Analysis of Closely Watched Trains (from a literary and didactic perspective) with a proposal for didactic transformation

1 ABSTRACT This thesis focuses on Bohumil Hrabal's literary work Closely Watched Trains (hereafter CWT) and its application in the didactic context of Czech education. The aims of the thesis are threefold: (1) to demonstrate the artistic value of CWT and to expand its interpretative framework by offering an innovative perspective; (2) to analyse current didactic tendencies and, in this context, to evaluate existing teaching materials in literary education (with a focus on CWT); and (3) to propose a particular methodological approach for the didactic transformation of CWT at the upper-secondary school level. Methodologically, the thesis draws on several approaches. The literary and theoretical analysis of CWT was carried out through the study of scholarly literature and the author's own analytical-interpretative examination of the text. To investigate current didactic tendencies, the thesis is based on the Framework Educational Programme (2007) (FEP) and on scholarly literature in the field of didactics (see bibliography). For mapping the situation in practice, classroom observations at several grammar schools were undertaken and complemented by the author's own teaching experience. Current didactic tendencies are further reflected in secondary literature in subject didactics. The analysis of teaching...