英语论文-An Analysis of Satirical Techniques in Gulliver’s Travels.pdf

毕业论文 设计 i acknowledgements writing a thesis is a difficult and time consuming process luckily now i manage to finish the paper on the completion of my thesis i should like to express my deepest gratitude to all those kindness and advice which has made the work possible special thanks must be extended to my tutor miss qin who helped me a lot during the writing of the thesis without her help i may have more difficulties in producing this paper miss qin gave me valuable instructions and read through the entire manuscript carefully her effective advice shrewd comments and careful corrections have kept the thesis in the right direction i am also grateful to all the teachers who have taught me my ba courses without their enthusiasm and support this work would not have been possible 毕业论文 设计 ii abstract gulliver s travels described the hero gulliver s four voyages to the lilliput brobdingnag laputa and houyhnhnms and his experience staying with the kings cabinets and citizens in those countries swift draw several colorful and vivid pictures of the countries by the description of different customs ways of life and government systems the stories are so exciting and interesting that many children find it hard to lay down it seems that gulliver s travels is a travel journal which is just designed for recording gulliver s journeys however in fact it is by talking about gulliver s experience that the author mirrors british society in the eighteenth century and presents the theme of the novel and his viewpoints gulliver s four voyages shape the realities of the eighteenth century in britain jonathan swift shows his talent in making satire swift s gulliver s travels is praised as the model of world famous satirical literature due to its outstanding thought and artistic value gulliver s travels as a model of world satirical literature its distinguished feature is the application of satire this paper attempts to analyze the main satirical devices employed in gulliver s travels including hyperbole symbolism irony and contrast the emphasis will be put on how those satirical devices serve the vehicles for showing the power of satire through the examination of those devices the paper argues that the application of all kinds of satirical techniques in gulliver s travels is intended to make a satire which is a most forceful exposure of the social evils at swift s time 毕业论文 设计 iii key words social realitiessatiresatirical techniquesmirror 毕业论文 设计 iv 摘摘要要 格列佛游记 这一作品依次记述了主人公格列佛游历小人国 巨人国 空中飞岛国和马国的所见所闻以及主人公和这些国家的元首 大臣 平明的交往 过程 作品通过对不同国家风俗民情的描写 向读者展示出一幅幅多彩的人文地 图景观 从而使得小说具有童话色彩 深为儿童所喜欢 表面上看 格列佛游记 似乎是游记文学 记录格列佛的奇遇和所到国家的情况 但作者正是通过写这些 经历来反映 18 世纪的英国社会现实 从而展现其主题 乔奈生 斯威夫特通过描 述小说主人公格列佛的四次旅行 显示出杰出的讽刺才能 再现了当时英国社会 的一些现象和社会现实 斯威夫特的 格列佛游记 以其高超的思想艺术成就 被誉为世界讽刺文 学的典范 格列佛游记 作为讽刺文学的巨著 它的主要艺术特点就是自始 自终都运用了讽刺手法 本文旨在从讽刺技巧 修辞手法 包括夸张 象征 反讽和对比等的运用上分析 的讽刺艺术 重点分析这些手法如 何体现讽刺 通过分析 得出小说夸张 象征 反讽和对比写作手法的运用都 是为讽刺服务的 都是为了更好地讽刺当时的社会现实 最终使其讽刺内容即 主题的表达更为完满 关键词关键词 社会现实讽刺讽刺技巧反映 毕业论文 设计 v contents acknowledgements i abstract english ii abstract chinese iv 1 introduction 1 1 1 the social background 1 1 2abrief introduction to gulliver s travels 2 1 3 the thesis statement of the paper 3 2 satire 4 2 1 the definition of satire 4 2 2 the classification of satire 5 2 3 the function of satire 5 3 an analysis of satirical techniques in gulliver s travels 6 3 1 hyperbole 7 3 2 symbolism 10 3 3 irony 14 3 4 contrast 18 4 conclusion 21 references 22 毕业论文 设计 1 an analysis of satirical techniques in gulliver s travels 1 introduction 1 1 the social background critics over the years have come to hail gulliver s travels as the greatest satire by the greatest prose satirist in the english language net 1 this greatest prose satirist is jonathan swift a master of satire who created the work gulliver s travels the period of writing gulliver s travels was a time of great change in britain and the rest of europe gulliver s travels an outstanding work full of savage satire was successfully produced at the very early stage of the industrial revolution in europe in order to understand the satire in the novel better it is necessary to provide some social and political background to swift s writing the eighteenth century saw the outbreak of industrial revolution the factories in which machines began to be used emerged and a large population crowded into cities the government took tremendous measures to rapid the industry the accumulation of capital to support the growth of industrial capitalism brought about cruel oppression and exploitation in europe especially in ireland tory parties and whig parties representing the interests of nobility and financial businessmen respectively took power by turns the power struggle between rival factions within the parties became fierce swift has ever written for the tory paper at one point in his career and written political pamphlets over the years swift came to believe the tories were as much as the whigs for partisan polities locking horns over miner issues and bringing the government to a stalemate 毕业论文 设计 2 whenever one party was in favor with the reigning king and in power in the parliament it attacked the other party exiling and imprisoning the opposition the victims are always the people under its governing this period was filled with much political corruption upheaval and fighting which are the subjects of mockery in gulliver s travels ireland had become england s colony ever since 1745 the irish people fell the victims of oppression and exploitation swift was deeply involved in the battles between the whigs and tories and actively trying to help england s oppression of ireland thus he was also the victim of petty politics in ireland swift witnessed a country of people was driven to poverty and desperation by england s restrictive policies to reveal the cruelty of the english ruling class swift called on the irish people to resist the oppression and became an advocator for the independence