Listening To The Tune Of Ecofeminism

Toni Morrison, the 1993 Nobel Prize winner for literature, is the first Afro-American woman writer who wins the Nobel Prize for Literature. She is a black pearl in literary world. Morrison's particular identity, being a black woman, contributes to various commentaries on her works from different perspectives. She, keeping reflecting and exploring the African American history, fate and spiritual world, breaks the silence of black culture, a civilization that exists underneath the American cultural mainstream. Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison's third and representative novel, different from her other novels which focus on female protagonists, delineates a male protagonist. Then, as soon as it came into print, it became the limelight of criticism for its reversal protagonist and unique writing style. And infinity of interpretations has been put on the novel. But, as a treasury of human life, it is hard to exhaust its meaning. This thesis attempts to interpret Song of Solomon from the perspective of ecofeminism to reveal the author's awareness of the importance of nature and the function of women in the society.In the novel, Morrison manages to put nature, gender and race together, and perceives that there are interconnections between them. That is, they are in the same discriminated and oppressed position which is imposed by the male, especially the white male. Ecofeminists make it exactly clear that women must see that there can be no liberation for them and no solution to the ecological crisis within a society whose fundamental model of relationships continues to be one of domination. The women's movement and the ecological movement are intimately connected. The demands of both require transforming that worldview which underlies domination and replacing it with an alternative value system. Therefore, smashing the worldview centering on human's privilege taken by patriarch and masculinity becomes their goal; criticizing the hierarchy and dualism is their main object.The thesis is a tentative study of the ecofeminist awareness that Morrison establishes through her presentation of the relationships between both human and nature and between male and female.The thesis consists of four parts. The first part is the introduction. Apart from a brief description of the author and the novel, it gives a literary review that highlights the former efforts made on the study of the novel both at home and abroad: from the perspectives of structure, racism, environmentalism, inter-contextualism and so on. Treading on former steps and assimilating their achievements, this thesis would go further to deepen and broaden the understanding of the novel.The second part introduces the theory of ecofeminism, the process of its development and its representatives' thoughts and ideas. It provides a theoretical foundation for the ecofeminist interpretation of the novel.The third part is the most important part of the thesis. It illustrates the symbolic meanings of "tree" imagery in Song of Solomon, and reveals that the tree in the novel symbolizes nature, black women of Pilate's kind, African ancestry and black traditional culture. Morrison intends to use the imagery of the tree and her unique writing technique with the tint of magic to resist white mainstream narrative which distorts black culture and history, and impugn patriarchy, slavery, racial discrimination and sexism. It also focuses on the analysis of the women who fall victims of patriarchy and utter their rebellious voice, and the women who are custodians, transmitters of black traditional culture, revealing Morrison's expectation to arouse male reflection and strive to establish ideal black male-female relationships. Only deep rooted in the soil of African traditional values and culture, constantly learning from black women, can African-American men resist the erosion of white culture and find their self-identity, standing ground and sense of belonging. And only in this way, can black nation find a way out for their revival and become an evergreen tree in the marginal place of white culture. Morrison also attempts to awaken their memory about black heritage and national pride and then help them out of spiritual crisis, in the hope that human and nature, men and women, different races, nations, and diverse cultures can coexist in harmony.The concluding part makes a summary of the thesis. Moreover, the future development of ecofeminism is prospected for further studies. Then it comes to point out the significance in applying the theory of ecofeminism to our lives and some feasible and effective ways to be taken to improve the relationships between both human and nature and between men and women. Although we have taken some remarkable steps to reduce damage to the environment, there is still much work to do to make the sustainable development and establishment of a harmonious world come true.