ABSTRACT
This paper first studies the ironic humor of Mark Twain combined with the viewpoints of the scholars in and abroad, pointing out that in a larger sense, the massive usage of spoken language in literature at that time is a sort of violation to the traditional literature, which helps the realization of foregrounding. It then gives the research and development of foregrounding theory contributed by the scholars in and abroad, and puts forward the concept that foregrounding theory plays a vital role in understanding and analyzing contexts, a role that not only provides the writers a more effective approach to express but also helps the readers to find a more direct access to the right points consistent with what the writers plan to convey. It finally offers a further analysis on ironic humor and theme of the most famous novel the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by the realization pattern of foregrounding constructed by Yu Xueyong.
Keywords：Mark Twain; ironic humor; foregrounding
Contents
1. Introduction 1
1.1 Brief introduction to Mark Twain 1
1.2 Purpose and significance of the study on Mark Twain’s ironic humor 1
2. Literature review 3
2.1 Studies abroad 3
2.2 Studies in China 4
2.3 Comments on present studies 5
3. Foregrounding theory 7
3.1 Introduction to foregrounding 7
3.2 The realization pattern of foregrounding 9
4. Mark Twain’s ironic humor 11
4.1 Background of Mark Twain’s novels 11
4.1.1 Realism and realism novel 11
4.1.2 Social background and factors 11
4.2 Features of Mark Twain’s ironic humor 12
5. Realization of foregrounding in ironic humor in the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn… 13
5.1 Phonological deviation 13
5.2 Graphological deviation 14
5.3 Grammatical deviation 15
5.4 Semantic deviation 16
5.4.1 Deception 16
5.4.2 Metaphor 17
5.5 Phonological overregularity 18
5.6 Grammatical overregularity 18
5.6.1 Repetition 18
5.6.2 Parallelism 19
6. Conclusion 21
Acknowledgements 22
References 23
