Abstract: Joseph Heller is a well-known American writer. His representative work Catch-22 is reputed as “The Epic of the Sixties”. It is an excellent postmodernist work which has attracted much critical attention and praise. Indeterminacy represents the result of the disappearance of center and of ontology which fits to the spirits of postmodernism---clearing up center and dispelling all the order and constitute. Indeterminacy plays a prominent role in Catch-22, which makes the characteristics and the images of the characters in the novel more outstanding, and also makes the character relationship more complicated. This paper aims to analyze the indeterminacy and its aesthetic characteristics of Catch-22 from the perspective of postmodernism and the literary role of indeterminacy in Catch-22. 

Key words: Catch-22; postmodernism; indeterminacy; Joseph Heller

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

1. Introduction-1

2. The Postmodernism-3

2.1 Definition of Postmodernism-3

2.2 Features of Postmodernism-4

3. The Postmodernist Indeterminacy in Catch-22-5

3.1 Indeterminacy of Languages-5

3.1.1 Ambiguous Language-5

3.1.2 Paradoxical Language-7

3.2 Indeterminacy of Characters-8

3.2.1 Indeterminacy of Identity-8

3.2.2 Indeterminacy of Character Relationships-9

3.3 The Indeterminacy of Plots-10

3.3.1 Fragmentary Plot-11

3.3.2 Open Ending-12

3.4 Indeterminacy of Themes-12

3.4.1 Indeterminate Theme of Atheism-13

3.4.2 Indeterminate Theme of Brutality-14

4. The Literary Role of Indeterminacy in Catch-22-15

5. Conclusion-16

References-18