of ireland in the period when he was closely linked with the irish people and firmly supported their struggle for independence and freedom he wrote his masterpiece gulliver s travels which was a reflection of the wider social political and ethical orders of england 1 2abrief introduction to gulliver s travels the novel contains four parts each of them deals with one particular voyage of the hero gulliver and his extraordinary adventures on some remote islands in the first part gulliver was shipwrecked and went to a land of little men lilliput where the tallest people were only six inches tall then gulliver again took his second voyage and was driven by a storm to an island of giants brobdingnag where the inhabitants were much taller than gulliver the third voyage gulliver met with the people of a 毕业论文 设计 3 floating island laputa the fourth part described gulliver s voyage to the land of horses which were described as very noble in contrast with the yahoos who were hairy naked and dirty the four voyages in lilliput brobdinfnag laputa and houyhnhnms are different but they are used satirically gulliver s travels is considered as a classic of satire and the author himself a most skillful satirist in gulliver s travels swift utilizes different satirical devices to record the specific details that shape the daily life of four countries which is a devastating satire on the evil phenomenon in british society in the 18thcentury considering the trouble produced by the sharp satire on contemporary politics however the publisher had deliberately altered several pages of the text cutting out or toning down the satire that was too dangerously outspoken judging from this we can confirm that gulliver s travels was an outstanding satire conveyed by interesting stories although swift to avoid prosecution made use of his various writing techniques to portray real britain the satire in it is still recognizable due to swift s scathing criticism gulliver s first voyage to lilliput can clearly be interpreted as a satire on human greatness and an attack on england today when we read the novel again we still can enjoy the excitement and pleasure those stories bring to us what s more if we pay more attention to his techniques of satire we will understand his satire well and find that all the behaviors which the author criticized still have real meaning in our society 1 3 the thesis statement of the paper much attention has been paid to the study of gulliver s travels over the years some scholars and researchers have done a lot of researches on its literature values 毕业论文 设计 4 from various aspects such as from its theme genre and point of view for example jianshuhua studied the phenomenon of irony gulliver s travels and flowers in the mirror written by chinese writer li ru zhen this work study one rhetorical device in gulliver s travels but there is not yet any serious work intended to analysis other satirical devices in the novel sir walter scott obviously thought gulliver s travels had some merit or he wouldn t have published a collection of swift s work in 1814 he noted that the work was unequaled for the skill with which the native is sustained and the genuine spirit of which is made satire net 1 therefore satirical strategies to achieve satirical effects deserve careful study this paper makes a detailed analysis on satirical techniques used in the novel and argues that all kinds of satirical devices hyperbole symbolism irony and contrast are used aiming at showing the power of satire hence we should first figure out what is satire how did swift employ his excellent writing skills to make the satire on the real society in his day then focuses will be on the analysis of vital techniques employed to achieve the goal of satire 2 satire 2 1 the definition of satire satire can be described as the literary art of diminishing or derogating a subject by making it ridiculous and evoking it attitude of amusement contempt scorn or indignation abrams 2004 275 it differs from the comic in that comedy evokes laughter mainly as an end in itself while satire derides that is it uses laughter as a weapon and against a butt that exits outside the work itself the butt may be an 毕业论文 设计 5 individual in personal satire or a type of person a class an institution a nation or even the entire human race for example the fourth part of gulliver s travels is a satire on the whole human creature 2 2 the classification of satire critics make a broad division between formal or direct satire and indirect satire in formal satire the satirical person speaks out in the first person this i may address the reader or else a character within the work itself and whose major artistic function is to elicit and add credibility to the speaker s comments indirect satire is cast in some other literary form than that of direct address to the reader the most common indirect form is that of a fictional narrative in which the objects of the satire are characters who make themselves and their opinions ridiculous or obnoxious by what they think say and do and are sometimes much even more ridiculous by the author s comments and narrative style there is no need for the narrator to speak directly to readers swift creates satire well by portraying several images such as the king of lilliput and brobdingna and by giving a detailed and vivid account of the social systems ways and customs of those countries gulliver the character of the novel is our contact throughout the four voyages his straightforward reporting of absurdities well explained the satire thus most swift s satire in gulliver s travels is indirect it should be noted that any narrative or other literary vehicle can be adapted to the purpose of indirect satire 2 3 the function of satire a satire acts as a literacy piece of work that diminishes the subject to a point of 毕业论文 设计 6 ridicule and amusement to the reader it uses comic relief to ease its content and can act as an aid to human folly and vice before 18thcentury satire was