欧美生态批评研究

欧美生态批评研究生态批评是在生态主义、特别是生态整体主义思想指导下探讨文学与自然之关系的文学批评。

它要揭示文学作品所反映出来的生态危机之思想文化根源,同时也要探索文学的生态审美及其艺术表现。

与20世纪以来许多批评流派不一样,生态批评崛起的主要推动力不是来自文学研究内部,不是来自批评家标新立异的冲动,而是来自世界范围的生态危机的逼促和强迫。

在愈演愈烈的生态灾难危及整个自然连同整个人类之存在的时期,文学批评怎么能够不直面如此严重并且还在不断恶化的生态现实?生态批评是在人类和整个地球的存在危机这个大背景下形成并发展的,是人类对防止和减轻生态灾难的迫切需要在文学批评领域里的表现,是在具有社会和自然使命感的文学研究者对拯救地球生态的强烈责任心驱使下出现的。

生态批评的主要使命是探究人类的思想、文化、科技、生产和生活方式、社会发展模式如何影响、甚至决定了人类对自然的恶劣态度和竭泽而渔式的行为,如何导致了生态危机。

生态批评的最终目的是思想文化变革,进而推动生活方式、生产方式、科学研究和发展模式的变革,推动与自然和谐相处的生态文明的建设。

生态批评家虽然不能直接参与具体的生态治理实践,但他们却擅长于挖掘和分析生态危机的思想文化根源。

生态批评希望向越来越多的人证明:生态问题在当今极其重要,重要到关乎人类和整个地球的生死存亡,文学批评家可以也应当在这个问题上发出声音,可以也应当为缓解直至消除生态危机做出贡献。

生态批评最主要的思想特征是生态整体主义。

卢梭、达尔文、恩格斯的生态思想,海德格尔的生态哲学,利奥波德、罗尔斯顿、拉夫洛克和深层生态学的生态整体主义思想,生态的和谐观与正义观以及生态的主体间性理论,构成了生态批评的哲学基础。

生态整体主义的核心思想是:把生态系统的整体利益作为最高价值,把是否有利于维持和保护生态系统的完整、和谐、稳定、平衡和持续存在作为衡量一切事物的根本尺度,作为评判人类生活方式、科技进步、经济增长和社会发展的终极标准。

生态批评的美学原则主要有自然性原则、整体性原则和交融性原则。

生态批评的对象不仅仅是生态文学;任何有关人与自然之关系的作品,哪怕完全没有直接描写自然景观,都是生态批评所要研究探讨的对象。

生态批评对文本的解读和评论不仅仅局限于当代的作品;它还要重审和重评古往今来所有文学名著,特别是对人类文明和社会变迁产生了重大影响的经典作品,揭示经典作品以往被人们忽视、然而又确实存在的生态思想,对其非生态和反生态的思想和审美进行生态角度的批判,推动学界对文学发展史做出整体性的重新评价和重新建构,推动人们建立生态的文学观念和生态的审美观念。

生态批评并不拒绝历史地、发展地考察文学,并不用当代的生态思想苛求以往的作家作品。

但它的“历史地看文学”包含了两个方面的意思:一是不脱离当时的语境地、客观地讨论文学文本的生态性和反生态性及其产生的历史必然性;二是要分析和评价该作品在人类反生态的文明史上的历史地位,反思人类的文明进程究竟在哪些地方出了错,判断特定的作家作品在那些错误当中发挥了什么样的历史作用。

生态批评为文学批评、美学研究和文学理论研究打开了新视角、开拓了新领域、提供了新课题、输入了新的发展动力。

生态批评倡导文学研究向自然转向、向地球转向、向生态意义和生态审美转向,不仅有助于弥补文学研究数千年来的不足,推动文学研究更为系统、更加平衡地发展,也有助于纠正当代文学研究过于关注形式、过于消解意义等偏颇,扭转当代文学研究日趋学院化、晦涩化和脱离现实的倾向。

