Abstract:Joseph Heller is a famous contemporary American novelist and one of the representative writers of black humor. His masterpiece Catch-22 is a classic of ironic literature, which portrays the absurd life of an American Air Force troop in the Mediterranean island during the World War II and exposes a world with nightmare and irrationality. After World War II，Cold War and the subsequent period of McCarthyism, a number of Americans feel that life is absurd and future is unknown. Heller depicts the American society in his eyes--a complete distorted world, which shows the institutionalized madness and the organized chaos.

Based on the analysis of the black humor in catch-22, this paper explains the expression of the black humor art writing and the application of the absurd unique technique in the novel. On this basis, the violation of the cooperative principle is illustrated in four aspects: maxim of quantity, maxim of quality, maxim of relation, maxim of manner. The analysis of this paper will has certain reference value for the study of black humor.

Key words: Black humor; Catch-22; Absurdity; Joseph Heller

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Introduction-1

I.-The Expression of Black Humor Art Writing in Novel-5

A.-Anti-Novel Narrative Structure-5

B.-Anti-heroic Character-6

II.-The Absurd Unique Technique-9

A.-Repeated Episode-9

B.-The Description of Absurd Conflicts-11

III.-Violation of the Cooperative Principle-13

A.-Violation of the Maxim of Quantity-13

B.-Violation of the Maxim of Quality-14

C.-Violation of the Maxim of Relation-14

D.-Violation of the Maxim of Manner-15

Conclusion-17

Bibliography-19

Acknowledgements-21