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1、猫的摇篮猫的摇篮后现代神话后现代神话Cats Cradle?A Postmodern MythologyKey Words:Postmodern Mythology, Absurdity, Black Humor, Irony, Parody A Masters Thesis Presented to The School of Foreign Languages Renmin University of ChinaIn Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Master of Arts DegreeBy Tian Na May 200
2、4Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to my thesis advisor, DrChen Shidan, for giving me the inspiration, encouragement and guidance in my academic careerThis dissertation would be impossible without his guidance and insight toward my studySpecial thanks to Dr. Sun Hong for giving m
3、e standardizing supervision and instructions I would like to thank other committee members, Professor Diao Keli, and Ms ZengWei, for their interest in my researchI gratefully acknowledge the inspiration and guidance concerning the philosophical part of this dissertation from Dr. Long YanIn addition,
4、 I would like to thank Professor Zhang Weiping, Professor Wang Weidong, Professor Zhang Yongxian, Professor Li Shoujing, and Professor Guo Qingmin for offering me excellent lectures and inspiring guidance during my study yearI also would like to thank all my classmates for offering me various genero
5、us helpSpecial thanks to my dearest friends for their2 kindness and patience in teaching me techniques, for their selfless support and their sincere friendship towards me Finally and the most important, I would like to express my deep gratitude to my family for taking all the burden off my shoulders
6、 and letting me continue my studies, and particularly to my Mother and Father for their unconditional and endless love, supporting guidance, generosity, sweetness, and always being there with me; without their inspiration, encouragement, motivation, and optimism, I would not be able to come this far
7、Thanks again to all 3 Table of Contents Page Acknowledgements.ii Chapter OneIntroduction.1A. Historical Writing Context.2B. An Introduction on Plot.4C. The Significance of the Novel.7D. A Postmodern Mythology.8 1. The Postmodern Mythology.9 2. Writing Techniques of Postmodern Mythology.13 3. The The
8、me of the Novel.19 4. The Methods to Deal with the Postmodern World20 5. Sketch of Writing Techniques of the Novel22 Chapter Two The Postmodern Society: An Absurd, Dangerousand Meaningless World24 A. An Absurd World24 1. Postmodernist View of Absurdity.25 2. Kurt Vonneguts View on Absurdity.33 3. Th
9、e Presentation of Absurdity in Cats Cradle.36 B. The Dangerousness of the World.42 1. Frankfurt Schools Theory ofTechnological Aggression.43 2. Jurgen Habermass Critiques on “Scientism”and “Scientific Political View”.47 3. Representation of Danger Originated fromScience and Technology in the Novel.4
10、8 C. The Meaninglessness of the world51 1. Some Philosophical Understanding on Meaninglessness51 2. Analysis on Meaninglessness in Cats Cradle53 Chapter Three The Three Methods to Save Human-being and the World.57 A. Black humor.57 1. A Brief Introduction on Black Humor.58 2. Historical Background o
11、f Black Humor594 3. Black Humor Consoles People in theAbsurd and Meaningless World.62 B. Schizophrenia68 1. An Introduction of Schizophrenia.69 2. Schizophrenia in Postmodern Situation.70 3. Schizophrenia in Cats Cradle72 C. To Create or Return to the Religion.75 1. Kurt Vonneguts View on Religion76
12、 2. To Create or Return to Religion in Cats Cradle77 3. The Analysis on Bokononism.79 Chapter Four Postmodernist Writing Techniques in Cats Cradle83 A. Irony.83 B. Parody.88 C. Collage.96 D. Indeterminacy: Random Structure ? Digression.99 E. The Tendency toward Popularization.104 F. Some Other Speci
13、al Writing Skills.108 Chapter Five Conclusion.113 Bibliography.1195 Chapter One Introduction Kurt Vonnegut is now one of the most celebrated exponents of American popular cultureHe has been called by Graham Greene “one of the best living American writers” Coffey 347In 1973 Jerome Klinkowitz confiden
14、tly entitled Kurt Vonnegut as “the most talked-about American novelist since Ernest Hemingway” Marowski 440Vonnegut is regarded by many as a master of contemporary literatureHis great achievement has been the combination of black humor and science fiction to form a powerful commentary on contemporar
15、y culture and its destinyCats Cradle written by Vonnegut in 1963 used to be and will continue to be a perfect representative work that reveals Vonneguts unique writing style and his humanistic concern to the contemporary worldCats Cradle is a substantial combination of war and peace, cosmic absurdity, technology, mans inhumanity to man, which reveals the writers humanistic viewThis book is Vonneguts first work to draw serious cr
