On Satiric Skills in Gullivers TravelsWord文档下载推荐.docx
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Gulliver’sTravelsisoneofthegreatestsatiricalworks,whichhasattractedreadersandcriticsfornearlythreehundredyearssinceitspublication.Anditsauthor,JonathanSwiftisalsoamasterofsatire.
1.1BriefIntroductionabouttheAuthorandHisWorks
JonathanSwiftwasborninDublinonNovember30,1667.Hisfather,anEnglishlawyer,diedbeforethebirthofhisson,whogrewuptobeagraduateofTrinityCollege,aTorypartymemberandahighlypoliticalwriter.SwiftservedassecretarytoSirWilliamTempleatMoorParkinSurreyfromtheyear1689to1695.AndSirWilliamTemplewhowasacourtier,statesmanandwriterhadthemostpowerfulinfluenceonSwift’sadultlife.ThetimeSwiftlivedinwasfullofchangesintheBritishpoliticalsituation.1688sawacoupde’tatinBritain,called‘TheGloriousRevolution”,anditwasendedupwiththecompromisebetweenthebourgeoisandthenobles,thefoundationofconstitutionalmonarchy.Andinsidetherulingclass,betweenthemajorparties—theWhigsandtheTories,inordertogetpowerandwealth,therewerealsoconstantcontradiction.
TheeighteenthcenturyinEnglishliteratureisanageofprose,andoneofthemostfamousandgreatestmastersinthefirstpartofthecenturywasJonathanSwift.Hislanguagewassimple,clearandvigorous.Hesaid:
“Properwordsinproperplaces,makesthetruedefinitionofastyle.”
Swift’sfirstnotableworks,TheBattleoftheBooks(thefullnameisAFullandTrueAccountoftheBattleFoughtLastFriday,BetweentheAncientandtheModernBooksinStJame’sLibrary),writtenin1697butpublishedin1704,wasasatireuponbothpartiesandtheliteraryworldofthetime.Itwasnotamaturework,foritjustshowedsomebasicideasandstylesofSwift’sironicalallegory.Hisanothersatiricalmasterpiece,ATaleofaTub,publishedinthesameyearof1704,wasasatireuponthevariouschurchesoftheday.Itwasmorematureandseriousinhiswritingskills.Swift’spoliticalprosesarealsopopularandwellknown.In1729,AmodestProposal(thefullnameisAmodestProposal,forPreventingtheChildrenofPoorPeopleinIrelandfrobeingaBrudentotheirParentsorCountry;
andforMakingthemBeneficialtothePublic),oneofthemostaggressingsatiricalprosesinEnglishliteraturecameout.Swiftseemedtohavenodifficultyinfindingwordstoexpressexactlytheimpressionhewishestoconvey.Insimple,directandpreciseprose,SwiftwasalmostunsurpassedinEnglishliterature.
1.2MainIdeaandBackgroundKnowledgeoftheNovel
Gulliver’sTravelswasjustsetinthedarksituationinBritainwhichSwiftlivedin.WhathedescribedinthebookrespondedthingsandpersonsinBritainandEurope.Asamasterpieceofsatiricworks,manycriticshavegivencommentsondifferentaspectsofthework.Inthefirstthreevolumes,thesatirewasdirectedagainsttheEnglishpoliticalparties,philosophers,historiansandmenofsciences.Inthelastvolume,theclimaxofthebook,Swiftisattackingtheentirehumanrace.Heexposedthemostuglyaspectofhumanity,fromthefiguretothebehavior,andfromphysiologytopsychology.Therefore,Swiftandhisnovelhavereceivedattacksfromsomecritics.
ItwassaidthatGulliver’sTravelswastheoutcomeofan“assignedhomework”.AlongwithPopeandothergreatliteraryfigures,Swiftwasamemberofacertainclub.Thepurposeofthisclubwastosatirizethefoolishnessofmodernman.Eachmemberwasgivenatopic,andSwift’swastosatirizethecurrent“boom”intravelliterature.Thefinalresultwasthepublicationofthegreatwork—Gulliver’sTravelsintheyear1726.
Ⅱ.BriefIntroductionofSatire
SincethenovelofSwift,Gulliver’sTravels,isakeensatireuponthewholeBritishsocietyatthattime,inordertoanalyzethesatiricskillsofSwift’s,itisnecessarytoknowwhat“satire”isandwhatitsdefinitionis.
2.1DefinitionofSatire
AccordingtoAHandbooktoEnglishandAmericanLiterature,satireisaliterarymannerwithacriticalattitudewithhumorandwit.Thepurposeofsatireistoimprovehumaninstitutionsorhumanity.Truesatiristsareconsciousofthefrailtyofinstitutionsofhumandevisingandattemptthroughlaughternotsomuchtotearthemdownastoinspirearemodeling.Ifcriticssimplyabuse,theyarewritinginvective;
iftheyarepersonalandsplenetic,theyarewritingsarcasm;
iftheyaresadandmoroseoverthestateofsociety,theyarewritingironyorajeremiad.AsarulemodernsatiresparestheindividualandfollowsAddison’sself-imposedrule:
“topassoverasinglefoetochargewholearmies.”
