Harold Pinter is one of the famous absurdist play writer in England. His works and language are full of absurd color,which is the focus of critics. Silence is a trademark of Harold Pinter's writing. He uses it to ...Harold Pinter is one of the famous absurdist play writer in England. His works and language are full of absurd color,which is the focus of critics. Silence is a trademark of Harold Pinter's writing. He uses it to an exquisite manner that he forms his individual"Pinteresque"silence. Silences in his play appear many times and act as a natural barrier for true self. This paper will take Pinter's early work"The Dumb Waiter"for example to analysis the wide usage of silences in the play. The paper tries to un mask the truth under silences. And by exploring the two types of silences, we can see characters' true emotion and intention un derground.展开更多
Whereas scholarship on Zhang Meng's acclaimed film The Piano in a Factory is scarce and mainly focuses on working-class identities, the present article contributes to the discussion by investigating the film's tragi...Whereas scholarship on Zhang Meng's acclaimed film The Piano in a Factory is scarce and mainly focuses on working-class identities, the present article contributes to the discussion by investigating the film's tragicomic style. By taking an existentialist viewpoint about the absurd, it demonstrates that the furloughed workers in fact live in an absurdist existence. Moreover, the changing era rather than character flaws is blamed for the absurdity. Specific images are examined in order to reveal a symbolism having to do with the demise of industrialism and the advent of commercialism. While absurdity is the undercurrent, the characters use humor as a strategy to evade, elude, and cope with life. The third section employs theories of comedy to investigate the comicality of the movie, which derives from exaggeration of negative traits in the characters. The paper argues that by manipulating the scenario at the end, Zhang holds out hope for the working-class' future. Piano is hence able to transcend the absurdist existence and end up with joy, hope and faith.展开更多
文摘Harold Pinter is one of the famous absurdist play writer in England. His works and language are full of absurd color,which is the focus of critics. Silence is a trademark of Harold Pinter's writing. He uses it to an exquisite manner that he forms his individual"Pinteresque"silence. Silences in his play appear many times and act as a natural barrier for true self. This paper will take Pinter's early work"The Dumb Waiter"for example to analysis the wide usage of silences in the play. The paper tries to un mask the truth under silences. And by exploring the two types of silences, we can see characters' true emotion and intention un derground.
文摘Whereas scholarship on Zhang Meng's acclaimed film The Piano in a Factory is scarce and mainly focuses on working-class identities, the present article contributes to the discussion by investigating the film's tragicomic style. By taking an existentialist viewpoint about the absurd, it demonstrates that the furloughed workers in fact live in an absurdist existence. Moreover, the changing era rather than character flaws is blamed for the absurdity. Specific images are examined in order to reveal a symbolism having to do with the demise of industrialism and the advent of commercialism. While absurdity is the undercurrent, the characters use humor as a strategy to evade, elude, and cope with life. The third section employs theories of comedy to investigate the comicality of the movie, which derives from exaggeration of negative traits in the characters. The paper argues that by manipulating the scenario at the end, Zhang holds out hope for the working-class' future. Piano is hence able to transcend the absurdist existence and end up with joy, hope and faith.