On The Ecological Consciousness In Coetzee’s Literature

The dissertation is committed to a research on the novels and literary criticism created by John Maxwell Coetzee under the theoretical perspective of ecocriticism. With the approaches of text analysis and parallel study applied, this research is to explore the natural and ecological elements contained in Coetzee’s works, to analyze Coetzee’s personalized horizon and views of natural ecology, social ecology and other related issues, and his acceptance of and criticism on mainstream ecological ideology and theories, as well as how Coetzee’s personal temperament, cultural background and his special identity as an oriental writer make effects on his ecological consciousness. The purpose of this dissertation includes sketching the configuration of Coetzee’s ecological consciousness, revealing the ecological features in the content and form of his works, and approaching the inspiration brought by Coetzee for the development of ecological ideology and ecological literary composition in today’s world.This dissertation is composed of six sections. The Introduction gives a general description of Coetzee’s life and works, sorts out the researches on Coetzee in China and abroad, and introduces the theoretical foundation of ecocritical study on Coetzee and main directions of the studies in this realm. Chapter One, using Coetzee’s autobiographical novels, literary reviews and other historical records as main resources, makes a research on Coetzee’s living circumstances and experiences in his childhood and youth, especially about how his special family conditions, personal experiences and historical background have influenced the shaping of Coetzee’s ecological consciousness in his early life, and subsequently, identifies the origin of his ecological consciousness, during which Coetzee’s distinct artistic temperament and multiple postmodern scholarly background are also taken into consideration. Chapter Two focuses on the lectures and debates around animal welfare and animal rights issues in Elisabeth Costello, and analyzes the novel heroine’s dialogue and confrontation with the ideas and speeches from various academic viewpoints under the background of theoretical disputes among the developing modern ecological ideologies. And based on this analysis, Coetzee’s ecological ethical conception and his critical attitude towards current mainstream environmentalism and animal advocacy movements are clarified systematically, and simultaneously, Coetzee’s unique idealistic combination of poetry and reason is reviewed and evaluated. Chapter Three engages Disgrace as the major object, examining Coetzee’s prominent representation of intersections of animals and human beings and of the close connection between natural ecology and social ecology. By means of scientific ecocriticism theory, this article interprets how the novel characters, who have encountered an anti-ecological social reality, actively adapt themselves to the environment for survival and take pains in seeking for positive social ecology by altering their choice of life. Chapter Four, adopting the perspective of postcolonial ecocriticism, explores how the legacy from colonial history and culture affect Coetzee’s angle of observation to ecological issues and his way of describing these issues. The first segment of this chapter is concerned about Coetzee’s feature of integrating racism and speciesism into one horizon. The second segment tries to analyze and refute some western scholar’s denial of the ecocritical value of Life and Times of Michael K by applying theories of postcolonial ecocriticism and scientific ecocriticism. The distinguishing ecological characters of the novel are illustrated and its significance is confirmed from the standpoint of oriental culture. Chapter Five makes a comprehensive study on Coetzee’s novels’forms and styles, analyzing their ecological aesthetic features. The first segment is concerned about Coetzee’s characteristic portrait of ecological landscapes, and the second about the ecological beauty connoted in his dialogic, polyphonic and opening writing style and the multiple forms of his novels. The third segment probes into and argues against the one-sided interpretation to Coetzee’s works resulted from some ecocriticial study based on solo theoretical ground.