| 英文摘要 |
Christmas stories, in which the time setting are during the twelve days of Christmas, were turned into one kind of literature genre in the first half of 19th century. It combined the characteristics of the “bylichki” in Russian oral literature and European Christmas stories: fantasy, moral enlightenment, and the happy ending. To support his family, young Chekhov used different pseudonyms to publish Christmas stories in light publications. Although he already realized that at that time common readers regarded mystery and fantasy stories as cliché, and the genre of Christmas stories confronted crisis. Chekhov manipulated the technique of parody to consciously reject the literary norm. Since the object of parody for writers is “the characteristic of some kind of genre, but not specific book”, M. Gromov addresses writers’ parody as “literary parody” or “style parody”. In Chekhov’s seven short works, The Distorting Mirror, Horror Night, The Mirror, A Night at the Graveyard, It’s her, Boys, The Shoemaker and the Devil there are characteristics of Christmas stories. However, the plots, figure image and motive remind readers of the Romantic genre or theme, for instance, the Gothic fiction, teenaged adventure fiction and “the deal with the Devil”. Nevertheless, applying the elements of Romanticism, Chekhov disappoints readers’ expectation of Christmas miracle and deceives their “horizon of expectations”. In this article, author analyze the technique of parody in Chekhov’s Christmas stories, and emphasize the artistry of this genre in his works. |