A Comparative Study Of Particularly Cats And Missing Wolves From The Perspective Of Ecocriticism

Particularly Cats(2008) and Missing Wolves(2000) are classics written by British writer Doris Lessing(1919-2013) and Chinese writer Jia Pingwa(1952-) respectively. In these two works, the two writers concerns about the nature and ecology. By close reading of Particularly Cats and Missing Wolves, readers can find the common ecological consciousness embodied in the two works. In recent years, more people are increasingly aware of the importance of environmental protection, therefore, the theory—ecocriticism is on the upgrade. This dissertation would compare the two works with the theory of ecocriticism. The ecological relations and ecological awareness contained in these two works would be interpreted. Thereby, the ecological themes and concepts in the two works are analyzed.In Particularly Cats and Missing Wolves, the two authors probed into the relationship between man and animals and showed their care for the future of man and nature. So far, many scholars have noticed that the ecological problems and relationship between man and nature as well as the relationship between man and animals are reflected in the two works. Nonetheless very few researchers have conducted comprehensive analysis and comparison between the two works from the perspective of ecocriticism. This dissertation aims to compare the two works from the perspective of ecocriticism. By comparison, this dissertation explores the ecological relations and ecological themes embodied in the two works, and find out the root of the disharmonious relationship between man and animals—anthropocentrism, and advocate to establish a harmonious ecological ethical relationship between the both sides.The dissertation is composed of five parts. The first chapter provides the background information of the two authors. It also makes a brief statement of Particularly Cats and Missing Wolves. Moreover, the scholarly researches that have already been made on the two works from the perspective of ecocriticism are reviewed and the theoretical basis—ecocriticism—of this dissertation is proposed. It also states the rise of ecoriticism. In this part, anthropocentrism is suspected and criticized based on ecocriticism.The second chapter probes into the ecological relations in those two works—that is, the relation between human and nature and the relation between human and animals. Through close reading, it summarizes the root of the disharmonious relations in Particularly Cats and Missing Wolves: extreme anthropocentrism. This disharmony leads to the deterioration of the environment and the extinct of animals. And it further sums up the difference of ecological relations in the two works: the different relationship between man and animals; the different consequence brought about by the conflict of human and animals.The third chapter analyzes the ecological awareness contained in the two novels. InParticularly Cats, in addition to the ecological awareness of the main characters, the author expressed her ecological consciousness by the words of the taxi driver and the tree man mentioned in the novel. Similarly, in Missing Wolves, by describing the wolf-hunting ban of government and the harmonious coexistence of Taoist from Hongyan Temple and wolves, Jia Pingwa expressed their strong ecological awareness. Then it finds out the different ecological awareness of the main characters in the two works: the ecological awareness of the main characters in Particularly Cats turned stronger with the development of the story; whereas the ecological awareness of the main characters in Missing Wolves remained weak; they did not have deep understanding of ecological awareness— the main characters remained confronted with the wolves and ignored the fact that man and wolves were interdependent. As the ecological awareness of the main characters in the two works is different, they faced different fates.Furthermore, the ecological views of the two authors are put under comparison in this dissertation.The fourth chapter explores the proper relationship between man and animals. It questions and introspects on the extreme anthropocentrism and advocate to establish the ecological ethical relationship between man and animals. The concluding part summarizes this dissertation in terms of content and theme. After summarizing of the ecological elements in the two works, it finds out both authors expressed their ecological thoughts in their works. Through describing the relationship between man and nature as well as the destruction of natural environment, the two authors expressed their ecological wish of harmonious relation between man and nature as well as man and animals. It further sums up the ecological elements revealed in the two works and points out the root of the conflicts of man and animals. In the end, it advocates human beings to introspect on the anthropocentrism and establish the harmonious relationship between man and animals, and finally restore our common dream of ecological harmony.