A Study Of The Black Humor Elements In Thomas Pynchon's California Trilogy

Thomas Pynchon,a representative of black humor novelists,is one of the most influential contemporary novelists from the United States.Pynchon's works,with diverse themes and labyrinth-like narrative,displays his encyclopedic knowledge.Through writing,he uncovers an alienated and isolated society filled with absurdity.Black humor is a hallmark of America in the 1960 s.It is an irrational spiritual triumph over the misery of reality and fate,and a step back from the pain and sorrow inflicted by the reality.Despite abundant criticism and scholarship on Pynchon and his works,the three novels set in California remain understudied as a meaningful set full of black humor elements.In his California Trilogy: The Crying of Lot 49,Vineland,and Inherent Vice,Pynchon expresses his concern about the deterioration of the social condition by portraying a psychedelic,absurd and chaotic sixties.He uncovers a world of absurdity,illusion and isolation through ingeniously employing black humor elements in the three California novels.This thesis aims to explore the black humor elements in California Trilogy in terms of characterization,plotting and rhetorical devices.By doing so,the author's objective is to shed light on Pynchon's nostalgia and reflection on the counterculture movement as well as his deep sympathy for the generation of the sixties.