Walking Out Of Anthropocentrism

The aim of the ecocriticism is to "reassess the human culture through literature or culture criticism in the hope of exposing and critiquing, challenging and subverting the ideological root that leads to the environmental deterioration and ecological crisis—the provincial anthropocentrism, and arousing the ecological awareness of mankind so that a new ecological outlook can be nurtured in favor of the harmonious development between man and nature." (Liu,2009:4) The primary task of ecocriticism is to reinterpret and reappraise the literary canon, with emphasis laid upon the representation of nature. (Barry,2002:264)Robinson Crusoe and Walden are two classics in the world literary history. Walden is undoubtedly indebted to Robinson Crusoe in its themes concerning an individual's survival in nature, on which many critics have made some observations. But little scholarship has been devoted to the study on the outlook of nature and the corresponding relationships of the outlook between the two works.The thesis explores the outlook on nature in two works in a systematic fashion from the perspective of ecocriticism and the vantage point of human civilization. The outlook on nature in Robinson Crusoe is in essence anthropocentrism, which plays a positive role in the early stage of human civilization yet it spawns the anti-ecological element at the same time. Perpetuating the Crusoesque anthropocentrism, Thoreau's American contemporaries in Walden bring about considerable ecological deterioration. While Thoreau's outlook on nature comprises the element of weak anthropocentrism, he primarily advocates an outlook on nature that encapsulates the elements of ecocentrism, which is a backlash against the Crusoesque anthropocentrism.Surveying the two works together can better our understanding of the pros and cons of anthropocentrism and the significance of the transition from the anthropocentrism to ecocentrism from the vantagepoint of the evolution of human civilization. Though anthropocentrism once contributed to the survival and development of humanity, it tends to result in the ecological crisis endangering the survival of humanity with the drastic growth of mankind's capacity of modifying nature and the expansion of the insatiable material desire. Thus it calls for a replacement of anthropocentrism by ecocentrism. We are expected to derive some ecological wisdom from Thoreau's outlook on nature to guide our ecological practice.