Mark Twain's Humor in His Last Years: Using the Weapon of Laughter

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02534
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Igawa Masago 東北大学, 国際文化研究科, 名誉教授 (30104730)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 晩年のマーク・トウェイン / アメリカ文学 / ユーモア / 19－20世紀転換期 / 笑いの武器 / カーニバル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This project focuses on a relatively neglected period in Mark Twain's life and work, namely, his last years at the turn of the century between 1890 and 1910. How did his humor work in those days? Twain started his writing career as a humorist, but according to his autobiographical dictation on July 31, 1906, he was not "a mere humorist." What did he suggest by this dictation? I argue that his humor rhetoric transformed socially and politically with a global perspective, as seen in Following the Equator. For him, having a "sense of humor" meant seeing the "funniness" of ridiculous things, such as atrocities in this world, and laughing at them. He used his humor rhetoric as a weapon of laughter for going beyond simply aesthetic writing. Complex as his last years might have been, the picture I draw here might help readers to see a Mark Twain who was still quite active and not necessarily pessimistic.

Free Research Field

人文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

マーク・トウェイン研究史において、晩年期の研究は長い間相対的に看過されてきた。その結果、複雑なその晩年像はなお不十分な理解に留まっている。いわんや晩年期のユーモアについては、まだまだ十分な理解に至っていない。ユーモア作家としてスタートした本作家のユーモアの行方、その修辞学の変容を追究することは、文芸批評の理論問題ともかかわり、その学術的意義は大きいと言えよう。
では、社会的意義はどうか。死後100年以上を経た今日もなおアメリカで大きな人気を誇る作家であることは、没後100年に出版された新版『自伝』50万部の売れ行きからも分かるだろう。社会的影響力の大きい作家であることの意味は言うまでもない。