In my thesis, I examined the image of the child and childhood in Ivo Andrić’s stories, with a particular focus on the stories "The Fortress" and "The Book". The thesis is divided into two parts: theoretical and empirical.
In the theoretical part, I will present the definitions of youth literature in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with its historical roots. I will focus on Marjana Kobe’s perspective on children's literature, explore the perception of the child and childhood according to Philippe Ariès, and present the work of Carl Gustav Jung, with particular emphasis on his archetypes of the child. Additionally, I will examine in detail the life and work of Ivo Andrić.
In the empirical part, I will analyze Ivo Andrić’s stories "The Fortress" and "The Book" through the lens of Marjana Kobe’s theory of the modern fairy tale. I will pay special attention to the temporal and spatial contexts, the development of the literary characters, and the dynamics of their relationships. The analysis will cover key events in the stories and their impact on the characters, explore the role of space and how it shapes the narrative, and examine the time frame and its influence on the story’s development. I will also focus on the messages conveyed by the stories and how the author uses events and characters to express values.
Particular attention will be paid to the image of the archetype of the child in the stories, with Jung’s theory of archetypes applied. I will identify symbols associated with the archetype of the child and compare them to specific situations and characters within the stories. This approach will allow me to investigate how symbolism and archetypes influence our understanding of the child character and their experiences within the stories. Additionally, I will undertake a comprehensive analysis of the entire collection "Children" to elucidate the author’s work and the role of the child within his literary oeuvre, and study how Andrić depicts children across different stories, the roles he assigns to them, and how he conveys his ideas and values through these child characters.
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