Black Humor in Xu San-guan’s Selling Blood Abstract：This paper first introduces the detailed information of black humor. Then associated with the relative information of black humor， it makes an interpretation of black humor in the novel Xu San-guan’s Selling Blood from social background and language. Black humor in this novel brings us common people’s misery in the seemingly cold and careless writing.
摘 要：论文首先介绍了黑色幽默这种文学形式。然后从社会背景和语言两方面分析了《许三观卖血记》中黑色幽默的应用。这篇小说在冷酷而不经意的笔触中为读者呈现出那个历史时期普通民众的悲苦人生。
Key words：black humor； Xu San-guan’s Selling Blood
关键词：黑色幽默；《许三观卖血记》
[中图分类号]：I206 [文献标识码]：A
[文章编号]：1002-2139（2012）-24-0-01
1. Introduction to black humor
The American fiction in the 1960s had witnessed an emergence of a literary
genre -- novels of black humor in the literary world. Black humor is an international
literary phenomenon，and it is not confined to a certain country during a certain
period. Different literary critics hold different viewpoints towards black humor and they have not reached a consensus on its definition，however they come to terms
with each other on some characteristics of black humor such as “grotesque”，
“ironic”，“absurd”，etc.
2. black humor in Xu San-guan’s selling blood
2.1 black humor in social background of this novel
Though not given directly and clearly， it is easy to see that the story was occurring at a time when China was guided by the ultra-leftist line. Since the establishment of PRC， the whole society was enveloped in the influence of the ultra-leftist line： first the Great Leap Forward， then the cultural revolution. The policy and line are not accused directly in the story， yet the story offers us a picture of miserable life of the populace on the bottom line at that time. Xu San-guan， the representative of the populace， a simple but great common people， had to sell his blood in order to overcome knotty problems one and another. And selling blood had become a popular and the only feasible way to make money and overcome difficulties in their life. As a result， young fellows who couldn’t sell their blood would be regarded as a breakdown in health and surely fail to get married. Not mention directly by the author， the cruel reality flew between the lines of the story. To our astonishment and annoyance， the bloodsucker， Li Xuetou， who took charge of who would sell blood joined the Party. What an absurdity.
2.2 black humor in the language （dialogue） of the characters absurdity in logic in the dialogue between Xu San-guan and his grandfather
In the beginning of the first chapter， the author introduced a dialogue between Xu San-guan and his grandfather：
他爷爷问：“你爹为什么不来看我？”
“我爹早死啦。”
“我儿，你身子骨结实吗？”
“结实。”许三观说，“爷爷，我不是你儿……”
他爷爷继续说：“我儿，你也常去卖血？”
许三观摇摇头：“没有，我从来不买血。”
“我儿……”爷爷说，“你没有卖血，你还说身子骨结实？我儿，你是在骗我。”
The dialogue tells us a simple logic reasoning， that is， health =selling blood. If one is healthy， he will surely sell blood； if he has not sold blood for even one year， he will be seen as being unhealthy. It is quite difficult for us to connect our life today with the majority populace in the story， thus we feel it incredible. In fact， such seemingly abnormal and ridiculous reasoning actually reveals that selling blood has become a regular behavior of the populace to make a living， which further exposes the miserable life of common people on the bottom line at that time.
Black humor， as a literary form， bears many features of its own and embodies the authors’ deep thoughts and their intention for creation. Black humor in this novel brings us common people’s misery in the seemingly cold and careless writing.
References：
1、《许三观卖血记》， 余华，上海文艺出版社，2005
2、 《许三观卖血记》的思想意义和艺术特色，戴 绛，陕西教育学院学报，2003.2
3、对《路的尽头》中的黑色幽默解读（硕士论文），曾丹，2006
4、 梁洪兰.黑色幽默文学的艺术风格[J].鞍山师范学院学报，2005（l）：79一81.