The Ecofeministic Study Of O Pioneers! And My Antonia

Willa Cather(1873-1947) is a well-known American writer in the first half oftwentieth century. Among many of her excellent works, it is the Nebraska pioneeringnovels that establish her unique position in American literature circle. O Pioneers! andMy Antonia are her most famous Nebraska pioneering novels. Based on the previousresearch, the thesis of the present author intends to interpret these two novels from theperspective of ecofeminsim and dig out the ecofeminist consciousness as demonstratedin these works.Combining ecofeminism with detailed textual reading, the author of the presentthesis thinks that in these two novels, Cather denounces the instrumentalization ofnature and the domination over women from the dualism, recognizes women’spotential to subvert the gender dualism to pursue their identity as independent self,eulogizes some women pioneers’ caring perception of nature and their livingphilosophy to live harmoniously with nature, advocates the care ethic and the mutualrespect and interdependence and demonstrates her longing toward harmony.In O Pioneers! And My Antonia, Cather intends to dissolve the dualism which isinherent in androcentrism and anthropocentrism and devotes to the construction of abrand-new worldview and ideology which emphasizes reciprocity and mutual respect.So it is proper to say Willa Cather is a writer endowed with ecofeminist consciousness.The author of the present thesis thinks that there is a strong tendency ofanti-anthropocentrism and anti-androcentrism flowing through the lines in Cather’s OPioneers! and My Antonia. Cather’s longing toward harmony is fully revealed in thesetwo novels. With their deep social and ecological connotations, O Pioneers! and MyAntonia are rather significant works in enlightening us to build a harmonious worlddevoid of domination and oppression.