《貓的搖籃》—后現(xiàn)代神話

1、貓的搖籃后現(xiàn)代神話 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 2004acknowl

2、edgements 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 me standa

3、rdizing 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, i would

4、 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 generous helps

5、pecial 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 and let

6、ting 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 farthanks a

7、gain 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 theme of th

8、e 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. the presen

9、tation 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.48 c. the

10、 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 of black

11、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 2. to c

12、reate 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 special writi

13、ng 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 confidently enti

14、tled 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 contemporary cultur

15、e 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, techn

16、ology, mans inhumanity to man, which reveals the writers humanistic viewthis book is vonneguts first work to draw serious critical attention marowski 440his own words would be a6 suitable exhibition of his expectation towards audience, “before they become generals and senators and presidents, and po

17、ison their minds with humanity” scholes 23 a. historical writing context kurt vonnegut, a preeminent postmodernist writer, was born in indianapolis on november 11, 1922in 1940, he attended the shortridge daily echo, a student daily newspaper as a reporter, columnist and editor and the experience the

18、re perhaps is the beginning of his writing careerin 1945, kurt vonnegut entered university of chicagos m. a. program in anthropologyin 1946 his m. a. thesis “on the fluctuations between good and evil in simple tales” is unanimously rejected by the anthropology facultyhe was broke and took job at the

19、 general electric company research laboratory, schenectady, new york, as a public relations writer in 1947his brother bernard was a g. e. research scientistthe working experience in g. e. left vonnegut more than simply experiencethe star of the g. e. research laboratory, dr. irving langmuir left a d

20、eep impression on kurt vonneguts memory and7 some of his anecdotes became vonneguts writing material in cats cradlesome of the characters in cats cradle were also based on people he knew at g. ekurt vonnegut assumed writing as a profession in the late 1940s, selling short stories to literary, scienc

21、e fiction and detective magazineshe remained virtually unknown until 1960s when his previously published short stories being popular in college students and then drew serious attention from critical cycle in 1963, cats cradle was published in hardcover by holt, rinehart & winstonthe book was quietly

22、 admired by a small number of influential writersuntil it is reviewed in the new york times book review and the spectator, vonnegut began to receive more and more serious critical attentionthe humanistic depth and thought-evoking influence of the novel wouldnt be neglected in vonneguts fame-building

23、 process and this book is worthwhile to be read and reread, to be explored and re-explored8 b. an introduction on plotusually referred to by fans as ice-nine or simply the ice-nine book, cats cradle is a story depicting the end of the world which was caused by a piece of chemical called ice-ninecats

24、 cradle is an irreverent and often highly entertaining fantasy concerning the playful irresponsibility of nuclear scientiststhe story unfolds the plots from the narrator johns plan to compile a responsibly factual account of what certain important americans were doing at the precise moment the atomi

25、c bomb was dropped on hiroshimadr felix hoenikker, who was one of the fathers of the atomic bomb, became one of johns material sourcesthen the story elaborates on the correspondences of john with dr. felix hoenikkers three children, especially with felixs youngest child, newtonfrom newtons letters i

26、n reply, dr. hoenikkers life is directly exposed to the readershe learns that, on that very day, dr. felix hoenikker, an absent-minded professor was uncharacteristically playing with string, making a cats cradle and terrifying his young son by showing the boy his creation and speaking to him for the

27、 first time 9 after the doctors death, the story elaborates what happens to the three children and to ice-nine, which was the last invention by drhoenikker not long before his death that hasnt been known publiclynewton, the youngest son and the midget, has exchanged his share of ice-nine for a few m

28、ad nights with a russian circus performerhis elder sister, angela, an unmarriageable six-foot bean-poler, has used hers to marry a handsome physicistfrank, the eldest son, contributed his share of ice-nine to monzano who is the leader of san lorenzo, a caribbean island and became monzanos favorite a

29、ssistant following the narrators footprints, an uncultured backward island country?san lorenzo was exhibited before the readersthis is also the place where bokononism?an invented religion fabricated by bokonon, a negro who was born an episcopalian and a british subject on the island of tobagobokonon

30、ism is a religion persecuted cruelly in san lorenzo by monzano but still has many believers and even the narrator himself also became a member of itthe piece of ice nine brought frank power and a marriage with10 the regional sex-goddess, mona; whereas it also brought monzano an opportunity to commit

31、 suicidefrank declines his responsibility and his position to the narratoras they try to secretly dispose the presidents frozen corpse, the narrator realizes how extensively and promptly spread the ice-nine has becomefinally, events came to their inevitable conclusion?the freezing of all the earths

32、waters, and life itselfcats cradle is a wild, hurtling apocalyptic tale that satirizes, among many other things, the blithe indifference and goodness of the people who populate the nuclear science communitythe story travels from the home turf of vonneguts imagination on ilium, n. y. and a caribbean

