Abstract: With irony, Julian Barnes builds multi-dimensional space of A History of the World in 10?Chapters on four layers, and manifests its polyphonic meanings: It parodies official history on the layer of structure and narrative mode; by using repetitive images, it negates progressiveness of history; it presents inter-questionable and dialogical concepts in a single story through the insufficiency of language; in the metaphysical sense, it denies the possibility of resolving contradictions. By means of irony, in this work the author fights against mainstream authoritative discourse and shows his distaste of reality; at the same time, he questions ultimate truth and reveals his disbelief of the ideal world. Built multi-dimensionally, this novel metaphorizes and symbolizes the complexity of the world and the absurdity of human existence. Irony is the paintbrush for Barnes to draw the complexity and absurdity of the world, but also the weapon to fight against absurdity so to find the meaning of individual and community existence.

Key words: Julian Barnes, A History of the World in 10?Chapters, irony, multi-dimensional space