Black Humor And Its Influence Upon China's Contemporary Fiction

Black Humor is a product of 1960s in the United States of America. Its appearance is not accidental but closely associated with the social and historical and literary background. It is generally acknowledged as the manifestation of postmodernism in literature. The traits of Black Humor are various but can be generalized as the following aspects: absurdity in theme, anti-hero or puppet-like protagonist in characterization, mentality-oriented or arbitrary structure. It is against traditional novels in both forms and themes. The traditional realism is thoroughly swept away in Black Humor Novels. Kurt Vonnegut, one of the most famous Black Humorists following Joseph Heller, created a famous novel Slaughterhouse-Five in 1969. The novel Slaughterhouse-Five gains its fame for its unique arrangement of structure, detached tone toward absurdity and puppet-like protagonist in characterization etc..China for the last twenty years has witnessed the development of literary works with evident Black Humor characteristics written by a group of young writers such as Liu Suola, Xu Xing, Wang Shuo etc.. These writers skillfully draw on the writing skills of western Black Humor literature in their writings, and successfully depict the existential state of young people who are at the bottom of their heart against traditional set patterns that restrict their freedom of development. Generally speaking, Chinese writers who have grown up in the rather closed ten-year "Cultural Revolution" benefit more from the techniques of western Black Humor than from the philosophical thought in their novel creation in 1980s. The protagonists they create lack the sense of nihilism and the absolute despair that arecommon in western literature. This difference has some deep reasons: China's social situation, the long process of literary transition, and the readers' psychology in reading etc..