| Environmental justice is a new proposition put forward with the development of western environmental movement since the late 1970s and the early 1980s.The verb"environ" originated in the middle ages.The "environment" in environmental justice ecocriticism refers to the surroundings of a person,a group,a species or a universal life form.Based on the existing theoretical research and critical practice,this dissertation defines the environmental justice ecocriticism as:An academic standpoint in the development of ecocriticism,which examines the distribution of environmental interests and hazards,the participation in the formulation of environmental policies,the personal and social recognition of environmental distribution schemes,and the ability of life to function in order to maintain life for the subjects who have the "self"and "the other" in all kinds of environments."The other" includes people who are distinguished by race,gender,class and other factors,and even other species.The Environments include natural environment and built environment.The large-scale impact of environmental justice on ecocriticism is relatively recent.There are two reasons for this.On the one hand,ecocriticism itself belongs to a relatively new research field;On the other hand,early ecocriticism focuses on wilderness,countryside and other natural places.In 1997,an American scholar T.V.Reed put forward the term of environmental justice ecocriticism,which made the environmental justice transition in ecocriticism more clear from then on.Environmental justice promotes ecocriticism to return to the city from the wilderness,and to the middle place between human and nature,which makes ecocriticism not only have lofty ecological ideal,but also be based on a solid practical foundation.Environmental justice is a counteraction to the previous ecocentric ecocriticism.It pays attention to the unfair environmental rights,interests and hazards caused by race,gender,class and other factors,thus reverses the neglected environmental conditions of vulnerable groups.Environmental justice ecocriticism adds social factors to the natural background of ecocriticism,which lays emphasis on the fairness and justice enjoyed by the vulnerable groups.In addition,it expands the objects of ethical concern from the marginal groups to the nonhuman species which makes it more realistic and operational,and forms the link between anthropocentrism and ecocentrism.Environmental justice examines problems from the perspective of the integration of man and nature,which speaks for the "self" and empowers "the other",in which three dimensions,including humanistic concern,ehtical concern and ecological concern,are considered.However,in the field of ecocriticism at home and abroad,the study on environmental justice ecocriticism is a little insufficient,which fails to form a systematic,holistic and comprehensive research.In view of this,this dissertation will break away from the limitations of studying single literary text and single ecological critic,track the previous waves of ecocriticism in a diachronic way,and examine the theoretical trend and typical characteristics of ecocriticism in a synchronic way,using the method of literature review and comparative research to comprehensively carry out theoretical analysis and speculation.All is to strive to elaborate the development of environmental justice ecocriticism and its response to the real environmental crisis.This dissertation attempts to comb the important literature of environmental justice in an all-round way,which examine the overall development of ecocriticism at the macro level,and focus on the evolution of environmental justice and its constructive role in ecocriticism at the micro level.It takes the keyword"environmental justice" as the breakthrough,and carrys out study on four numbers:1,2,4 and 5."1" refers to one kind of critical theory:ecocriticism."2" stands for the second wave of ecocriticism:environmental justice."4" means the four turns of ecocriticism and "5" signifies the five waves of ecocriticism.On the basis of comprehensive analysis of previous studies,this dissertation analyzes the ideological source of environmental justice and all waves of ecocriticism,combs the historical origin,occurrence context and developing process of environmental justice ecocriticism,and clarifies the concept connotation of environmental justice,which reveals the evolution and deepening trend of environmental justice in the development of ecocriticism for more than 40 years.It answers how environmental justice and ecocriticism mutually promotes each other to provide the overall picture of western environmental justice ecocriticism,and highlight the academic value and practical significance of environmental justice ecocriticism.Therefore,this systematic and comprehensive study will enrich the content of environmental justice ecocriticism,providing reference for the construction of discourse system and the further development of Chinese environmental justice ecocriticism.This dissertation consists of introduction,inain body(four chapters)and conclusion.The introduction introduces the research background,defines the concept,summarizes the research status at home and abroad,and points out the purpose,significance and innovations of this study.In the middle and late 1990s,the demand of ecocriticism for environmental justice became increasingly strong.Some scholars introduced environmental justice into ecocriticism,which led to the environmental justice turn in ecocriticism.Environmental justice is not a simple abandonment of the previous ecocentric ecocriticism,but a modification,deepening and expansion of ecocriticism with multiple horizons added,which is a kind of innovation.Chapter one is a general discription on ecocriticism and its keyword environmental justice.This chapter mainly studies the origin,definition and task of ecocriticism,the division of the five waves of ecocriticism,the ideological connotation of environmental justice,and the orientation of ecological holism of environmental justice.Specifically,based on the achievements of domestic and overseas scholars on ecocriticism and environmental justice,it combs,compares and summarizes the theoretical system of ecocriticism and environmental justice.In addition,it integrates Lawrence Buell's division of the first two waves of ecocriticism and Scott Slovic's division of the last three waves of ecocriticism,analyzing the reasons for the previous wave turns,and the advancing characteristics of ecocriticism's environmental practice.Then,it shows the