Abstract:

Catch-22 is Joseph Heller’s first important novel and is known as a representative of the post-modern novel. Written in a humorous tone, the novel depicts absurd and ridiculous events which happen on the fictional island of Pianosa. This novel has been quite a hit in the literary world ever since its first publication and numerous studies on the novel have been carried out. This thesis focuses on its theme of absurdity and its unique structural features which help to achieve its thematic objective. In this thesis the theme of absurdity is discussed from three aspects and the structural features of the novel are approached from the perspectives of subversion of chronology, discontinuity of events and repetition of scenes. It is the unique narrative arrangement of the novel that conveys Heller’s disappointment with reality and concerns for the mankind and that makes Catch-22 a classic.

Key words: Catch-22, Yossarian, absurdity, structural features

摘要：

《第二十二条军规》是约瑟夫•海勒的首部作品，也是后现代小说的代表之作。小说用诙谐幽默的笔调描写了发生在皮亚诺扎小岛上的各种荒唐事件，对当时和现在的文坛产生了深远的影响。自《第二十二条军规》出版以来，关于它的研究经久不衰。本论文主要研究小说荒诞主题及其结构体现。论文从三方面分析小说的荒诞主题，并具体分析小说结构特征，由此说明小说的独特结构表达了海勒对现实的失望和对人的忧思，使得《第二十二条军规》成为当代经典。

关键词：《第二十二条军规》， 约赛连， 荒诞， 结构特征

1. Introduction
1.1 Joseph Heller’s Life Story and Literary Achievements
Joseph Heller, the son of a Jewish immigrant family, was born in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, in May, 1923. Heller worked as a blacksmith’s apprentice, a messenger boy and a filling clerk before he joined the army in 1942. In 1944, the U.S. Army Air Corps stationed him to the Italian Front where he flew 60 combat missions as a B-25 bombardier. The military experience then served as both an inspiration and first-hand material for his groundbreaking novel Catch-22.
Heller developed his literary interest at an early age when he received a children’s version of the Iliad. Esquire Weekly and The Atlantic Monthly ran a few short stories of his in 1947 and 1948. In 1954 he started working on Catch 18, whose first chapter was published in New World Writing in 1955. Then in 1961, the novel Catch-22 came in sale and enjoyed enormous reputation. Thirteen years after his first novel, Heller published another novel Something Happened. Published in 1979, Good As Gold was also welcomed by many because of the familiar ridicule and puns. And later his works God Knows (1984) and Laughing Matter (1986) were his attempts at various themes and topics. In 1994, Heller published his sequel to Catch-22, Closing Time.