33、banana republic where an illicit religion called bokononism is practiced, as a sense of doom?in the form of ice-nine?overtakes mankindthe new york times perhaps said it best in describing cats cradle as “a freewheeling vehicle. an unforgettable ride” riley 45511 c. the significance of the novel vonn

34、eguts 1963 novel cats cradle was called by graham greene “one of the three best novels of the year by one of the most able living writers” marowski 440in 1971, kurt vonnegut was awarded m. a. by the university of chicago in recognition for cats cradles contribution to the field of cultural anthropol

35、ogyindeed, cats cradle was vonneguts dissertationsince its publication, cats cradle has consistently appeared on high school and college reading listscats cradle is vonneguts first novel to draw serious critical attentionit might be the most widely-read of vonneguts novels among young peopleto a gen

36、eration which delights in the put on, parody and artifice, often as the most meaningful expressions of deeply held convictions in a world which they see as prone to distortion, cats cradles play with language, symbol and artifice should find accord. reed 1972 if any single novel of kurt vonneguts ca

37、n represent his unique voice and freewheeling imagination, it is probably the12 wildly funny and provocative cats cradlethough it might not be his most substantial or popular novel, cats cradle is a perfect vehicle for his idiosyncratic style and his kaleidoscopic view of the modern worldd. a postmo

38、dern mythology myths are generally stories based on tradition and legend designed to explain the universal and local beginnings, natural phenomena, inexplicable cultural conventions, and anything else for which no simple explanation presents itselfa mythology is a relatively cohesive set of myths: s

39、tories that comprise a certain religion or belief systemsometimes the word mythology may also refer to fabricated writing with special purposein postmodern world, new elements, profound meanings and certain purpose are added to mythologycats cradle presents readers a postmodern mythology, which expr

40、esses vonneguts serious humanistic concern towards the contemporary situation, and his effort in predicting and changing the unjustified social phenomena through vehicle of writing 13 1. the postmodern mythology mythology is generally a literary genre and also a field of study that is not easily def

41、ined, being as much a composite of many other subjects of human inquisitiveness and investigation as it is a unique arena all its ownultimately it might be said that the writer of mythology is one who conducts inquiries into some of the most basic concerns of humankind?who are wehow did the world ma

42、kewhat is the correct manner to conduct oneself during religious ceremonieswhat is the relationship between inner life and outward appearances?as these have been expressed by the many and diverse cultures in the world both past and present, including ones own culture, through the traditional spiritu

43、al stories?or myths?to be found within themgenerally speaking, mythology is a set of stories that comprise a certain religion or belief systemcats cradle tells a story which may or may not be strictly factual, but reveals fundamental truths and insights about human nature, social nature and world na

44、turevonnegut in cats cradle describes a story happened in late 1940s, which belongs to14 postmodern timesit predicts the danger of rampant development of ill-controlled science and technology, and it is an apocalyptic story concerning the human existence in an absurd worldthe historical background o

45、f the story is indispensable in full understanding of the novel kurt vonnegut is an outstanding postmodernist writer and his works are typical representations of postmodernist characteristicscats cradle was written in 1963, when the postmodern trend of thought was prevailing on the western cultural

46、stagebeing a global cultural trend of thought, postmodernism formally appeared at the end of 1950s and early 1960s, formed its overwhelming momentum and shocked the thinking circles in the 1970s and the 1980sduring this period, various cultural and philosophical genres plunged into extreme dissensio

47、ns and controversies, many theoretical groups and genres welled up, diverse cultural art, literature, esthetics, philosophy and so on trends emerged and alternated in literature, postmodernism rejects boundaries between high and low forms of art, rejects rigid genre distinctions, emphasizing15 pasti

48、che, parody, bricollage, irony, and playfulnesspostmodern art and thought favor reflexivity and self-consciousness, fragmentation and discontinuity especially in narrative structures, ambiguity, simultaneity, and an emphasis on the destructured, decentered, dehumanized subjectbeing a prevailed cultu

49、ral trend, postmodernism exposed various problems and puzzles of modern western world; at the same time, it conducted a “revolutionary adventure” and “postmodern turn” all through the intellectual and cultural fieldthe manifestation of subversive reversion and innovation of postmodernism in literary

50、 field was the outstanding renovation of literature, especially for the fiction part after 1960ssome of these postmodernist features could be traced in cats cradle, and these features are also essential in the formation of a postmodern mythologybesides, the profundity of historical backstage also fo

51、stered enough depth for this postmodern mythologymans puzzle, fate and existence are humanistic writer kurt vonneguts devoted material in his postmodernist writingsjust like jerry h. bryants comment in his the open decision:16man for vonnegut is a complex combination of nobility and meanness, knowledge and ignorance, grandeur and ignominythus, for all its tone of despair, cats cradle is probably vonneguts most “mature” bookit expresses mans tremendous need to make myths in explanation of his condition, and it shows as that needs companion the inescapable recognition th