ABSTRACT:The 18th century was a period when British novel rose and developed rapidly. Henry Fielding (1707-1754), as an important founding writer in the 18th century, created a new writing form, comic epic in prose. Joseph Andrews, as his first book, reflected his new literary theory in a comprehensive way. This thesis analyzes Joseph Andrew from the aspect of this literary theory and makes an in-depth analysis of its structure, plot, character portraying and its diction in order to discuss the artist features of comic epic reflected in the story. Besides, the paper explores the artist value of Joseph Andrews.

Key words: Henry Fielding; Joseph Andrews; comic epic in prose; artist features

中文摘要:Henry Fielding作为英国现代小说重要奠基人之一，独创了“散文体喜剧性史诗”这一理论。Joseph Andrews作为这一新文体的开山之作，显然也鲜明地体现了这一文体的艺术特色。本文将Henry Fielding的“散文体喜剧性史诗”这一理论与其代表作Joseph Andrews相结合，理论联系实践，更深入地分析把握Henry Fielding的Joseph Andrews这部作品以及其中所体现的“散文体喜剧性史诗”这一文体的艺术特色。通过分析Joseph Andrews的故事架构、小说情节、人物塑造和语言特色等四个方面，来探讨其中所体现的“散文体喜剧性史诗”这种文体的艺术特色以及Joseph Andrews这部小说的现实主义艺术价值，同时更好地厘清英国小说发展初期的特征。

关键词：约瑟夫·安德鲁斯传; 亨利·菲尔丁;散文体喜剧性史诗; 艺术特色

　　　In the above parts, there is an analysis of the theory of comic epic in prose and a detailed exploration of the form, character portraying, plot and diction of the novel Joseph Andrews on the basis of the theory. With the theories and facts presented and the analysis and viewpoints put forward, we can clearly see that Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding was an epoch-making practice of the theory which vividly showed the artist features of the comic epic theory and provided his later works with both theory basis and practice experience. In addition, in the 18th century, novel, as a literature form, was still new and in its rising stage. For one thing, the new form of comic epic in prose, catered to the taste of people at that time and in this way attracted a lot of readers, which laid the mass foundation for later novels. For another, it also inspired novel writing and created a new and unique way of novel writing for other writers. In this sense, Henry Fielding, who was regarded as the only one who put forward a complete system of literary theory in 18th century, had on some degree set up a milestone in the process of the development of novel writing.