A Brief Analysis of the Ironic Art in Liu Zhenyun's Ground Covered with Chicken Feathers

Abstract

From the late 1980s to the 1990s, Liu Zhenyun entered the mature stage of novel writing. Among his work, the new realistic novels stand out as representative creations. These works center on ordinary people, depicting their predicaments and existential embarrassments under the impact of the market economy. Irony serves as an important artistic device by which Liu Zhenyun refers to reality, not only criticizing social reality but also enhancing the novel’s literary tension. This paper focuses on Ground Covered with Chicken Feathers and uses textual analysis to examine three dimensions of irony: verbal, structural, and thematic. Verbal irony presents the contradiction between appearance and truth through calm narration and self-mocking language of characters; structural irony uses everyday imagery such as "tofu" and trivialities to allude to the mediocrity of life and the weariness of spirit; thematic irony, on the other hand, points directly to the alienated fate of intellectuals between material and ideal. The research concludes that irony is not only a powerful tool for Liu Zhenyun to criticize reality but also builds a cold and tense narrative world at the literary level, prompting readers to reflect deeply on everyday life and human values.