theoretical advantages,ethical care and feasibility of environmental justice by revealing the deconstruction of environmental justice to a series of binary opposition structures,such as self/other,male/female,white/colored,rich/poor,upper class/lower class,the first world/the third world,and human/non-human,and so on.According to Peter S.Wenz's Concentric Circle Theory of environmental justice,this dissertation describes the ethical concern and explains the ecological holism orientation of environmental justice.In the light of the concentric circle model,environmental justice connects the gap between the "self" and "the other" by empathy.It extends the ethical concern to other vulnerable groups with gender,race,class and other differences,and then to animals,plants and every species.The influence of new materialism on ecocriticism has brought the agency of the material into investigation,which provides a theoretical basis for the expansion of the ethical subject in environmental justice.When the concentric circle is extended to every being and each is regarded as the subject,the environmental justice will reach its ultimate state,that is,the ecological justice which stands for the unity of all things and the equality of all beings.Although there is a suspicion of Utopia in this sense of ecological justice at present,and it is still an unsettled question in which sense the non-human species can become the subject,ecological justice as an ecological ideal is the goal for which human beings strive.Meanwhile,environmental justice is a feasible practical measure,which makes justice not become empty talk,bridging the gap between reality and ideal.Chapter two combs the development of environmental justice ecocriticism in detail.This chapter traces back and comments on the environmental justice ecocriticism from the five parts of emerging,rise,vigorous development,continuous deepening and frontier issues,which mainly based on the five waves of ecocriticism as the clue to discuss and explore,involving the germination of environmental justice in the early works,the formal proposal of environmental justice ecocriticism,the transition from wilderness to urban nature,the theories and concepts of risk society,slow violence,trans-corporeality,actor-network theory and empathy that expand and deepen the environmental justice ecocriticism.These aspects show that environmental justice and the five waves of ecocriticism promote and complicate each other.Before the emergence of ecocriticism and in the first wave of ecocentrism ecocriticism,the demands for environmental justice are contained in nature writing;in the second wave of environmental justice ecocriticism,the concern for gender,race and class shows the consideration of environmental justice;in the third wave of cross-culture ecocriticism,the idea of environmental justice adds a cross-cultural dimension,and environmental justice moves from regions to the global;in the fourth wave of materialism ecocriticism,the agency and narrative of materials deepen the idea of environmental justice;in the fifth wave of psychological and information ecoriticism,the affect theory,psychological concept and information dissemination strategy involved in environmental narrative are emphasized,which provides a broader way for the overall trend of environmental justice to go out of the text and move towards the reality.The expansion of the scope of ethical subject is not a simple trend of linear development,and its overlapping tracks show the efforts of scholars to construct environmental justice discourse.Chapter three studies the analysis,interpretation and critical practice of the classic text from the perspective of environmental justice ecocriticism.This chapter selects the practice of environmental justice ecocriticism of four classic novels as the research object,and makes a general comment on it,reflecting the scholars' position of environmental justice in the text interpretation,and applying the relevant theories of ecocriticism to expand and supplement the text analysis of environmental justice.First,this chapter focuses on scholars' criticism of The Rag Doll Plagues,including the disclosure of environmental injustice from the perspective of diseased body and trans-corporeality,as well as the strengthening of environmental injustice from the perspective of internal/external colonization and stratum solidification.Second,in view of the critical practice of the novel Almanac of the Dead,it analyzes the image of the "ecological other" reflected in the tyrannical persecution,exposing the blood capital and resource exploitation as the causes and manifestations of environmental injustice,and the ecological other and boundary disintegration as the internal driving forces of and solutions to environmental injustice.Third,it focuses on scholars'environmental(in)justice interpretation of the resource shortage in Parable of the Sower,generalizing and extending from three parts:the theme of "change" and the metaphor of wall,the water image and climate justice,as well as hyperempathy and Dystopia.Finally,this chapter examines the environmental justice position of scholars in the analysis of My Year of Meats from three aspects,namely,the food justice problem brought about by hegemonic domination,the toxic bodies connected by"Meat is the Message",and the pluralistic abjection caused by global trades.This chapter further analyzes and comments on the criticism of the above-mentioned texts to explore the ignored or misread environmental justice thoughts,reveal and affirm the positive role of environmental justice in stimulating ecological thoughts and ecological aesthetic consciousness,thus highlighting the positive significance of environmental justice in promoting the scope of ethical concern in the imaginary world of literature.The object of environmental justice ecocriticism is not only ecological literature.However,the plot of literature has a broader space than real life.If we only limit the object of justice to the scope of human beings,it will erase the advantages of the literary world compared with the real world,because ethics that can not be applied for various practical reasons are easy to be carried out in the imaginary world of literature.It is based on this that the ideality of literature plays an important role in the enlightenment and edification of human beings.Environmental justice not only promotes the cross-border combination of literary criticism and environmental ethics,but also realizes the integration with ecological feminism,postcolonial criticism and other