An Ecological Criticism On John Burroughs’ Natural Literatures

After the Industrial Revolution, ecological problem became moreserious. Now the ecological crisis becomes a world-wide concern that is aninevitable dilemma. In this context, the interpretation of and the criticismon the nature literatures has its comprehensive research value. AmericanNature Literature is a special school of thoughts, a representative figure ofthis school Burroughs’s rich thoughts has its profound meanings. With themethod of ecological criticism, this essay is dedicated to interpret theauthor’s works in depth, and look for the meanings underlying the thoughts,uncovering its academic values and practical significance.The essay consists of six parts. The introduction is the researchbackground, the author’s research and corresponding works. The first partis the introduction to the origination of the ecological criticism theory,from ecological aesthetics to the rising of ecological criticism and theformation of the theoretical support. The second part presents thebackground of Burroughs’s times, including some of his life stories, andthe effects on his literary creation that arose from Didacticism, Rousseau’sConception of Nature, and the thoughts in the Romantic Period. The thirdpart describes Burroughs’s Poetry-and-Science Conception of Nature fromthe perspectives of both scientific perception and aesthetic perception. Thefourth section talks about the Burroughs’s concepts of living, including thereturning to and being friendly to nature. Finally, in the view of theecological holism, the fifth part interprets the Burroughs’s aestheticthoughts on Universal Holism and Bioregionalism.