Vonnegut in the Critical World：Controversy and Concurrence
Kurt Vonnegut（1922—2007）was one of the most important post-WW ⅡAmerican writers and an active public spokesman。In his literary career of ffty-seven years， he published fourteen novels， four plays， four short-story collections（two published posthumously in 2010 and 2011），six collections of essays， speeches， and interviews， and a large body of uncollected short fction and nonfction。A humorist in the strain of Mark Twain， Vonnegut made witty and incisive criticism about modern warfare， the reign of scientism， Eurocentrism， environmental destruction， and the degeneration of humanity as a whole。His novels and short stories were adapted to the screen as well as the stage。Many were long-standing New York Times bestsellers。They were taught in college courses and enjoyed tremendous popularity with the young people。For great lengths of his life， Vonnegut was vice president of the P。E。N American Center（since 1972），vice president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters（now the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters）（since 1973），and honorary president of the American Humanist Association（since 1992）。For his active engagement in public affairs， sharp critique of American culture and politics， and his unconventional innovation of artistic expression， Vonnegut had been widely acclaimed as one of the greatest American writers， an outspoken social critic， and an immensely influential cultural guru。
Even death did not put him into oblivion。 New studies on him continueto appear after his death。Harold Bloom's 2009 edition of Kurt Vonnegut in his“Modern Critical Views”，Peter Freese's monologue The Clown of Armageddon：The Novels of Kurt Vonnegut（2009），Jerome Klinkowitz's Kurt Vonnegut's America（2009），and Gilbert McInnis'Evolutionary Mythology in the Writings of Kurt Vonnegut（2010）are all examples of sustained enthusiasm in Vonnegut。In 2011 and 2012，the Library of America released two volumes of Kurt Vonnegut’s works， Kurt Vonnegut：Novels and Stories 1963—1973 and Kurt Vonnegut：Novels and Stories 1950—1962.A third volume is to follow。It is an important sign of offcial recognition of Vonnegut as“a member of the pantheon of the greatest American writers”。In 2011，the frst authorized biography was published， And So It Goes：Kurt Vonnegut：A Life（Charles J。Shields， Henry Holt and Company）。Another biography， chronicled by Vonnegut’s novels， Unstuck in Time：A Journey Through Kurt Vonnegut’s Life and Novels（Gregory D。Sumner， Seven Stories Press），came out in 2012.These publications will predictably generate a new rise of interest in the late author。
However， Vonnegut's way to fame did not start smooth。 It was indeed one of frustration and fuctuation。For the frst twenty years after he quitted his job with the General Electric and started his writing career in 1949，Vonnegut stayed in virtual obscurity， neglected by most critics， in spite of the publication of fve novels， forty-six short stories， and two short-story collections and the growing popularity with the youth。His preference for the science fiction narrative mode made mainstream critics reluctant to regard him as a serious writer。It was not until 1969 when his sixth novel， Slaughterhouse-Five， came out that Vonnegut began to receive serious attention and wide acclaim。It actually started a decade of Vonnegut vogue among both the critical circle and the popular reading public。As Klinkowitz noted， Vonnegut became“the most talked about American novelist since Ernest Hemingway”（qtd。in Merrill 1990：1）。
The 1970s vogue， however， did not secure Vonnegut's establishmentas a major writer once and for all。 In the following decade， he underwent a subsequent decline and was constantly attacked for being pessimistic and insincere。Even though the 1990s saw a revival and steady rise of his reputation， scholars and critics found much to disagree with among themselves。It took much controversy and contention for critics and scholars to arrive at a consensus that， beneath the mocking mask of a clown and despite his relentless satire and vehement criticism of humanity's faults and follies， Kurt Vonnegut is an adamant humanist who persists in seeing goodness and beauty in humanity and tries to maintain hope against a world that is basically absurd and despairing。
Again， even in this consensus， there is disagreement。 Whereas many critics have noticed that Vonnegut's humanism differs from the classic humanism， they find it hard to nail it down with an appropriate name。Terms such as“postmodern humanism”（David 2006），“postmodernist humanist”（Chen Shidan 2010），and“misanthropic humanism”（Tally 2009）are all such attempts。They each have achieved some understanding of the uniqueness of Vonnegut's humanism， yet all seems inadequate to capture the complexity of the love-hate sentiments Vonnegut holds for humanity。