schools.This kind of cross-cultural and cross-civilized vision greatly enriches the research content of ecocriticism,expands the research space of ecocriticism,and infuses vigor and vitality into the future development of ecocriticism.Chapter four centers on the Chinese approach of environmental justice ecocriticism.This chapter analyzes the academic significance and practical value of environmental justice ecocriticism,and points out that environmental justice ecocriticism participates in the practical environmental practice through environmental imagination and environmental discourse.Because of the dual influence of social justice and environmental ethics,environmental justice ecocriticism has opened up new horizons and expanded new fields for the study of ecocriticism in literature and culture.In addition,this chapter focuses on the glocalization way of environmental justice ecocriticism,which includes its global vision in the anthropocene and its local position in the era of Chinese ecological civilization.If the glocalization as a prospect of criticism in space bridges the East and the West,then at the end of this chapter,the exploration of the Chinese approach of environmental justice ecocriticism integrates the ancient and the modern in time to observe the Chinese traditional environmental justice ecological wisdom and the Chinese modem environmental justice ecological literature.This dissertation examines the concept of life/biological community in China and the west,and then puts forward a vision:Chinese environmental justice ecocriticism needs to be based on its convergence with the thought of life community.Thus it can deepen itself with the help of the thought of life community,promote the spread and implementation of the thought of life community,shape the ecological aesthetic consciousness and construct the discourse system of ecocriticism with Chinese characteristics.In comparison,western environmental justice ecocriticism has established a relatively complete and open theoretical system of ecocriticism,which has a relatively solid philosophical foundation,a broad academic horizon and rich academic practice,while current Chinese environmental justice ecocriticism has not formed satisfying academic atmosphere,and the theoretical construction is still in its early stage.As a developing country,neither absolute anthropocentrism nor absolute ecocentrism is feasible.Therefore,in the light of China's present situation and under the guidance of the thought of life community in the New Era,it is necessary to further stress the affirmation of environmental justice ecocriticism to the value of human beings and all things,establish a reflective and constructive ecocriticism system,and finally put the thought of life community into environmental protection to promote green development.Only when the theory is in line with the national conditions can we better cultivate the ecological consciousness and guide the environmental practice.The study of environmental justice ecocriticism will promote the in-depth dialogue and communication of ecological discourse between China and the West.The conclusion summarizes the whole dissertation,fully affirms the theoretical value and practical significance of environmental justice ecocriticism,and analyzes the shortcomings of it.Three core viewpoints of this dissertation are concluded:environmental justice ecocriticism is involved in the discourse construction with its literariness and practicality;environmental justice ecocriticism becomes a bridge integrating the ecocentrism and the anthropocentrism;the ethical trend of environmental justice ecocriticism prepares preconditions for the realization of ethical community covering the whole ecosystem.In the mean time,the deficiencies of environmental justice ecocriticism are disclosed,which shows that it is necessary to avoid misunderstandings caused by mechanical applying in interdisciplinary reference,to prevent the boundary from being too vague while expanding pluralistically,and to improve the construction after deconstruction.Finally,this part advocates the reference of Chinese ecocriticism,literary criticism and even cultural criticism on western environmental justice,with the purpose of independent innovation in theory and integrating Chinese literature resources,striving to build the discourse system of ecocriticism with Chinese characteristics and the theoretical direction of Chinese ecocriticism.In the current era,it is the central task of ecocriticism to respond to the severe ecological crisis and complex environmental movement.Environmental justice has humanistic concern,ethical concern and ecological concern,which enables it to provide ideas and impetus for the development of ecocriticism from multiple dimensions.The humanistic concern of environmental justice attaches importance to"human" in the ecocentrism ecocriticism,affirms the difference and diversity among human groups,and respects the values and rights of various groups.The ethical concern of environmental justice not only contains social justice factors,but also involves the ecological position,which examines the unfair living conditions suffered by vulnerable groups,and is committed to deal with the problems of environmental interests and environmental hazards justly,eliminating the inequality of physical environment caused by social factors such as race,class and gender.The ecological concern of environmental justice stems from the consistent ecological position of ecocriticism,which pursues the integrity,stability and beauty of the ecosystem,the harmonious coexistence and sustainable living of all things by exploring the"environmentality" in the culture.To sum up,the humanistic concern is conducive to the elimination of social injustice.The combination of social justice and physical environment constitutes the ethical concern.The environmental ethics helps to realize ecological concern and promote the transformation of ecological concern from theory to practice.In turn,the protection of ecological concern to the life community is beneficial to the humanistic concern and ethical concern.Therefore,these three concerns are related to each other and promote each other,forming a virtuous circle.They can promote the development of ecocriticism by caring about the environment,and initiate green practice through green theory.Environmental justice will help ecocriticism to realize the integration of humanistic spirit and ecological thought,that is,to move towards ecological holism. |
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