| At the rise of the 20th century, the theme of world literature encountered the historical change as the social and economic development proceeded, witnessing the emergence of a great number of modernist writers with their literature of the absurd as the landmark. Italian dramatist Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) is the perfect embodiment of this time. In his world renowned voluminous classics such as "I1 fu Mattia Pascal", "Sei personaggi in cerca d'autore", "Enrico IV" etc, through a variety of alienated mortals there is always the modernist theme of "suffering in life yet scared by death". Not only was a famous literary figure, Pirandello, an avant-garde thinker at his time, produced the great work of literary theory " umorismo". This is a manifestation of his life philosophy as well as the canons of his literary creation. The concept "umorismo" is far different from what is described as being humorous in everyday life. It stirs readers'mind with laughter, makes them think critically about the essence under the surface of these seemingly ridiculous and grotesque events and reevaluate life's being.This thesis is based on "umorismo" and its criteria. It first presents different features of "umorismo". Through the analysis of Pirandello's representative works, it then shows how thematic conflicts between people, between people and reality, between people and their own selves are demonstrated literarily. It then analyzes the structure of Pirandello's dramatic burlesque: how does it provoke rational thinking, how does he reveal his philosophical critique on art with the structure of play within a play and sarcastic exaggeration of the characters? In the end, it explains the origin of the concept of "umorismo" from the perspective of its macro background and the writer's living conditions. |
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