not fully developed because of the stress of the political environment it has been in fiction however that satire has found its most common literary vehicle since the middle of the 18 century net 2 any criticism of the government would bring punishments writers and artists need a way to criticize their governments and their church so they turned to satire to voice their opinions satire especially indirect satire that requires readers to get its underlying meaning functions effectively in avoiding indictment in these fantastic tales of gulliver s travels swift satirizes the political events in england and ireland in his day as well as english values and institutions he ridicules academics scientists and enlightenment thinkers who value rationalism above all else and finally he targets the human condition itself in gulliver s travels swift chiefly structures his satire to set up the targets and delivers his criticism of the british government s brutal rulings by the way of applying different satirical devices most of the criticism in the voyage to the houyhnhnms is directed at human nature itself 3 an analysis of satirical techniques in gulliver s travels writers have used satire throughout time to ridicule many subjects the application of the different satirical methods can be quite broad because satire itself is more of an attitude or stance than a genre or type of literature it is not bounded by form and structure but exists as an approach to a situation which can be present in any of the many literary forms net 3 to make a throughout satire to show the darkness 毕业论文 设计 7 of the real britain swift employed all kinds of satirical techniques such as hyperbole symbolism irony and contrast in gulliver s travels all these satiric devices serving as vehicles for swift s criticism enhance the stories and heighten the effect of the satire through bitter satire swift showed his talent in exposing and ridiculing the social evils of his time 3 1 hyperbole hyperbole has always been one of satirists favorite satirical techniques swift is no exception according to feng hyperbole is the deliberate use of overstatement or exaggeration to achieve emphasis effective hyperbole however is more than just to emphasize something in exaggerated terms in the hands of experienced writers it can be used to achieve various literary effects to intensify emotion to elevate a person or thing to heroic or mythical status or to poke fun at ridicule 2004 212 hyperbole for humor or ridicule makes use of absurdly exaggerated descriptions or situations to expose or to deflate the target of attack may range from persons or things to subjects like accuracy or automation connecting the definition of hyperbole with that of satire it is easy to find that hyperbole is a powerful vehicle for satire according to robert harris the essence of satire is aggression or criticism and criticism previous to the era of existentialistic nihilism has always implied a systematic measure of good and bad net 3 it tends to be hyperbolic in form to force recognition of vice upon the guilty though not essential like irony exaggeration is one of the most commonly used techniques in satire since the depiction of an extreme or blatantly vicious case is one of the best ways to get the target to recognize or admit 毕业论文 设计 8 that a vice exists at all recognition must precede correction the satirist brings his description of a wrong to its logical extreme or at least exaggerates by overemphasis in order to make the unseeing seen and the seeing but complacent oppose and expunge corruption it is the hyperbole swift employed in gulliver s travels that demonstrates his ideas and makes the satire more scratching the lilliputians were all six inches tall the scale of lillput is one inch to a foot of the ordinary world the king is just taller by almost the breadth of gulliver s nail than any his court however he believed himself to be the delight and terror of the universe he is of low and small stature but he is extremely arrogant and conceited his ambition is so immeasurable that he thinks of nothing than get rid of the whole empire of blefuscu the king prohibits every citizen from enjoying his proper rights even breaking an egg the application of hyperbole successfully portrays the image of the king pygmy and ruthless tyrant coupling truth with hyperbole makes for effective satirical writing the king is low in his physical heights but what he dreams of reveals that he is overwhelming the combination of exaggeration and contrast makes the satire more powerful besides swift adapts the language of exaggeration to satirize the corruptive politics in england in the 18thcentury in order to flatter the lilliput king persons of the highest rank should crawl upon their belly and lick the floor when they meet the majesty sometimes the person s mouth is so crammed with dust that they are not able to speak a word the exaggerated depiction in fact satirizes the tyranny of the ruler in england at that time it also satirizes the persons of the highest rank who in order to flatter the ruler do not hesitate to do things with much 毕业论文 设计 9 bowing and scooping in the episode the language of exaggeration is utilized incisively and vividly in swift s writing to blow something up is to set it up for satiric action as deflation necessarily follows inflation seidel 2000 74 in the second adventure in the land of giants gulliver becomes for purposes of the satire the minimalist this has a structural role in the plot of the fantasy and also a subtle role in the ranging satire he is forced to take the domestic sphere seriously in other lands it is difficult for gulliver being such an outsider to get the glimpse of the brobdinginas and their ways of life in brobdingna the grass is above twenty high and the corn at least forty feet when the son of gulliver s master took him up by the legs and held him in the air gulliver was scared to punish him the farmer gave his son such a box as would have fallen a europ