Aesthetic Features Of Catch-22from The Perspective Of The Reception Theory

Catch-22, a popular novel written by American novelist and dramatist Joseph Heller, is widely known as the first prominent literary work of the American Black Humor novels. Ever since the publication of the novel, the American Black Humor novelists have been focusing on the absurdity of the world and the oppression over the individual by the society. They might even adopt narrative strategies like a magnifying glass or distorting mirror to amplify, distort, and transform such absurdity and oppression so as to provide the reader with a clear picture about the cruel capitalist society and understanding about the helplessness and suffering of the working people. For all its merits, Catch-22has much-touted by the reader and well-studied by the critic. However, though almost every aspect of the novel has been examined, the most distinctive one seems to be neglected:how could a novel with the "dark" tone gain its " humor ", or how could a work full of "ugliness","absurdity", and "pain" generate the sense of beauty and attraction to the reader. Few critics have ever paid attention to this issue. This is why the writer of this thesis determines to analyze the aesthetic features of Catch-22from the perspective of the reception theory.The concepts and subjects of aesthetics are extensive and complicated. To get a clear clue about the aesthetic features of the novel, the writer of this thesis will base her interpretation upon the reception theory, in particular, Wolfgang Iser’s "Appellstruktur". The thesis aims at discovering causes in the theme, structure, and narrative strategies of Catch-22for its appeal to the reader.This thesis consists of five Chapters that are divided into three parts. Chapter1is the Introduction, made up of the introduction to the writer and the novel, a literature review, and the theoretical framework. Chapters2-4are the Body. Chapter2explores the aesthetic features of the theme from the perspective of the reception theory through the analysis about how the novel keeps the reader worried about the widely existent absurdity in the world, about how it pushes the reader to the "oppressed" group with the ridicule against the ruling class, and about how it inspires the readers’critical awareness by exposing the corruptness of the bureaucracy. Chapter3focuses on the ingenious plot arrangements in spite of its chaotic appearance. Chapter4turns to the narrative strategies of the novel, laying emphasis on the aesthetic effects of black humor, stream of consciousness and "labyrinth". It is a further effort to recognize the aesthetic features of Catch-22in full. Chapter5is the Conclusion, which sums up the main argument of the thesis. Besides, it points out that studies on the aesthetic feature of the classical literary work are not to explore the literary value only, but to disclose the social reference as well. The sense of beauty in a literary classic is usually derived from the criticism of the ugly things in life; which then turns into the incentive for the reader to appreciate and pursue the beautiful things in life.