摘要

马克·吐温是美国著名的作家。他的短篇小说《百万英镑》讲述了一个穷困潦倒的美国小伙子亨利·亚当斯在伦敦的一次奇遇。这部小说代表了他幽默风趣的写作风格，本文首先对马克·吐温的讽刺幽默作了一个简要的介绍。在对马克·吐温的讽刺幽默有一个简单理解的基础上，本文还分析了其写作风格形成的背景，并总结在这种风格影响下所带来的影响和效果。尖锐的讽刺和强烈的对比是马克·吐温为营造幽默氛围所使用的两种主要的方式。关于马克·吐温的讽刺幽默产生的背景，压抑的政治氛围，西方幽默的繁盛以及马克·吐温自身的经历是三个主要的成因。马克·吐温的讽刺幽默也受布勒特·哈特和阿帝默斯·沃德两位幽默小说家的影响。马克·吐温的讽刺幽默对加强小说主题和推进现实文学的发展有着重要作用。

关键词：马克·吐温；《百万英镑》；幽默讽刺；西方幽默；现实文学

Abstract

Mark Twain is a famous American writer. His famous novel, The Million Pound Note fully stands for his writing style —— abundant and clever use of humor and satire. The Million Pound Note, portrays an adventure about an American poor young man Henry Adams in London. The paper gives a brief introduction and analyze the reflection of of Mark Twain’s humor and satire first. With the basic understanding of Mark Twain’ humor and satire, the paper also analyzes the background of Mark Twain’s humor and satire, and summarize the effects of Mark Twain’s humor and satire. Bitter irony and sharp contrast are two main ways Mark Twain used to create a humorous effect. About the background of Mark Twain’s humor and satire, the repressive politics, the development of the western humor as well as Mark Twain’s personal experiences are three aspects which affect Mark Twain’s humor and satire. Mark Twain’s humor and satire is also affected by the humorous novelists Bret Harte and Artemus Ward. About the effect of Mark Twain’s humor and satire, it helps strengthen the themes and makes a contribution to the development of realism literature.

Key words: Mark Twain; The Million Pound Note; humor and satire; western humor; realism literature