生态批评最大的贡献是给文学研究带来了整体上说是全新的理念——生态哲学的理念、生态美学和生态文艺学理念,并赋予文学批评它应当担当的自然使命和社会使命。

从文学的社会和自然功用的角度来看,如果认可生态危机是当代乃至未来人类最大的危机,那么生态批评就是当代乃至未来很长一段时间里文学研究最重要的、最紧迫的任务。

生态批评是有限度的。

生态批评仅仅是文学批评的一个分支,一个维度。

生态批评并不否认也不可能否认文学研究其他领域、其他流派、其他方法的重要性,并不想也不能取代其他的文学批评。

生态批评倡导的是生态整体内部的多元共生,绝对不是一元独大,也不是二元对立。

它充分尊重和理解非生态主义的文学、理论和批评的价值,并把自己的领域严格限定在人与自然之关系的范围内。

【Abstract】Ecocriticism is a kind of literary criticism, which probes into the relationship between literature and nature under the guidance of ecologism, especially Ecological Holism. It explores the ideological cultural roots leading to eco-crises through literary research as well as the eco- aesthetic experience and its expression in literary texts.Differing from many other genres of criticism in the 20th century, ecocriticism did not arise from the literary research itself, but rather was spawned from various impending worldwide eco-crises. We are in a time of eco-disasters which threaten both nature and the very existence of human beings; literary criticism had to address the serious results of eco-crises and the worsening eco-reality. Ecocriticism was thus formed and developed quickly under the context of existing crises of human beings and the Earth. Ecocriticism represents the expression of man's urgent need and strong desire to prevent and lessen eco-disasters. Its appearance was driven by literary researchers having a strong sense of social and natural responsibilities toward saving man and the Earth.The essential mission of ecocriticism is to explore how the thoughts, cultures, science, production or living modes of human beings and social developing patterns have affected ecosystem, and how they even decide man's bad attitudes and abominable behaviors towards nature, leading to eco-crises. The goal of the ecological thinking, firstly, is to revolutionize the ideological culture, and then to give impetus to the revolution of the living modes, production modes, scientific research and the social developing patterns, and finally establish a new civilization and harmonious relationship between man and nature. Though cannot participate in the actual practice of the ecological management, ecocritics can seek out and eradicate the ideological cultural roots which cause the eco-crises, and thus make their contribution to society.Ecocriticism is constructed on the philosophical basis of the eco-theories of Rousseau, Darwin and Engels, "Heideggerian Ecophilosophy" as well as Ecological Holism of Leopold, Rolston, Lovelock and Deep Ecology, the theory of the eco-harmony, and the theory of ecological intersubjectivity.The ideological basis of ecocriticism is Ecological Holism. The central spirit of the ecological holism is: the benefit of the ecosystem is considered of highest value but not the benefit of human beings. The basic rule to judge everything is to see whether it is beneficial to maintain and protect the wholeness, the harmony, the stability and the sustainable existence of the ecosystem, which is thought to be the ultimate criterion to judge the human living patterns, the development of science, economic growth and social development.The natural principle, the holistic principle and the harmonious principle are the three main eco-aesthetic principles of ecocriticism.Ecocriticism studies not only ecoliterature, but also any literary pieces concerning the relationship between man and nature. Even the works which do not directly depict the natural scenery are subject to examination by ecocriticism. What ecocriticism wants to expound is not limited to the contemporary literary works. Ecocriticism wants to reread and reevaluate the literary classics of all times, especially the classics which greatly influenced human civilization and affected the vicissitude of the times, to expose the ecothoughts of the classics which were neglected before but exist in the literary works indeed, and to criticize the non-eco or even anti-eco thoughts and aesthetics from the perspective of ecocriticism. All these efforts are with one purpose, pushing forward the academic circles to reevaluate and reconstruct the literary developing history as a whole, and motivate people to construct the concepts of ecoliterature and eco-aesthetics.Ecocriticism does not refuse the approach to inspect literature from the standpoint of history and development, it does not pick faults of the literary pieces written by our predecessors according to the criterion of contemporaryeco-theory, but its approach to "view literature historically" utilizes two methods: One, to discuss objectively whether the literary pieces are for or against ecology within the language circumstances, thus coming to understand the historic necessity that motivated the appearance of ecothought and anti-ecothought in the literary texts, and Two, to analyze and evaluate the historic position of a piece of literary works in the human anti-eco civilization history, inspecting where man went wrong in the development of human civilization, thus judging the historic function of a literary piece by a specific writer. Only in the completion of these tasks, can ecocriticism fulfill its purpose—to expose the ideological cultural roots of eco-crises and prompt people to be conscious of ecology, enhancing their sense of ecology, and propelling the revolution of human culture and construction of eco-civilization.Ecocriticism opens a new perspective and blazes a trail for literary criticism,aesthetics studies and literary theory, putting forward new topics and inputting a new driving force for their development. Ecocriticism advocates that literary studies should point to nature, to the Earth, to the eco-significance and to the eco-aesthetics, which will make up the inadequacies of the literary studies discipline which has been practiced for several thousand years, thus propelling literary criticism to develop systematically with balance. It will help to correct contemporary literary which is over-concerned with the form and analysis of literary texts, thus reversing the tendency of contemporay literary criticism which is getting more and more academic, obscure and unrealistic. On the whole, the biggest contribution ecocriticism can make to literary studies is bringing forth new concepts—the concept of eco-philosophy and the concept of eco-aesthetics and eco-literary arts, infusing literary criticism with its natural and social mission. From the social and natural function of literaure, if we admit that eco-crises is the most serious crises for contemporary and future human beings, thus ecocriticism is and will be the most important and most impending task for a long time to come.Ecocriticism has its limitations. It is only a branch and a dimension of literary criticism. It does not lessen the importance of literary research in other areas. It does not want to, and cannot replace other forms of literary criticism. Ecocriticism advocates the diversity in the whole eco-system, absolutely not the singularity and not the contradictory duality. It respects and understands the value of non-ecological literature, theories and criticism and limits strictly its range to the relationship between man and nature。