TY - JOUR A1 - Liu, Jinying T1 - Modern Man’s Existence Predicament in the Entropic Society – >The Crying of Lot 49< as an Example [熵化社会中现代人的生存困境研究 - 以《拍卖第49批》为例], Master thesis, English Language and Literature, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing, China 2019 [application of Fromm's theories to art] N2 - 托马斯·品钦是当代美国文坛最著名的后现代作家之一。他的作品以奇谲诡异的构思、百科全书式的叙述、神秘怪诞的情节和富含哲理的隐喻而著称,颇具影响力。《拍卖第49批》是品钦的第二部小说,虽是他所有长篇小说中篇幅最短的,却有着>体小而才华横溢<的美称。小说围绕一位受过高等教育的年轻太太(奥狄芭·马斯)追寻神秘组织特里斯特罗的故事而展开。该小说自问世以来就引起了批评界的广泛关注,并在1967年获得由全国文学艺术学会颁发的>理查德与希尔达·罗森塞尔基金奖<。这部小说写于20世纪60年代,是美国历史上政治和社会最动荡的10年。在此期间,毒品文化兴起,越南战争,摇滚革命同时爆发。这也是约翰·F·肯尼迪和马丁·路德·金被暗杀、各种民权运动以及女权运动突起的时期。这部小说充分展现了这场文化运动,描绘了一个碎片化的社会。《拍卖第49批》弥漫着一种无处不在的文化混乱感,生动地描绘了当时美国文化和社会的方方面面。本论文将结合熵定律,并借用弗洛姆的相关理论,探讨《拍卖第49批》的现实意义和独特价值,揭示品钦小说所反映的后现代熵化社会中人类的生存困境。本文首先是分析文中后现代熵化社会的特征,如支离破碎的亚文化,扭曲的信息传递和无效的交流系统,病态混乱的美国社会。其次是分析文中人物所遇到的生存困境,主要是人的异化和物化,情感的孤独,真爱的缺失,自我身份认同的焦虑。然后分析品钦给出的解决方案以及他提出的社会改良政策,包括追寻的意义,交流的重要性。最终得出结论,品钦带着强烈的人文关怀,揭示了社会的熵化现状和现代人的生存困境,从侧面反映出他对极权的蔑视、对现实的关注和对人类终极命运的思考. N2 - Thomas Pynchon is one of the most celebrated postmodern writers in contemporary American literature. His influential works are known for their strange and bizarre ideas, encyclopaedic narratives, mysterious and grotesque plots and philosophical metaphors. >The Crying of Lot 49<, Pynchon's second novel, is the shortest of his full-length novels, but is known for its >small size and brilliance<. It centers on a young, highly educated wife (Oedipa Mass) who is on the trail of the mysterious organization Tristero. It has attracted much critical attention since its publication and was awarded the >Richard and Hilda Rosenthal Foundation Award< by the National Academy of Arts and Letters in 1967. The novel was written in the 1960s, one of the most politically and socially turbulent decades in American history. During this time, the drug culture was on the rise, the Vietnam War and the Rock and Roll Revolution were all happening at the same time. It was also a time of the assassinations of John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and the rise of various civil rights and feminist movements. This novel illustrates this cultural movement to its fullest extent and depicts a fragmented society. A sense of pervasive cultural chaos pervades >The Crying of Lot 49<, which vividly portrays all aspects of American culture and society at the time. This thesis will explore the relevance and unique value of >The Crying of Lot 49< in the context of the law of entropy and Fromm's related theories, revealing the plight of human existence in the postmodern entropic society reflected in Pynchon's novel. The paper begins with an analysis of the characteristics of the postmodern entropic society in the text, such as the fragmented subculture, the distorted information transmission and ineffective communication system, and the pathological and chaotic American society. Secondly, it analyses the existential dilemmas encountered by the characters in the text, mainly the alienation and objectification of human beings, emotional loneliness, the lack of true love, and the anxiety of self-identity. This is followed by an analysis of the solutions offered by Pynchon and the policies he proposes for social improvement, including the meaning of searching and the importance of communication. It is concluded that Pynchon, with his strong humanistic concern, reveals the entropic state of society and the plight of modern man, reflecting from the side his contempt for totalitarianism, his concern for reality and his thoughts on the ultimate destiny of mankind. [Automatic translation] Y1 - 2019 ER -