Willa Cather's Ecological Vision

Ecocriticism began to assume the look of a major critical insurgency in the early 1990s. Trying to revaluate literature on the principle of holism, mutual dependence, and harmonious diversity as used in the science of ecology, it aims to promote harmony between humanity and nature, among human beings, and between humanity and his or her self. Based on ecocriticism, ecofeminism shows more concern for equality and social justice reflected in literary works and pays more attention to the subjugation and domination in the gender relationship. It identifies androcentrism as the root of the oppression of women and nature and advocates mutual dependence and care ethics. Both ecocritism and ecofeminism are devoted to dissolving the dualism of self 7 other characteristic of anthropocentrism and androcentrism and try to establish a new worldview based on interactive partnership and mutual respect. This dissertation, approaching Willa Cather's canon from an ecocritical perspective, is devoted to making a full exploration into Cather's ecological vision.Willa Cather is one of the most famous and prolific woman writers in the first half of the 20th century in the American literary history. For long the study on Willa Cather has been in the ascendant and has achieved great success. However, the previous comments on Cather were confined to the spheres of her being "a curer of humanity," "a local colorist," and "a stylistic writer" etc. and neglected other dimensions—her concerns and pondering over the ecological issues, as well as her identity as an ecological writer. This dissertation, by employing the modern ecological theories, from the aspects of natural ecology (relationship between humanity and nature), social ecology (relationship between human beings), and spiritual ecology (relationship between humanity and his/her self), and ecofeminism, carries out a whole, systematic, and overall analysis and interpretation of Willa Cather's thoughts and works, and attempts to display her accomplishment in opening a fresh window toward a whole new vision for western arts amid industrial bustling—the bright hope of reconstruction of the ancient ecological civilization of humanity with the merit of humans-nature interpenetration. Nature is, in Cather's artistic vision, not merely an external environment, but also an original cosmological state, and more significantly, a kind of religious emotion and a symbol for ideal existence. Cather's works are unique in style with exotic flavor and rich in everlasting spiritual resonance, which attributes to the modern ecological consciousness reverberating through her literary creation—that of reverence for nature and life, holding in esteem the natural instincts of humanity, and creation of a poetic dwelling realm characterized by harmonious interrelationship permeating the whole ecosphere and the return of humanity to his or her natural as well as spiritual homeland.Martin Heidegger said: "Literature and arts are just trees blooming in the vast open field." He quoted that poetic sentence from J. P. Hebel and chanted: "Isn't it that profound works are deep-rooted in the soil we spring from?" "Whether we acknowledge it or not, it's true that we are plants and must grow with roots deepening down into the earth, in order to bring forth blossoms bearing fruits." The poet has meant to tell: "Where the arts are thriving, people will thrive dynamically toward the heights like trees deep-rooted in the earth. "Heights" here means free air or open realm of spirituality."Cather is such an artist, like a tree that drinks up nourishment from the depths and from the heights, from the roots and from the air, and then brings forth a crown of leaves and flowers blooming into fruits. In her fiction she painstakingly constructed patterns of existence which I grouped into three "worlds": The World of Edenic Paradise characterized by primitive vitality and harmonious interpenetration between nature and humanity, among humans, between humanity and his self; The World of Paradise Lost characterized by increasing estrangement and alienation of humanity from nature, which in turn yields dehumanization, loss of self and interpersonal harmony; The World of Paradise Regained characterized by human return to nature and the reestablishment of poetic dwelling realm where all life forms in the ecosphere interrelate with one other, based on interdependence, equality and care ethics. Her ecological ideas emerge in the juxtaposition and comparison of the Three Worlds in her fictional representation. The poetic dwelling realm is, in a sense, a return to the former realm of Edenic Paradise. But "return" here does not mean the retrogression to the primitive society; rather, it is a step forward to a realm endowed with new meanings. "Return" means humanity's spiritual transcendence, and the moral enhancement toward resonance with the universe, and toward resilience within ourselves, reaching to the full of human peace and true humanity. In her construction of the three worlds, Cather does not only explore unwittingly the close relationship between the human and the natural, but also touch upon such ecofeminist concerns as gender and patriarchy, and furthermore, envisages a future harmonious society devoid of any domination