouvrage multidimensionnel « Entre liberté et contrainte dans la recherche linguistique » explore la relation complexe entre ces deux notions opposées. Dans les dix articles rassemblés, les auteurs utilisent des méthodes d¿analyse de corpus, d¿études de collocations ou d¿approches syntaxiques et sémantiques pour examiner la construction du sens et les combinaisons lexicales relatives à la liberté. Ils analysent également les contraintes cognitives dans l¿emploi des prépositions et étudient l¿expression discursive de la liberté et de la contrainte dans des contextes variés. Ce recueil offre ainsi aux linguistes des perspectives novatrices sur la relation entre liberté et contrainte dans le langage humain.

  • af Michael B. Hinner
    1.401,95 kr.

    This book examines various aspects of the business world from the perspective of communication. After all, no business is possible without communication. A statement that ought to be an axiom because communication is central to the interaction of people; hence, also interactions at the workplace, amongst business partners, and with customers. And when the people come from different cultures, then the role of culture assumes an important role as well. But instead of pursuing a typical management perspective, the authors in this book examine various business and work-related contexts from an intercultural, general communication, and linguistic perspective. A perspective that is often not in the focus of classic management literature ¿ probably because it is assumed that everyone can communicate. But what if the communicative efforts are ineffective? And what if the interactors are unaware of this? That is why communication needs to be considered and understood so as to be more effective and more productive. This book follows an interdisciplinary approach to communication and, thus, offers some useful insights to such interactions and contexts. The contributing authors provide literally a global perspective because they come from different parts of the world and from different scientific disciplines. The book is divided into six parts: The first five chapters offer a general introduction to culture and communication. This is followed by four chapters examining various aspects of worldview and perception. Next come six chapters dealing with a selection of topics revolving around the meaning of messages. The next five chapters take a closer look at communication at the workplace. This is followed by three chapters exploring politeness and emotion at work. The book ends with five chapters considering communication competence and cultural adaptation. The book, thus, offers some unique insights to the world of business from the perspective of culture and communication.

  • af Kazimierz Gry¿enia
    770,95 kr.

    In his book, Kazimierz Gry¿enia presents the changes which occurred in the understanding of analogy in modern scholasticism, with particular reference to the views of the leading representative of the period, Francisco Suárez. As a representative of the newly established Jesuit order, Suárez was not bound to any previous philosophical tradition and sought to develop a universal system of philosophy.This book acquaints the reader with the complexity of modern scholasticism, and presents Suárez¿s philosophy as a significant link in the consolidation of essentialist and ontological tendencies. It also poses the question of whether philosophy conceived and practiced in this way contributed to the later resentment towards philosophy as such, especially towards metaphysics.

  • af Giovanna Cordibella
    821,95 kr.

    Fin da Se questo è un uomo e La tregua, Primo Levi dispiega di fronte al lettore una costellazione di personaggi: personaggi «pescati» dal vivo, «riprodotti con un¿impressione soggettiva»; personaggi «spaccati» e «ricombinati» (non solo da tipi umani esistenti ma anche dalla tradizione letteraria). Questo volume offre una prima mappatura critica dei personaggi leviani, e mira a dare avvio a indagini sulla loro costruzione, sulla loro configurazione narrativa e linguistica, così come sul loro statuto ontologico all¿interno del mondo possibile dell¿universo letterario. Studiare l¿opera di Levi attraverso gli «esemplari umani» che la popolano si rivela un ingresso privilegiato: illumina da una nuova prospettiva i debiti verso la tradizione romanzesca del novecento (soprattutto tedesca e anglosassone), l¿uso della prima persona e le strategie di proiezione dell¿io, la dialettica tra scrittura testimoniale e racconto fantastico, la componente morale in rapporto all¿uso di alcune tecniche narrative, prima tra tutte lo straniamento, e infine il rapporto, sempre controverso, tra presa diretta e «arrotondamento» finzionale.

  • af Tanja Schwan
    1.026,95 kr.

    Teniendo en cuenta la frecuente invisibilidad del cine de mujeres y del cine queer en los manuales de historia del cine, el presente volumen se dedica a un estudio transnacional de cuestiones de construcción de género, cuerpo, mirada, queerness y deseo femenino en la cultura fílmica y televisiva de lenguas románicas desde un punto de vista estético, epistemológico, y transmedial. El volumen se entiende como una invitación a viajar por nuevas cartografías del deseo: siguiendo las huellas de una historiografía transnacional del cine y de la cultura audio-visual que ofrece figuras del pensamiento y del deseo nómadas y que huye voluntariamente de los conceptos binarios de una biopolítica normativa para proponer una cartografía alternativa del deseo femenino y queer.

  • af Bernhard Seyr
    563,95 kr.

