Chinese Eco-criticism On The Way

Since1990s, with the deterioration of global ecological crisis, ecological criticism, asan important component of "ecology humanism", has arisen and developed gradually bothin China and western countries such as the United States and Britain. Over the past20years, Chinese Eco-criticism has made great achievements in the translation and study ofwestern Eco-criticism theory, in the exploitation and interpretation of classical Chineseecological resources, in the review of Eco-literature, and in the construction of ChineseEco-criticism theory."Borderline efforts" have displayed "tremendous achievements". Atthe same time, these different dimensions of evolution have jointly promoted the gradualgeneration of Chinese native Eco-criticism. Furthermore, different dimensions of discourseconstruction also constitute the discourse system of Chinese Eco-criticism. However, therestill exist some problems that need to be further analyzed and clarified for the improvementof Chinese native Eco-criticism theory. For this purpose, the present paper is aimed, byreviewing the development of Chinese Eco-criticism over the past20years, to examinethe achievements and deficiencies of the theory, to seek for its development course,toreveal and analyze the controversy and confusion in the process of the theory development,and to make theoretical contributions for the construction of a more sound discoursesystem of Chinese Eco-criticism.The dissertation consists of six parts and the main contents are listed as follows:Introduction: A brief introduction to the research area, the major contents, theobjectives and significance of the study. As a reflection of the global literary theory inecological era, the ecological criticism is beyond the definition of traditional literature interms of its connotation and denotation. Eco-criticism not only involves the criticism ofspecific texts, but also includes the application of the ecological idea, perspective and methodology to the exploration of all literary works, and the reexamination of thetheoretical basis for the criticism. The title "on the way" means a long way to go in spite ofthe remarkable achievements made over the past20years."On the way" is the review ofthe past Chinese Eco-criticism, the description of its present and the herald of its future.The purpose of reviewing the past is to take better steps, and the perfection of the theoryalways exists in the explanation and contention. From this viewpoint, the study on theprocess of the generation of Chinese Eco-criticism is great constructive significance.Chapter One: European and American Eco-criticism in China. It is true that westernEco-criticism can be the important resources for the development of Chinese Eco-criticismin terms of ideological basis, theoretical form and methodology, and in fact, many scholarshave already made pioneering contributions in this regard. But due to the wide coverage ofwestern Eco-criticism, the translation and research works in China fail to have an accurategrasp of it. They either accept or doubt them, which reflects a lack of a profound study ofthe object and their cultural anxiety. Facing universal ecological problems and differentecological contexts, it is necessary for Chinese and western Eco-criticisms to start equaldialogues and communications to promote mutual development. Chinese Eco-criticism, asthe extension of100years of communications between china and western countries in thetheory of literature and art, is supposed to evade either complete acceptance or blindquestioning, to transcend the binary opposition between Chinese and western thinking,and to stress Chinese characteristics with a global vision.Chapter Two: Transformation and utilization of classical Chinese ecologicalresources. Reflected in classical Chinese philosophy and literature are the idea ofintegration between universe and humanity, the ecological aesthetic attitude of respect fornature, the cultural spirit of the pursuit of harmony and the awareness of returning to thenature, which lay a good foundation for the interpretation of Chinese Eco-criticism.However, some factors may affect the transformation of classical Chinese ecologicalresources, such as the emphasis on the exploration of facts but ignorance of creation andthe simplification in its interpretation method. At present, it is pressing that we expand the literature object of our interpretation, to widen our theoretical perspectives, to draw on theright classical resource transformation strategies, to strengthen our research on ecologicalinterpretation methodology, and to fully display the unique features of Chinese ecologicalresources.Chapter Three:Literary criticism from the ecological perspective. With the growingglobal ecological crisis and the production of more literary works, Chinese ecologicalliterary criticism, as a form of ecological theory of literature and art, has made remarkableachievements after more than20years of development and accumulation. As the mostactive part of Eco-criticism, Chinese Eco-literature, however, still has its problems in manyrespects, such as the chaos in spiritual resources, the emptiness of critical discourse, theweakness in philosophical foundation, the monotony in its critical method and the lack of acritical mind, etc. Chinese Eco-criticism is supposed to have the ecological characteristicsof Chinese culture, literature and poetics, to provide practical support for the constructionof native Chinese Eco-criticism theory, and to contribute to development of humanecological civilization.Chapter Four: Construction of the form of Chinese Eco-criticism theory. Thescience of ecological literature and art, ecoaesthetics and Eco-criticism have differentresearch focuses and core categories, but the exploration of the ecological relationshipbetween humanity and nature is their common objective. In spite of great achievements onthe part of Chinese Eco-criticism theory, there still exists large room for improvement inthe establishment of its theoretical basis, the recognition of its critical object, and theextension of its research scope. From the viewpoint of ecology, human beings should befully aware that the so-called subject is relative in the ecosystem on earth. As a literaturetheory under the ecological view, Eco-criticism should transcend things likeindustrialization, urbanization, science and technology, development-orientation, andconsumption-orientation, which cannot be any excuse for evading criticism. The vitality ofthe theory depends on the power of its interpretation of its research object and content. Asa literary theory on global ecological crisis, Eco-criticism is expected to be of great practical significance in promoting the prosperity of Eco-literature and in handling theecological crisis.Conclusion:Future of Chinese Eco-criticism Theory. In the21st century, ecology isundoubtedly the key word in economy, politics and culture, and Eco-criticism is certain tobring vigor to re-prosperity of literary criticism. But because of the gravity of ecologicalcrisis and the complexity of ecological activity, the practice of Eco-criticism can only beconducted with a stand of diversification in order to keep its vigor. Only by emphasizingthe ecological diversity, can the absolute human-centered concept and discourse hegemonybe avoided. In post-modernism, any theory in Eco-criticism might be temporary but notultimate. As a kind of discourse construction of the concerns of human, life, ecology anduniverse, Eco-criticism will be improved constantly with the ever-extending lives ofhuman and other living things in the universe. There is still a long way to go for the realperfection of ecology.