幽默大师_斯蒂芬_李柯克_英文_

[作者简介 ] 高轶文,女,陕西人,内蒙古大学外国语学院助教,内蒙古大学在读研究生;陈颖,女,河北人,内蒙古大学外国语学院助教。 A GreatHumorist� � � Stephen Leacock � Gao Y iw en Chen Y ing ( Foreign Languages College of InnerM ongolia Un iversity,H uhhot InnerM ongolia 010021) [Abstract] Stephen Leacock is best know n for his profound iron ic and sa tir ica lw it. Satire is defined as a genre in wh ich the author attacks som e sub ject, using his m eans of w it or humour that is e ither fan tastic or absurd. In the case o f Sunshine Sketches of a L ittle Tow n, h is irony and sagac ious insight w ith regards to h is comm ents on the lives o f the inhabit� ants ofM ar iposa, w ith regards to a ll the ir se lf- importance, pretensions, and hypocr isy as we ll he lp to further enhance the va lue of his humour. W ithou t the w it and sty le tha t Stephen Leacock presents in Sunsh ine Sketches, the book w ou ld simp ly be a co llection of mundane, out- of- da te, cu ltura l sn ippets of rura l Canad ian life. The hum our he lps the fam ous nove l Sunshine Ske tches of a L ittle Tow n to transcend the mundane and becom e a p iece of literature that is as pro found and appli� cable to soc iety today as it w as alm ost a cen tury ago. [K ey words] Stephen Leacock; humo rist; irony [中图分类号 ] I104. 4 [文献标识码 ] A [文章编号 ] 1672�8610( 2007) S1 �0041�02 H umorist shou ld have the ab ility to see the hum or in eve ry� day life. H umo rist should have the ab ility to express the humo r in w ay s that other peop le can appreciate and subsequently find ga iety therein. Stephen Leacock is such a humo rist. H is fam ous w ork Sunsh ine Sketches of a L ittle Tow n ass ists the reader to rec� ognize, one! s need to laugh at their surroundings, the ir cu lture, and the people tha t interact in the ir lives. L eacock is best know n for his pro found iron ic and satirical w it. Sa tire is de fined as a genre in w hich the author attacks som e subject, using h is m eans o f w it o r humour tha t is e ither fantastic or absurd. In the case of Sunshine Ske tches o f a L ittle Town, his irony and sagac ious in� sight w ith reg ards to h is comments on the lives of the inhabitants o fM ar iposa, w ith regards to a ll their se lf- importance, preten� sions, and hypocr isy as we ll he lp to further enhance the va lue of h is hum ou r. M ariposa is a fictitious sm a ll tow n in southern On� tar io. Stephen Leacock! s grasp of the com edy w ith in hum an na� tu re and the scope o f sm a ll tow n culture and trad ition m ake the characters who live in M ariposa becom e ex traord inary. The context of a ll irony lies in the know ledge o f compar ison. Leacock h im se lf sa id: Compar ison is the very sou l o f humo r. . . It is the d iscovery o f resem blance and the lack o f it that builds up the contrasts, d iscrepanc ies, and incongruities on w hich. . . hu� m or depends. If som e th ing that is w e ll understood to suggest one thing, is suddenly used to suggest som ething comp letely d iffe r� ent, the resu lt can o ften be h ilarious; such is the casew ith Sun� shine Ske tches. For exam ple, the no tion of population is dis� cussed: ∀ . . . the Canad ian census puts the numbers every tim e at som ething round five thousand. But it is genera lly understood inM a riposa that the census is largely the outcom e of m alicious jea lousy. It is usua l tha t after the census the ed itor of theM ar i� posa New spacketm akes a careful re- estima te ( based on the da� ta o f re la tive non - paym ent o f subscriptions), and brings the population up to 6, 000. A fter that. . . M r. G ingham, the unde r� taker, . . . m akes an estim ate from the number of what he ca lls the ∀ dem ised# as com pa red w ith the less in teresting personsw ho are still alive, and brings the population to 7, 000. A fter that som ebody else w orks it out tha t its' 7, 500; then the m an beh ind the bar. . . o ffers to bet thew ho le room that there are 9, 000. . . and the popu lation is we ll on the way to 10, 000, when dow n swoops the federa l census taker. . . and the town has to beg in all ove r aga in. # Th is is just one exam ple of the way the town of M a riposa opera tes. The c itizens of M ar iposa take the liberty to �41� 语文学刊 2007年第 