Research On Environmental Ethics In Literary Works By American Laureates Of Nobel Prize In Literature

In view of the deep insight into the current ecological crisis, and the increasing deterioration of the relation between man and nature, this dissertation, from the perspective of ethics and from the angle of interdisciplinary research, studies the thoughts of environmental ethics embodied in the works of American winners of Novel Prize in literature.Literary works, especially those written by Nobel Prize laureates, is the ultimate form of human wisdom, embodying and expressing the profound and fundamental reflection by human beings on themselves, life and nature. Through a study of the environmental ethical thoughts in these works can lead to the fundamental understanding of the basic and most important model of harmonious co-existence between man and nature. This dissertation will be confined to the study of representative works by US laureates of Nobel Literature Prize and explore the environmental ethical thoughts embodied in them.The first chapter of this dissertation is an overview of the works written by US Nobel Prize laureates. There are altogether11American writers who won the Nobel Prize in literature. The themes of their works cover almost every aspect of people’s social life. As the observer and writer of the time, these writers described the time they experienced and conveyed their reflection on the real life. They conveyed strong humanistic passions in their reflections on such social political issues as war, religion and race. Besides, their works also harbor rich ecological sentiments, with nature as one of the important subject matters. They reflect on the relations between man and nature, reveal the great damage to the natural environment caused by the development of social economy, and urge people to change their way of life to realize the harmonious co-existence with nature. The themes of their works reflect the integration of ideal and reality, having both national and international characters. Though these works are not eco-literature or environmental literature in its normal sense, they still convey considerable ecological sentiments.Chapter2tackles the realistic background and theoretical foundation for the formation of environmental ethical thoughts in these works. When human kind entered the industrial society, the conflicts between man and nature became prominent. After World War Ⅱ, with the rapid development of science and technology, the world economy achieved unprecedented development, and in the mean time, environmental problems became increasingly serious. Environmental problem has become a global issue. The United States of America, as the most developed capitalist country, is among the first countries which first encountered environmental problems. The final solution of the problem entails arousing the awareness of environment protection in people, which is exactly what literature can do. The serious environmental problems serve as the realistic background for the emerging of environmental ethical thoughts in these works. The formation of these thoughts has also its profound theoretical foundation. Among others, the development of ecology, the development of literary creation and criticism theories, and the trend of environmental philosophy in the US and the whole western world constitute the theoretical foundation for it. Besides this, the ideas of pioneers of American environmental ethics, such as Emerson, Thoreau, Leopold and Carson, also have great impact on it. In this part, some of the representative works by these writers which deals with the theme of nature are introduced.Chapter3elaborates on the major points of environmental ethical thoughts in works by American Nobel prize laureates. In these works, the writers reflects on the human nature, criticizing the greediness in human and their utilitarianist values, condemning the brutal treatment of nature by human beings and advocating a moral outlook which shows awe and respect for nature. From the perspective of values, these works present people a healthy value on environments. These writers, with their works, try to rebuild people’s values on nature and finally construct a moral community in which man and nature co-exist with each other harmoniously. Then, in terms of moral principles, these works advocate the principles of fairness and justice, respect and friendly treatment, piety and reverence. From the angle of moral norms, these works teach people to regulate their behavior of handling nature by moral means. Man should protect the existence of all living things in the nature and serve as the caregiver to the nature. Finally, in terms of aesthetics, these works do not stay at the praise of the beauty of nature but go beyond the aesthetic aspect by expositing the moralization of nature’s beauty. They provide people with a model integrating the beauty of nature with moral obligations and advocate reaching an ultimate realm in which the beauty of nature is integrated with the assimilation between the outside world and man himself.On the basis of the above exploration, Chapter4analyzes and comments on the idealist inclination of environmental ethical thoughts embodied in these works, the ways of presentation and the distinctive features of them. Firstly, the environmental ethical ideas carry distinct idealist notions, namely, the notion of harmonious co-existence between man and nature and the inclination of humanization of nature and naturalization of man. Secondly, the writer analyzed the three ways of presenting the environmental ethical thoughts in these works:expressing environmental protection sentiments through thematic description, arousing sense of environmental protection by emotional guidance, and achieving environmental aesthetics via analogical metaphors. Lastly, the environmental ethics in these works are characterized by revealing environmental crisis, advocating environmental protection, and paying close attention to spiritual ecology.The fifth chapter discusses the realistic significances of the environmental ethics of the literary works of American Nobel Literature prize winners. This chapter emphasizes the importance of environmental ethical care, the urgency of fostering environmental consciousness, and the idea of establishing the environmental ethical norms with Chinese characteristics. Both environmental ethics and literary works should refer to reality. Through this type of exploring and research, some significant references might be obtained for constructing a developed and ecological country.Through the above discussion, this dissertation conveys clearly the notion of environmental protect which abandons the anthropocentric ideas and advocates viewing the relations between man and nature from the perspective of Earth as a Home. It hopes that humankind can fundamentally change their view of nature and their actual behaviors towards nature, which would benefit every member of the global village.