后殖民主义

Much valuable work has been done in terms of theme study. Both the international and domestic scholars have given out insightful explanations such as the contrasts between love and hatred，humanity and inhumanity, the inevitable death, and anti-heroism proposed by Marek Vit; other themes such as anti-war, illogicality of human beings, fatalism, alienation and desolation, destructiveness of war, etc. have been carefully studied, presented by several literary websites such as and . Besides, in “Thoughts in Slaughterhouse-Five” written by Wu Congju, the author reveals one of the themes－war. Zhao Xiulan digs into the text and gives a systematic research to the theme of absurdity. In terms of the novel’s structure, many efforts have been given to the fragmentary and circular structures represented by the scholars such as Jason Dowley and Wayne McGinnis. Except all these, the postmodern techniques employed in the novel also have been heavily explored. Black humor, destruction of traditional novel structure and reconstruction of a new one have been analyzed by many scholars, both internationally and domestically. Professor Yang Renjing and other Chinese scholars set us an good example in their book “ The American Postmodern Fiction”. However, I do not think they have covered all the critical perspectives concentrating the study of Slaughterhouse-Five. And there is still much to be explored. After a hard reading and a preliminary research of Slaughterhouse-Five, I have developed a position which enables me to approach the work from the perspective of modern tragedy. This thesis will try to dig into the text and find the tragic elements. Besides, the creation of those tragic elements will also be systematically studied. Before the argumentation, the views of modern tragedy are to be carefully analyzed. It is just according to the views of modern tragedy that we can prove that there do be tragic elements in the novel and gives a reasonable study of those tragic elements.

Conclusion

From the discussions above, we know that tragedies have gone through profound changes with the social, historical and cultural changes. Entering the modern period, thematically, the tragedies of lofty heroes are changed into the living tragedies of small figures; the expressions of the tragic meanings changes from internal conflict to the tragic feeling of the subject to the living alienation; irony is changed into the theme. The carrying of this modern concept of tragedies makes the whole western modern literature tragic. The tragic elements are aesthetic qualities in all literary forms. The tragic atmosphere can also permeate in novels.

Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse-Five is just a good example of modern tragedy. As a novel finished in 1960s, it deeply exposes the tragic essence of modern civilization. Vonnegut, a veteran from World War II, fully discloses the destructive forces of war caused by the inhumanity among human beings. He worries about man’s alienation and desolation. Moral decline and spiritual crisis are t he tragic characteristics of modern western world. Man’s life is absurd.

In order to expose all these, Vonnegut combines two kinds of nonlinear structures to stress the tragic elements. His use of two metaphors for death strengthens the tragic atmosphere. Besides, two analogies with The Children’s Crusade and The Pilgrim’s Progress deepen the tragic themes of the novel.

As a postmodern fiction, Slaughterhouse-Five is not only an antiwar novel but also a tragedy in which moral decline, spiritual crises, inhumanity, destruction of the war, and destruction of the technological progress are deeply revealed.

当代文化研究

1970年代之后，西方的“文化研究”从早期对工人阶级及其亚文化的关注扩展开来，把注意力集中到性别、种族、阶级等文化领域中复杂的文化身份、文化认同等问题上，关注大众文化和消费文化，以及媒体在个人、国家、民族、种族、阶级、性别意识中的文化生产和建构作用，运用社会学、文学理论、美学、影像理论和文化人类学的视野与方法论来研究工业社会中的文化现象。

2.后殖民主义概述

后殖民主义(postcolonialism)又叫后殖民批判主义(postcolonial criticism)。后殖民主义是20世纪70年代兴起于西方学术界的一种具有强烈的政治性和文化批判色彩的学术思潮，它主要是一种着眼于宗主国和前殖民地之间关系的话语。后殖民主义的特点就在于，它不是一种铁板一块的僵化的理论；自诞生之初它就常常变化，以适应不同的历史时刻、地理区域、文化身份、政治境况、从属关系以及阅读实践。事实上，与其说后殖民主义是一系列理论和教义的策源地，不如说它是一个巨大的话语场，或“理论批评策略的集合体”。在其中，所有的话语实践都基于这样一个历史事实，即“基于欧洲殖民主义的历史事实以及这一现象所造成的种种后果”。

关于后殖民主义的特质可以归纳为：

3.帝国主义的话语霸权

西方特权视角下的世界