Satireconsistsoftwomajortypes:
1.directsatire,inwhichthesatiricvoicespeaks,usuallyinthefirstpersonnarration,eitherdirectlytothereadersortoacharacterinthesatire.2.indirectsatire,inwhichthesatireisexpressedthroughanarrative.Charactersorgroups,whoarethesatirebuttareridiculednotbywhatissaidaboutthembutbywhattheysayanddo.Muchofthegreatliterarysatireisindirect;
oneoftheprincipalformsofindirectsatireisMenippeansatire.Directsatirecanbefurtherdividedintotwotypes:
(1)Horatiansatire,whichisgentle,urbane,andsmiling.Itaimstocorrectbygentleandbroadlysympatheticlaughter.
(2)Juvenaliansatire,whichisbitingbitterandangry.Itpointswithcontemptandmoralindignationtothecorruptionandevilofhumanbeingsandinstitutions.AddisonisaHoratiansatirist,SwiftaJuvenalianone.
Forcenturiesthewordsatire,whichliterallymeans“adishfilledwithmixedfruits”,wasreservedforlongpoems,suchasthepoemsofJuvenalandHorace,Chaucer,Butler,PopeandLowell,Almostfromitsorigins,however,thedramahasbeensuitedtothesatiricspirit,andfromAristophanestoShaw,ithascommentedwithpenetratingironyonhumanfoibles.TherewasanotableconcentrationofitsattentiononHoratiansatireinthecomedyofmannersofRestorationAge.Butithasbeeninthefictionalnarrative,particularlythenovel,thatsatirehasfounditschiefvehicleinthemodernworld.
2.2FunctionofSatire
Ifthereaderswanttomakeclearthenovelthoroughlyanddeeply,itisnecessaryforthemtoknowtheauthor’swritingpurposefirst.ThewritingpurposeofSwiftistocriticizetheBritishsocietyatthattime.Therefore,allthewritingskillsSwiftemployedinhisnovelsuchassatiricskillsshouldserveasawaytoachievehiswritingpurpose.Thatistosay,thefunctionofsatireinGulliver’sTravelsisawayofcriticizingtheBritishsociety.
SwiftwasnotsatisfiedwiththecurrentsituationofBritishsocietyatthattime,butbecauseofsomehistoricalandpoliticalreasons,hecouldnotcriticizethesocietyorexpresshisdissatisfactiondirectly,therefore,hechoseanotherway.SwiftusedsatiretorevealthecorruptionofsocietyandexpresshisdisaffectiontowardtheBritishgovernment.SatireservedasapowerfulweaponforSwifttoattackthesociety,andthatwasthefunctionofsatireinGulliver’sTravels.
ⅢAuthor’sSatiricSkillsintheNovel
Becauseofthespecialhistoricalbackground,theauthorhademployedmanykindsofsatiricskillstoshowhispointofviewindirectly.
3.1Contrast
Byusingcontrast,theauthormadethedifferencemoreobviously,anditwasmucheasierforthereaderstomakesenseofSwift’ssatirictoneinthenovel.
3.1.1ContrastbetweentheMannerandContentofNarration
SwiftinvitedGulliverasthefirstpersontonarratethewholestories,whichmadehiswordsevenmoresatiric.Becauseforthemannerofthenovel,itwasadescriptionofGulliver’stravelstoseveralcountriesandregions,therefore,themannershouldbeformal.However,forthecontentofthenarration,itwas,onthecontrary,quiteridiculousandunimaginable.Forexample,inpartthree,whenGullivertraveledtoBalnibarbi,hewaspermittedtoseegrandacademyofLagado.Theauthormadealotofdescriptionofboththeacademyandtheprofessorsthere.FromGulliver’spointofview,hesawaman“withsootyhandsandface”,whohasbeen“eightyearsuponaprojectforextractingsunbeamsoutofcucumbers”.Fromthedescriptionofwhatthemansaidwecouldfindthathewassoconvincedthatfromthecucumberswecertainlycouldextractsunbeams,whichcouldbeusedtowarmtheairincolddays.However,itisknowntoeveryonethattoextractsunbeamsfromcucumberswasinfeasible.Anothertypicalexamplewasthat,whenGullivercontinuedtovisittheacademy,hesawanothermanwhose“faceandbeardwereofapaleyellow”and“hishandsandclothesdaubedoverwithfilter”.What’smore,theman’semploymentwasanoperationtoreducehumanexcrementtoitsoriginalfood.Fromthescientificpointofview,itwasthefunniestscientificproject.While,themanwas“themostancientstudentoftheacademy”whohasworkedonthisoperationfrom“hisfirstcomingintotheacademy”.Therewerecountlessexamplesintheacademy,whichshowedtothereadersthoseridiculousprojects.Butthosescientistsallinsistedontheiroriginalprojectsformanyyears.AndthescientistsoftheeighteenthcenturyinEnglandwerethetargetsofSwift’ssatire.Hemadefunofthesescientistsbecausetheydidnotserveforthepeople,butservedasatoolforthegovernment.However,thosescientificprogramscouldnotpromotethedevelopmentofsociety,buttohinderitsdevelopment.FromthiscontrastitisclearthattheauthornarratedthosefunnythingsinaseriousmannerinordertoshowushissatiricattitudetowardthosebogusscientistsoftheeighteenthcenturyinEngland.
3.1.2ContrastbetweenCharacters
Exceptthecontrastbetweentheman