目的及意义

The progress of science and technology brings convenience and makes communication a cinch, even far apart. Simultaneously, it also distracts people, immersing themselves in virtual technology and Cyberworld world, from cherishing those closet families and friends and the glamorous everyday life. Although the term "phubber" initially has given rise to social concerns, people accept the title with a clear conscience, without realizing the seriousness of this problem. In order to analyze this case, this paper takes Thomas Ruggles Pynchon's novel, The Crying of Lot 49 (Lot 49) firstly published in 1966, as a sample for studying. Yet modern people seldom put letters down as the first choice to connect others as what the characters in Lot 49 do, the psychology of the main protagonist is almost identical with that of modern people. By means of scrutinizing the phenomenon of lacking of communication revealed in Lot 49, this paper does not only analyses the subjective experience and psychological feelings of the characters, but also explore the causes of the problem of insufficient communication, so as to find possible accesses to solve it to a certain extent, helping modern people to walk through the psychological predicament, tightening the psychological distance between people, and thus enhancing social cohesion.

国内外研究现状

However, as for the research in the communicational field, it has been mainly carried out from the practical application perspective, such as business dialogue, education and teaching, international contacts and so on. There are few studies on the sense of loneliness naturally formed by modern people in the social environment.

Pynchon, as one of the representative writers of post-modernism, occupies a place in the history of literature. Although he is not a prolific writer, almost all of his works are of high quality, which have won many honors for him, and are deeply loved by the public and concerned by critics. As an observer of society, he draws himself from the secular life and depicts the times people are experiencing or are about to face from the standpoint of the bystander. Therefore, his works are loaded with rich social value and practical significance. The study of Pynchon's Lot 49 is mainly from the analysis of literature value during the early times to the analysis of social value in the later stage. In the early period, people focused on the analysis of writing style and the characteristics of post-modern literature, and the discussion of various images in the works, and then when the public realized the great changes in the modern world, they turned to seek the causes and solutions from literary works. More often, this novel is contrasted with other works of Pynchon, or, supported by various theories, certain characteristics of the text content are interpreted, such as racism, gender perspective, entropy theme, symbols, and post-modern features.

Affected by Pynchon’s exquisite skills of naming, the relationship between the protagonist Oedipa in Lot 49 and the tragic character Oedipus in Greek mythology been much discussed. Admitting that there are also some former studies on the topic of communication towards Lot 49, nevertheless, they do not cover the relationship between the government and the marginalized people or their interpretation is not deep enough.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

研究的基本内容

Chapter One Introduction

1.1 Thomas Ruggles Pynchon and his works

1.2 Plot of The Crying of Lot 49