本文寫作目的有二，首先檢討以西方烏托邦小說理論研究老舍《貓城記》之成果。在相關研究及討論中，烏托邦諷刺及反面烏托邦理論往往兼用。不同理論固然皆能開啟對文本新的閱讀方向，但二者究竟有何區別，小說文本就文學史角度又應如何詮釋與歸類，仍必須透過對理論及文本的實際分析，方能產生合理的答案。其次，老舍作品確實受到傳統文學影響，《貓城記》亦非例外。但此作品於中國新文化運動之間所作，在此文化交融衝突時期，傳統與西方文化相互影響，在所難免。因此本文嘗試就傳統文學表現虛擬世界與諷刺主題作品中，分析並歸納其與西方文學不同特徵，並以此為基礎，配合文本創作時之時代背景與作者境遇，說明西方烏托邦文類理論如何滲入並與中國小說傳統結合，以及對作家創作之實際影響。

This paper focuses on Lao She’s The City of Cat of 1933, the interpretation and criticism of which are now dominated by two discourses with two relative, yet different views of utopian satire and anti-utopian fiction. I first examine both the external and internal contexts of the novel. They are significant in the recognition of The City of Cat as utopian satire. In other words, illuminating viewpoint notwithstanding, this novel is in fact different from anti-utopian fiction in its political intention, satiric target, and narrative tone. Then I examine the previous studies on utopian fiction of both the Western and Chinese literary traditions to determine the way in which the author, Lao-she, and his The City of Cat were influenced. I argue that, while many believe contemporary writers were eager to learn literary thoughts and techniques of the Western tradition, the Chinese literary tradition still had strong influence on Lao She, a writer of the May Fourth period.