and oppression and meanwhile provides us a good opportunity to understand Cather's ecological vision comprehensively.This dissertation consists of five chapters. Chapter one is an introduction which first gives a summery of the current studies on Willa Cather, then provides a glimpse of the origin and development of ecocriticism and finally focuses on the illustration of deep ecological thinking as professed by Aldo Leopold, Fritjof Capra and Arne Naess as well as the basic views of ecofeminism.Chapter two probes Cather's ecological consciousness embodied in her representative works of early period—O Pioneers! and My Antonia from two aspects: ecocentrism underlying "pioneer spirit"—a deconstruction of anthropocentrism; protagonists' self-realization in symbiosis with nature. Such exploration reveals that Cather holds an ecocentric worldview and presents us with a healthy and beautiful world in which humanity coexists harmoniously and interactively with nature.Chapter three is devoted to the examination of Cather's mid-period masterpieces A Lost Lady and The Professor's House. Permeating through these works are Cather's expression of her protest and denouncement of the worldview of conquering and exploiting nature prevalent in modern technocratic-industrial society; her contemplation of the deep causes underlying materialism, consumerism, utilitarianism and desire dynamism dominating the ideology of western society; and her yearning for the restoration of the symbiotic coexistence of ancient American Indians with nature—interpret the artist's ecological ideas of "Returning to Nature" as a way to rescue humanity from their spiritual sterility through integration with their original human nature deep-rooted in the earth. In The Professor's House, Cather has passionately portrayed the ancient Cliff Dwellings of American Indian heritage and eulogized their ecological wisdom of interconnecting with and respecting the natural world. St. Peter amid spiritual crisis, under the child of nature—Tom's guidance, experiences a life-changing epiphany when immersing in the primitive natural world of Indian dwellings, and regains his primitive vitality. Thus he achieves wholeness of self integrated with nature through interconnection with the profound, dynamic flow of life and his harmonization with life patterns, both within his self and beyond.Chapter Four deals with Cather's envisagement of realization of the poetic dwelling realm in modern industrial, materialistic society under the guidance of ecofeminist spirituality of interrelatedness, mutual dependence and equality. Cather has constructed a harmonious world community based on ecofeminist ethics of love, care and interdependence and identified the construction of a new culture with the perception of symbiotic mutual dependence between nature and humanity, the male and female, at its core as a ready solution to ecological crisis and a pathway to the realization of a harmonious society of sustainable development, capturing the burden of the ecofeminist dialogics. As one of Cather's best works of late period, "Neighbor Rosicky" is an epitome of Cather's envision of a world community characterized by ecofeminist spirituality of heterosexual harmony, mutual dependence, equality and interdependent symbiosis within the whole ecosphere as opposed to the masculinist/androcentric one of domination and hierarchy.Embodied in the image of Rosicky is the integration of good qualities of both sexes and the realization if a full humanity. As a child of nature with virtues of moral integrity and simplicity, Rosicky is an ideal androgynous character highlighting the sympathetic and altruistic qualities. Cather establishes an ecological Utopia by constructing the World of Paradise Regained characterized by a poetic dwelling realm which envisions the harmonious coexistence of nature and humanity, men and women on the basis of interdependence and equality. The construction of ecotopia, as Paul Sears points out, is essentially "a critique and deconstruction of a society of defects and limitations and an expression for something better." Through the construction of the ecotopia featuring ecofeminist spirituality, Willa Cather deconstructs the dualism of humanity/nature, man/woman, and renders the realm of poetic dwelling characterized by decentralization and heteroarchical interrelatedness possible. In Cather's creation of a peaceful, beautiful and harmonious ecotopia we find a new belief system which promises the welfare of all beings.Chapter Five is a conclusion. Through careful analysis, Cather is found to side with contemporary deep ecologists and ecofeminists. Via the construction of the Three Worlds we have discussed, Cather has expressed her strong desire to build up an ecological world where humanity dwells in perfect harmony with nature as well as with each other. But to achieve this harmony, as Cather realizes, humanity needs to strive to dissolve the binary opposition of subject/object and self/other characteristic of anthropocentrism and androcentrism and promotes an ecological perception of existence—interrelatedness, mutual dependence and equality within the world community—the realm in which "There is no I without a Thou, no self without its reciprocal interaction with other selves, human and nonhuman."...