Comparative Study Of Black Humor In The Ballad Of The Sad Café And Wise Blood

Women writers have always been accused of lacking the sense of humor. In my thesis, I will closely examine two works of American fiction, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Wise Blood, both of which are written by women writers, to prove that black humor also abounds in the works of women writers. Many critics believe that black humor originated in the 1960s. By analyzing black humor in the two works, which were first published in 1951 and in 1949, I hope to contribute to the observation that black humor does contain elements that may be traced back to traditional comedy and other types of humor.In chapter I, I will introduce my research questions, the history and development of humor and black humor, the origin and development of the trickster, earlier criticism on The Ballad of the Sad Cafe and Wise Blood, and significance of my research. In chapter II, I will explore black humor in the themes of the two works, which include capriciousness of love, cheapness of human life in the American South, tragicomic vision of life, prophetic vision of life and so on. In chapter III, the relationship between black humor and the style will be discussed. Specifically, wasteland settings, circular structures, humor superimposed on violence, comic treatment of tragic materials, detached viewpoint and employment of the grotesque will be discussed from the perspective of black humor. Chapter IV will focus on black humor in characterization in the two works. And chapter V is the conclusion: black humor also abounds in the works of American female writers; the seeming prosperity of black humor in the American South can be attributed to its history and literary tradition; and black humor can be traced back to earlier time than the 1960s.