What are the characteristics of "humor and satire" in Lu Xun's essays?

Satire and humor belong to the aesthetic category. There are both connections and differences between them. As far as aesthetics is concerned, satire is a means of expression in literary creation. Expose and condemn the reactionary, decadent or backward phenomena in social life with irony and ridicule. It often uses exaggerated methods to expose the contradiction of the satirized person and its hateful and ridiculous places, in order to achieve the purpose of derogatory or negative. Because the specific targets of satire are different, the attitudes and methods are different. We should mercilessly attack the enemy or reactionary things and sincerely criticize the backwardness among the people. Humor is an artistic expression of relaxed humor. Through the rhetorical devices such as innuendo, allegory and pun, we criticize and expose the absurdity and irrationality in real life with sympathetic eyes. He expressed truth, goodness and beauty in a ridiculous way. From the aesthetic point of view, it is not difficult to see that satire and humor are closely related. Humor can be teased and ridiculed, and it can also be teased and ridiculed. It can ridicule all kinds of ridiculous people and things, and it can also contain serious ideological content. In other words, satire focuses on criticism and negation, while humor can criticize and deny as well as praise and affirmation.

So, how does Lu Xun view and distinguish this pair of aesthetic categories?

Lu Xun discussed satire many times. He said: "An author, with concise or almost exaggerated pen and ink-but naturally it must be artistic-writes or-the truth of a group of people or one side, and this is written by a group of people, which is called the' satire' of this work. The' ironic' life is real, not necessarily what happened, but it must be the truth that will happen. Therefore, it is not "fabrication", nor "slander", nor is it revealing private affairs, nor is it recording shocking so-called "anecdotes" or "strange status quo". The facts written in it are all open and common, and no one feels strange at ordinary times, and naturally no one pays attention to them. But at that time, it was unreasonable, ridiculous, contemptible and even hateful. "

(1) In Lu Xun's view, satirizing life is real, and the object of satire should be social phenomena. And Lu Xun also has his unique views. He believes: "Humor is by no means a simple joke. If you treat it as a joke and a bargain, it is a kind of degradation. "

(2) It can be seen that Lu Xun believes that humor is a special form of comedy, and there is profound beauty hidden behind this relaxed and cheerful form of telling jokes and joking. Under the guidance of this theory, Lu Xun used satirical and humorous artistic skills extensively and skillfully in his essays in the early and late periods. On the one hand, satire and humor are often inseparable in his essays; On the other hand, due to their different aesthetic definitions, Lu Xun's essays sometimes present a large number of different forms.