【正文】 age of 39. Alice Wlker has pity for O?Connor?s early death, “she was an artist who thought she might die yough, and who then knew for certain she she would. Her view of her characters pierces right through to the skull” (Walker 71). The work discussed in this thesis is gothic art of Flannery O?Connor in her short stories. Death, violence, grotesque and religious faith has always been rhe major themes in O?Connor?s fictions, which are distinctive characteristics of gothic novels. As the studies show, American Southern writers are full nurtured from a great gothic tradition in their writings and Southern Renaissance “has bee synonymous with the grotesque” (White 1). Being an important writer in American Southern literature, O?Connor, who roots deeply in her profound local culture, raises much attention from readers and critics for her innovation to traditional gothic writings. To most readers, O?Connor?s fictions are odd, cold and diapassionate, always in stark violent and death. She prefers freak fatalities and awfulness to wake up religious consciousness of people. As a devout Catholic, she fully awares few readrs share her faith in religion. Thus she believes “to the hard of hearing your shout, and for the almostblind you draw large and startling figures” (Fitzgerald 33). This thesis focuses on O?Connor?s unique use of grotesque and how she presents her thoughts threough gothic elements and vehicles. The thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter briefly introduces gothic traditon in American literature, as well as gothic genre in American Southern literature. Chapter two ananlsizes gothic devices in her works, including gothic characters and settings. Chapter three deals with distincitve features of gothic in her writings, which refers to the motif of violence,death and religous redemption.B. A. Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics 3 Chapter One Gothic Genre in Western Literature Having a touch of gothic genre will help us understand O?Connor in an exact and prensive way.. Flannery O?Connor, who is known as the best writerr in Southern literature only next to William Faulkner, perates the utmost reality of the modern world by applying ubiquitous gothic elements. The main theme of her writing is moralteaching though she never explains it eagerly. “Fiction writing is very seldom a matter of saying things。 關(guān)鍵詞 ： 佛蘭納里她一生雖然短暫，但著有兩部長(zhǎng)篇小說(shuō)和 31 篇短篇小說(shuō)。 教師學(xué)生都要手寫(xiě)簽名 指導(dǎo)教師簽名： 論文作者簽名： 年 月 日 年 月 日 On Gothic Art of Flannery O’Conner’s Short Stories by xxxxx Under the Supervision of xxxxxx Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Arts School of Foreign Studies xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx May 2020 B. A. Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics ii Acknowledgements Upon the pletion of the thesis, first of all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Xu Wenru, for her enlightening guidance, incessant encouragement and careful modification throughout the process of writing this thesis. Without her patience and prudence, I could not have brought my thesis to its present form. Besides, I am also greatly indebted to other beloved teachers in the School of Foreign Studies of Shandong University of Finance and Economics, for their valuable and informative courses which have benefited me a lot during my college years. Last but not the least, I am also much obliged to all my friends who have helped me with my thesis. B. A. Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics iii ABSTRACT On Gothic Art of Flannery O’Conner’s Short Stories xxxxxxx Flannery O?conner is regarded as one of the most infulencial fiction writters in American Southern Literature. She achieved two novels and 31 short stories during her short life. Ehlighted by Christanity, O?Conner has always been renowed as a “Roman Catholic writer”. With the insight into the reality of Southern America after World War II, her works represented in a clod and dispassionate way, full of stark voilence and death, aiming to expose the evilness of humans and wake up their religious consciousness. Voilence and death as well as religious concern are two mon features in O?Connor?s works. This thesis analysizes her unique gothic art, which uses bizarre figures, gloomy southern settings, gothic themes and plots, in order to have a better understanding of the corrupted spiritual world in Southern America after World War II. Key words: Flannery O?Connor。本聲明的法律結(jié)果由本人承擔(dān)。 山東財(cái)經(jīng)大學(xué) 本科畢業(yè)論文 (設(shè)計(jì) ) 題目： 論 奧康納短篇小說(shuō)的哥特藝術(shù)風(fēng)格 學(xué) 院 外國(guó)語(yǔ)學(xué)院 專 業(yè) 英語(yǔ) 班 級(jí) xxxxxx 學(xué) 號(hào) xxxxxxxxxxxxx 姓 名 xxx 指導(dǎo)教師 xxx 大學(xué) 教務(wù)處制 二Ｏ 一四 年 五 月山東財(cái)經(jīng)大學(xué)學(xué)士學(xué)位論文 xxxx大學(xué) 學(xué)士學(xué)位論文原創(chuàng)性 聲明 本人鄭重聲明：所呈交的學(xué)位論文，是本人在導(dǎo)師的指導(dǎo)下進(jìn)行研究工作所取得的成果。 日期填寫(xiě)定稿日期 5月 1 日 。short stories。奧康納是一位虔誠(chéng)的基督教徒，她的作品也具有濃厚的宗教主義，因此奧康納也被稱為“天主教小說(shuō)家”。奧康納；短篇小說(shuō) : 哥特藝術(shù) B. A. Thesis of Shandong University of Finance and Economics v CONTENTS Acknowledgements…………………………… ………… …… …… ii Abstract…………………………………………… … ………… .… iii Abstract in Chinese………………………………………… …… iv Introduction………………………………………… …… ………… 1 Chapter One Gothic Genre in Western Literature...… … … … 3 I. F o r ma t io n o f G o t h ic G e n r e………… ………… 3 II. Gothic Tradition in American Literature… … …… … ……… 5 Chapter Two Parody of Gothic Plot and Characters………… ..7 I. Gothic Images and Black Comedy……… …… … …… ……… 7 II. G ro t es q u e F ig u res ……… … ……… … …… … …… 9 Chapter Three Gothic Feat