Research On Mark Twain’s Humorous Narrative

As a talented orator with a wealth of experience. Mark Twain is good at applying humorous techniques of speech and recitation to the written language of novel. These techniques are telling stories in a casual and unresponsive way, setting a pause at the appropriate moment and pretending no knowledge to insert an inconsistent statement when setting a pause, etc. Simultaneously, with his wealth of reading and hands-on experience, Mark Twain has a good grasp of the language features among different social groups in the real life or history, thus he can outline characters more vividly and accurately, enhancing the reality of humor. Particularly, Mark Twain realized that when two characters from different social groups talk to each other, and either of them uses a series of argots, it will be very laughing. Mark Twain’s attention on the language of different social groups, also establishes the concern of humor to the ordinary people. In The Diaries of Adam and Eve, the mix of myth and modern expression reflects the relationship of parody, which changes the religious interpretation of the Lord God Almighty into a secular interpretation of love, digests Adam’s sacred status and gives Eve an independent self-consciousness as a female. Similarly, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court also parodies Thomas Malory’s The Death of King Arthur. The parody in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, creates the irony atmosphere which is similar to the Carnival. As a postmodern literary theory, parody reveals the avant-garde of Mark Twain’s writing techniques. The tall tale of Davy Crockett and Augustan satire from the tradition of American southwest humor, have the important influence to the formation of black humor in Mark Twain’s writing. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court as the pioneer of black humor, not only sneers at the worldview propagated by the romance novels, but also criticizes the excessive worship of American science and civilization in the19th century, exposes the tragic fate of American slaves, and expresses strong dissatisfaction on the U.S. Republican Party’s long-term dictatorship which is against the republican spirit.