Abstract

Gulliver’s Travels is the masterpiece of Jonathan Swift. When it was published in 1726, it brought great influence on English society. In the novel, Swift used different satirical devices to convey his thought, which create various dramatic effects, such as humor, sarcasm, and invective. By using satire, Swift gave an initial impetus to an allegorical and amusing style of writing, by which the author expressed his critical contemplation of the social reality.
This paper consists of four parts. It firstly introduces the experiences of the author and the writing background of the novel, which bring a significant influence on Swift’s writing style. Then it explores the concept of satire as well as its classification including innuendo, irony, hyperbole and comparison, and then it expounds how they are applied to this fiction. The next part of this paper concentrates on Swift’s critical thoughts delivered by satire, such as his critique to some political events, religious parties, human nature weakness and some other social problems. Finally, the paper analyzes the writing style of Gulliver’s Travels, with an attempt to provide a better understanding of this novel and the writing effect of satire.

Key words: Gulliver’s Travels; satire; Swift; critical thoughts

摘  要

《格列佛游记》是乔纳森•斯威夫特的代表作，当它在1726年发表时，就在当时的英国社会产生了巨大的影响。在小说中，斯威夫特运用了不同的讽刺手法来表达他的思想比如：暗讽、反语、夸张以及对比等。而这些讽刺手法的运用也产生了独特的艺术效果。通过讽刺手法的运用，斯威夫特为我们创造了一种讽刺的、逗趣的写作风格，同时透过这种写作风格作者也表达出了他对当时社会的批判与思考。
本文主要分为四个部分。第一部分主要分析了作者的经历以及小说的写作背景，这两点对于斯威夫特的写作风格产生了巨大的影响。第二部分揭示了讽刺的定义及其分类，比如：暗讽、影射、对比、夸张等，并阐述了他们在小说中具体的运用。接下来文章着重于说明斯威夫特如何通过讽刺手法来表达他的批判思想，主要分为斯威夫特对当时政治事件、宗教教派、人性的弱点以及对其他社会问题的讽刺这几部分。第四部分则主要分析了小说的写作风格，使读者能够更好的理解小说的思想以及讽刺手法所表现出的艺术效果。

关键词：《格列佛游记》；斯威夫特；讽刺；批判思想