Narrative And Therapy--An Interpretation Of Vonnegut's Cat's Cradle From The Perspective Of Literary Anthropology

As the fourth novel by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., Cat?s Cradle is called by Peter J. Reed as the first real postmodernist novel. Cat?s Cradle is a kind of apocalyptic novel that represents the postmodernist social conditions. It hints, by presenting the tragedy of a South American nation and portraying the scenario of an imaginary doomsday, to the mass of people that only by establishing truly harmonious community can the society avert the ultimate catastrophe.Based on close reading, and by adopting the theory of narrative therapy in literary anthropology, this thesis attempts to make a detailed and comprehensive analysis of the novel.It points out that, to some extent, literary creation can relieve the author s spiritual trauma and the spiritual trauma of the readers can also be lessened by reading the novel.This thesis consists of an introduction, four chapters, and a conclusion. The part of introduction introduces Vonnegut s literary career and the novel Cat?s Cradle, a critical review at home and abroad, the argument, the methodology and the significance of the thesis. The body consists of four chapters. Chapter One mainly introduces relevant theories, namely literary anthropology and the narrative therapy theory.Chapter Two, starting from Vonnegut s life experience, generalizes and analyzes how his trauma came into being, which includes the trauma in the family life, the trauma in the Second World War, the trauma in the Postwar working experience, and the trauma caused by the Postwar American social circumstances.Chapter Three, based on close reading, draws on the narrative therapy theory in literary anthropology to point out that Vonnegut relieves his spiritual trauma by means of literary creation and that the postmodern readers spiritual trauma is also remedied by reading the novel.Chapter Four centers on the effects of the novel on the modern life it conveys its morals to people that how important it is to be aware of the relationship between one s competence and responsibility, relationship between man and man, and the significance of ecological preservation.Conclusion states that literature is essentially the study of human beings, and it can to some degree adjust man s mentality; it also points out that through literary narration Vonnegut s spiritual trauma is tempered, and through reading his novel the people in the postmodern society can also alleviate their mental pressure.