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The present paper focuses on the strategies for adapting the specific Buddhist plot (the story of the two brothers travelling beyond the sea in search of a magical pearl) that has been recounted over the course of centuries in classical Korean literature. The objective of the article is to examine the adaptation of this plot through a comparative analysis of similar narratives, highlighting the distinctive features and changes determined by the various genres and philosophical ideas under the influence of which these texts were written, the purposes of creating these narratives, the target audience, etc. The comparison is based on three texts: Ten Stages of Tathagata Shakya’s Practices (1328), Wǒrin Sǒkpo (1459) and the vernacular fiction Story of Chyǒk Syǒngŭi (19th century). Furthermore, the article lists all relevant previous Buddhist manuscripts containing the plot of interest, provides a brief outline of Korean Buddhist literature tradition, and emphasizes literature as a universal medium connecting Confucian and Buddhist cultures.

The study focuses on three authors of contemporary Hungarian literature who enter into a dialogue with Kafka’s texts through intertextual references and elevate these intertexts to the level of textforming elements in their own works. It examines Kafkaesque intertexts in Péter Esterházy’s Indirect (Függő) and The Book of Hrabal (Hrabal könyve), Mihály Kornis’s drama Punishments (Büntetések), Szilárd Borbély’s poetry collection Berlin — Hamlet and his posthumously published fragmentary novel Kafka’s Son (Kafka fia). Based on the analyses carried out, it can be concluded that Kafka’s significance for contemporary Hungarian literature is not limited to the simplistic category of literary influence, but involves multifaceted and complex interactions that, in the case of all three authors under study, are related to the desire to transcend the prevailing literary discourse.

This study traces the various forms and manifestations of the creative relationship between the poet and artist Karel Zlín and the French writer Gérard de Nerval. Nerval’s literary works were never met with tremendous interest in the Czech environment, but — despite their extraordinary difficulty — they have attracted the attention of translators for nearly the entire 20th century up to the present day. The present study maps these translations with special attention to Czech versions of the cycle Les Chimères by a number of translators, including Karel Zlín, who also spent much time in his own literary and visual works reflecting on the poetic legacy and mythologization of Nerval.

The article introduces blue ecocriticism into Czech literary studies by reviewing Steve Mentz’s volume An Introduction to the Blue Humanities (2023). It briefly outlines the circumstances of the cultural turn to the seas and oceans around the year 2000 and its current shift from the Mediterranean and North Atlantic to the more global Pacific, as well as from the seas and oceans to the planetary water cycle. It will take a closer look at Mentz’s blue strategies, interpretations, inspirations, and problems, to conclude by considering the potential of blue ecocriticism for the (seemingly) landlocked Czech intellectual climate.

Literary echoes of tragic events, deeply rooted in the collective memory of some nations or ethnic groups, very often represent the basis of their overall concept of identity. This trauma of the difficult construction of a sense of belonging (especially the experience of exile, diaspora, expulsion, loss of homeland, ethnocide, genocide, etc.) is reflected not only in the works of the generation concerned but also of later generations, deeply influenced by transmitted perceptions of trauma. Coping with the question of belonging to several worlds, cultures and languages — and sometimes to none of them completely — results in a specific form of literary processing and also requires a specific approach to literary analysis and to the translation of trauma poetry. The Armenian topos of pandukht or gharib (exile) should be understood within a broader context of the traumatic past and its subsequent interpretations. Key cultural words as stigmas of traumatic past, leaving intangible traces through narratives, represent an essential vector of collective memory here. The landscape description is emotionally invested and it could be perceived as a rhetorical expression of extremely disruptive experience. Focusing on Armenian women poets, whose works influenced the literary landscape of Armenia and Armenian diaspora in the second half of 20th and the beginning of 21st century and concentrating on their prevailing topoi, the role of memory in the shaping of trauma and its representation in poetry will be more obvious. In the case of female poets from the diaspora, their poetry should be read within the frame of their exilic experience as a kind of postmodern itinérance. The textual analysis of their poems perceived through trauma lens could bring a significant contribution to trauma studies theory in general as well as to gender studies within the Armenian context.

After losing the war in 1945, Japan was in ruins — both physical and mental. Although it was gradually rebuilding itself economically since the late 1940s, the lost war, occupation, change of system and the upheaval of values caused mental trauma and identity crisis for many of its inhabitants. Motifs typically associated with Franz Kafka — especially his existentialism, absurdity, avant-garde methods and dream imagery against the background of everyday reality, create an interesting parallel to this situation and seeped into the works of post-war authors. This paper focuses on two postwar authors, Shimao Toshio 島尾敏夫 (1917–1986) and Ishikawa Jun 石川淳 (1899–1987), and examines how “kafkaesque” writing and reality of post-war Japan intertwine in “Everyday Life in a Dream” (Yume no naka de no nichijō 夢の中での日常, 1948) and “The Raptor” (Taka 鷹, 1953).

Utilizing the power of sunlight through agro-photovoltaic fusion systems (APFSs) seamlessly blends sustainable agriculture with renewable energy generation. This innovative approach not only addresses food security and energy sustainability but also plays a pivotal role in combating climate change. This study assesses the feasibility and impact of APFS implementation in District Dir Lower, Pakistan, a region significant for its agriculture and energy needs. A quasi-experimental design was employed, comparing outcomes between a treatment group (with an APFS) and a control group (without an APFS). Stratified random sampling was used to select 400 participants, including farmers, residents, local authorities, and community leaders. Data were collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed employing paired t-tests, linear regression, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Chi-square tests. The results show that the treatment group with an APFS exhibited significant improvements in farming practices (mean change = 4.20 vs. 2.80). Linear regression indicated a strong positive effect of APFSs on renewable energy production. The ANOVA results demonstrated significant mitigation of environmental challenges, and the Chi-square test showed a strong association between APFS implementation and community sustainability, resilience, and prosperity. It is concluded that APFS implementation significantly enhances farming practices, renewable energy production, and environmental sustainability, contributing to the resilience and prosperity of agricultural communities in District Dir Lower. These findings advocate for the broader adoption of APFSs in similar contexts to integrate sustainable agriculture with renewable energy generation.

The article deals with one chapter in the history of German Studies as a scholarly pursuit at the University of Prague. Specifically it attempts to describe the circumstances of the foundation of the Department of German Studies in 1874 and its development until 1882, when, after the division of the University of Prague, two autonomous Departments of German Studies, responsible for academic philological research into German, as one of the national languages and literatures in the Czech Lands, were established at the German and Czech Universities of Prague respectively. The establishment of the Department of German Studies meant the definitive institutionalization of German Studies at the University of Prague and at the same time the full integration of German Studies into the system of scholarly disciplines. Attention is also paid to the personalities of the founders — Johann Kelle and Ernst Martin — and their colleague Hans Lambel.