12期 embe llish such in fo rm ation in a snowba ll e ffect that continues to g row close to absurdity before it is averted by the proper au thor i� ties. In order to understand the irony in any wo rk, one must first apprec ia te the context o f such a w ork. W ith regards to Sunsh ine Ske tches o f a L ittle Town, the town of M ar ipo sa resem bles any o ther tow n o f its day; a p lacew here everybody know s everybody, and the distinctness o f character is very apparent am ong the c iti� zens. The events are sim plistic and possess an unstated a ir of po� liteness and manners that cou ldn t' be found in larg er c ities. What the reade r is exposed to are good - natured, w ell- intentioned M a riposans. Leacock adds the satir ica l and iron ic tw ists to each sto ry line, w hich m ake the common life in M ar iposa becom e ex� trao rd inary. W e can find it in this part of the story: The Rev. D rone cou ldn 't m anage the money necessary to keep the church go ing and was soon at his w its end in term s o f what to do about the debt. It eventua lly cam e down to Josh Sm ith burn ing it dow n one n ight in o rder to co llect its outrageously high insurance po li� cy, which consequently w as a large enough sum to erase eve ry� one s' financia l troubles. ∀ The insurance people m igh t pro test as they liked. The straight, p la in fact was tha t the church was in� sured for about tw ice the who le amoun t o f the cost and the debt and the rector s' sa la ry and the boarding schoo l fees of the littlest o f the D rones a ll put togethe r. # Th is is perhaps the m ost iron ic o f a ll the tw ists in Sunshine Sketches, as itm arks such a reversa l o f fo rtune. It is alm ost impossible to be lieve that a fire o f such m agn itudew ould be a blessing but, tha t is exactly thew ay things turned out. Anothe r area o f the book that rece iv es satirica l and iron ic at� tention is the courtship o f Zena Pepper le igh by M r. Pupk in. Pupkin is ex trao rd ina rily shy, and in the presence o f the attrac� tive Zena that shyness is compounded to the po int w he re Pupkin ∀ rode fifteen m iles to pass ( he r) house tw ice, and even then it took a ll the ne rve that he had. # The entire romance o f Pupkin and Pepperle igh is hum orous because it doesn t' go beyond phys i� ca l a ttraction. Stephen Leacock use three chapters to descr ibe the rom ance of Pupk in and Peppe rleigh and the relations between Pupkin and the who le Pepperle igh fam ily. It seem s to be a long - w inded superficial re la tionsh ip, tha t ironically resu lts in a w edding o f the two parties. Pe rhaps the g rea test irony in each story is that they are based around events w hich seem serious, yet evolve into som e� thing qu ite rid icu lous. W ithout the w it and sty le that S tephen Leacock presen ts in Sunshine Sketches, the book wou ld simp ly be a co llection of mundane, out- o f- date, cu ltura l sn ippets of rural Canad ian life. The hum our helps the fam ous nove lSunsh ine Ske tches o f a L ittleTown to transcend the mundane and becom e a p iece o f lite rature that is as pro found and applicable to soc iety today as itw as a lmost a century ago. H um our adds interest to an� y th ing, and in this case, the readers o f Sunsh ine Sketches o f a L ittle Town also have a look at the past, and perhaps even a look at the present cond ition o f sm a ll- town Canada. ∃ References% [ 1] http: / /www. bra inyh isto ry. com / events /1869 /december_30 _1869_57432. h tm l [ 2] h ttp: / /www. lib. unb. ca /Texts /SCL /b in /ge t. cg ?i d irecto� ry= vo l4_1 /& filenam e= mac lu lich. h tm [ 3 ] http: / /www. tianyabook. com /w aiguo2005 / l/ likeke /xg / 002. htm [ 4] h ttp: / /www. lib. unb. ca /Texts /SCL /b in /ge t. cg ?i d irecto� ry= vo l3_2 /& filenam e= Ferr is. htm [ 5] http: / /www. co llectionscanada. ca /3 /5 / t5 - 241- e. htm l# top- of- page 幽默大师 � � � 斯蒂芬 &李柯克 高轶文 陈 颖 (内蒙古大学 外国语学院,内蒙古 呼和浩特 010021) [摘 要 ] 斯蒂芬& 李柯克是加拿大享有盛誉的幽默大师, 他以讽刺挖苦的风格艺术地现了人生的种种 尴尬、痛苦与悲哀,怀着悯人之情嘲讽人类自私、自负、贪婪等弱点。通过对∋小镇艳阳录(他的这部代表作中的一 些例子的分析, 我们会发现正是由于斯蒂芬& 李柯克高超的艺术技巧和深厚的生活素养锻造的幽默, 使得∋小镇艳 阳录(成为一部不朽的传世名作。 [关键词 ] 斯蒂芬& 李柯克; 幽默作家; 讽刺 �42� 文学赏析 Gao Y iw en Chen Y ing / A GreatHumorist� � � Stephen Leacock