    The series Innovative Knowledge Management is combining innovation and knowledge management with related disciplines through a multidisciplinary and practice-oriented approach. This volume offers scientific contributions related to systems theory, education, corporate social responsibility, university management and communication, cultural and philosophical implications of knowledge, voluntary work, and innovative forms of bank management. The thematic focus also includes humanities and social sciences.

  • af José de Ipanema
    678,95 kr.

    This book retrieves the narrative and social context of Brazilian historical performances and artistic movements to restore, with the support of a vast literature review, aesthetic analysis and the debate around engagement, the due complexity to the multifaceted concept of political theatre. Broadening the perspective, it addresses one of the most significant contemporary resonances of such an itinerary: Augusto Boal¿s Theatre of the Oppressed, challenging canons of the role of performers and spectators. The research also seeks, by refusing pamphleteering or professorial responses, to shed light on the contested actuality of theatre¿s social function, especially after the extreme right wave that has been testing the usefulness of traditional institutions.

  • af Claire Demesmay
    682,95 kr.

    Cet ouvrage explore les pratiques langagières et les représentations identitaires de «¿citoyens mobiles¿» au sein de l¿espace européen. La mobilité intra-européenne débouche sur des rencontres humaines, dont sont issus des couples mixtes, eux-mêmes à l¿origine de familles bi-/plurinationales. Ces migrants d¿un genre nouveau renvoient à un phénomène migratoire encore récent et très minoritaire, encore peu étudié. En raison de la forte dimension géopolitique que revêtent les langues et les cultures, l¿identité européenne est ici abordée à travers la transmission, l¿acquisition et la gestion des compétences bi-/plurilingues et bi-/pluriculturelles. L¿objectif est d¿explorer la manière dont se décline, dans le contexte familial, le lien entre pratiques langagières et culturelles, d¿un côté, et représentations identitaires, de l¿autre.L¿analyse s¿appuie sur des entretiens menés auprès de membres de familles franco-allemandes de Paris et Berlin ¿ représentés au sein de trois générations. Issues des migrations intracommunautaires, ces familles sont à la fois des produits et des acteurs de l¿intégration européenne, dont elles incarnent l¿esprit au niveau d¿existences individuelles et familiales. De plus, étant donné la particularité de la relation franco-allemande dans le contexte européen, on peut supposer que ces familles se reconnaissent dans une identité propre, qüelles construisent et expriment ä travers des pratiques langagières et culturelles spécifiques.

  • af Antonio Gargano
    794,95 kr.

    Este libro recoge veintisiete ensayos que su autor ha publicado en las últimas tres décadas, aunque la mayoría de ellos se remonta a los últimos quince años. Los capítulos que forman las primeras tres secciones del volumen vierten sobre la literatura del Siglo de Oro ¿novela picaresca y poesía aurisecular¿, el gran canon español, valorado en sus cruces con la literatura europea, especialmente la italiana. En la sección final se concentran los estudios sobre la novela realista del s. XIX, y los de escritura autobiográfica y poesía del s. XX. Frente a la variedad de la materia tratada, el sello crítico subyacente en las contribuciones seleccionadas consiste en una actividad lectora de los textos literarios, que privilegia la alianza entre intertextualidad y exégesis, tradición e interpretación.

  • af Pavla Veselá
    695,95 kr.

    «Through detailed, elegant interpretations of utopian novels produced in the United States and the Soviet Union, Pavla Veselá casts aside standard commonplaces about East / West cultural divergences and reveals the critical function of utopian fiction that is shared in the two national contexts.»(Michael Hardt, Professor of Literature, Duke University)«It is encouraging to read The Polyphony of Utopia in our cynical and desperate time. By discussing a number of Russian and American utopian novels in the light of ¿utopian realism,¿ addressing the uncertainty, anxiety and doubt contained in their visions of hope, Pavla Veselá proves the importance and relevance of the transformation of today¿s world toward Utopia.»(Thomas Lahusen, Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto)Utopias ¿ literary visions of better, more just and happier communities ¿ have been misconceived as «mere fantasies» on the one hand and «models to implement» on the other. Building on the notion of «critical utopia» and elaborating on interpretations of literary works as contradictory and incomplete, the book analyses selected utopian and dystopian novels by five writers: Edward Bellamy, Alexander Bogdanov, Ivan Yefremov, Marge Piercy and Octavia E. Butler. It argues that departing from the conventions of realism, utopias advance credible visions of more perfect ways of living and being which are nevertheless destabilized through gothic and poetic generic elements. Unresolved issues are further explored in (utopian as well as dystopian) sequels and prequels. The novels analysed in detail include Bellamy¿s Looking Backward 2000-1887 (1888) and Equality (1897), Bogdanov¿s Red Star: A Utopia (1908) and Engineer Menni: A Novel of Fantasy (1913), Yefremov¿s Andromeda: A Space-Age Tale (1957) and The Hour of the Bull (1970), Piercy¿s Woman on the Edge of Time (1976) and He, She and It (1991), and Butler¿s Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1998).