Analysis Of The Ethical Theme In The Dying Animal From The Perspective Of Ethical Literary Criticism

Ethical literary criticism features the qualities of both literature and ethics, and hence provides critics a new perspective in understanding literary works. With the development of western literary theories, a theoretical trend from new criticism to structuralism and deconstructionism is taking the readers'attention away from the text, as some critics argue that to read a book means to find out the relationship, structure or writing techniques in it. However, some literary scholars in China suggest that literary criticism should keep a watchful eye on the text. Literature and ethics form a natural relationship in that ethics studies the moral phenomena and activities of human being's society and different relationships developed during those activities, while literary works turn the activities in the real world into artistic world through fictional plots and artistic language. At the mean time, different kinds of contradiction in real society can be transformed into those in fictional world, which can also become the objects for ethical study. Ethical literary criticism combines literary criticism with analysis method of ethics and serves to broaden the study field.This thesis addresses the ethical problems and their historical background in order to identify the projection of ethical phenomena of real society with the moral phenomena in The Dying Animal. Based on the ethical descriptions in this book, the author attempts to analyze the erotic theme and the death theme of the book in question, and then proceeds to discuss the spiritual confusion and disillusionment in 1950s and 1960s in America. The author argues that the erotic theme and the death theme imply the movement of counter-culture and sex liberation at that time. The theme of death reflects the facts that both counter-culture movement and sex liberation have come to their end. In addition, this thesis also aims to help readers read the book from a new point of view and thereby getting a better idea of the new literary critical approach.