This book is to participate in the engagement from a different perspective—the study of animal images。 Animals abound in Vonnegut's fctional world， but they have long been ignored。Through an investigation into their roles， decoding their enigmatic messages in relation to Vonnegut's predominant humanistic concerns， the book is to reveal that the animal images， be they real or imaginary， realistic or metaphorical， are more than linguistic tropes used to increase forcefulness and richness of expression， but are integral parts of Vonnegut's humanitarianism and significantly contribute to his themes of humanity。In effect， they point to a tendency in Vonnegut's thinking that has long evaded critical attention—a tendency toward ecological humanism。
In the preface to Kurt Vonnegut， Jr。（1972），one of the earliest book-length studies on Vonnegut， Peter Reed states，“Professional literary people seem to be the most divided over Vonnegut”（20）。 This division of opinions has persisted for over fve decades。Various labels have been prescribed to Vonnegut：fabulist， fantasist， absurdist， humorist， black humorist， satirist， postmodernist， pessimist， moralist， and most frequently， science fctionist。As Leonard Mustazza observes，“[Vonnegut]has probably been subjected to more critical name-calling than any other contemporary American writer”（1990：15）。This remarkable diversity of evaluation shows， on the one hand， the complexity and ambivalence inherent in Vonnegut's fction， inviting different and even contradictory interpretations， and on the other hand， the multifaceted talent and idiosyncrasy of Vonnegut as an artist who deliberately resists easy and singular labeling。
Discussions on Vonnegut's fiction can be roughly grouped into two categories：the formal and the thematic。 As this book is primarily a thematic study of the author， the focus is mainly on the review of the latter group。Of all the controversies over Vonnegut's themes and philosophy， the central questions are：Is he a mainstream writer or a popular science fction writer， and in what way is he either？Is he a humanitarian moralist or a deterministic nihilist？Or， is he a pessimist or an optimist？What morals is he teaching？Or， is he teaching any moral at all？The following review is organized in a manner to show different perspectives and approaches to these questions。
In spite of Vonnegut's persistent protest against being labeled as a science fctionist， the abundance of science fction elements in his novels， the extraterrestrial visits， the time travel， the fantastic projection of a futureworld， all make the discussion of the science fction question unavoidable in the study of Vonnegut， either in regard to his art or his philosophy。 In the critical world， science fiction has long been synonymous with“unrespectability”，regarded as popular“pulps”。It is largely due to this understanding that Vonnegut suffered critical neglect for twenty years。As he complained later，“I have been a soreheaded occupant of a fle drawer labeled‘science fction'ever since， and I would like out， particularly since so many serious critics regularly mistake the drawer for a urinal”（WFG 1）。Leslie Fiedler's favorable comment in 1970 did not do him much favor in this respect。He praised Vonnegut's art of science fction as a means of sentimentality， a leading feature of the emergent school he named“New Romanticism”，and saw him as“a transitional figure”from High Art to Pop culture， from Modernism to Post-Modernism。Nevertheless， Fiedler also portrayed him as a writer painfully struggling with his“two minds”：“On the one hand，[Vonnegut]has lived from the beginning by appealing to the great Pop audience on its own grounds， and yet something in him has always yearned to be a‘serious writer'，to win the respect of those professors[……]”（9）。In this sense， the transitional role that science fction had won Vonnegut was not self-fulflling at all。
Supportive scholars were generally reluctant to name Vonnegut a science-fiction writer。 Donald L。Lawler preferred to consider Vonnegut as a“science-fction writer in sheep's clothing”，meaning that the science fction technique was not ends， but means， an“enabling form”for Vonnegut to make criticism of profound questions such as the meaning of life and the direction of history。Science fction helped cloak such serious issues with irony and burlesque。There were also critics who saw positive functions of the science fiction device。Willis E。McNelly defended Vonnegut as a science fction writer。He based his argument on Robert Scholes'defnition of science fiction as“fiction that offers us a world clearly and radically discontinuous from the one we know， yet returns to confront that world in some cognitive way”。For him， science fction was utilized by Vonnegut as an“objective correlative”to distance readers from the present reality so as to reinvent ourselves and understand the world better。Sallye Sheppeard brought together the notions of human values， science， progress， and myth in his study of the Vonnegut's critique of the inhuman value system of American society's“technological mindset”（qtd。in McInnis xiv）。The understanding broadened the scope of discussion from science fiction to the roles of science and technology in general and opened more space for interpretation。