A Comparative Study Of The Characteristics Of Ecological Literature In Walden And Chuang Tzu From The Perspective Of Ecological Holism

Since the industrial revolution,the deterioration of ecological environment has been increasing rapidly and the ecological crisis has been seriously intensifying.Ecological literature,as a new type of literature reflecting ecological holism,began to arise in the background of the global ecological crisis,which is accompanied by the awakening of human ecological awareness and the profound reflection on modern civilization.Thoreau is known as a famous writer focusing on American eco-literature,whose masterpiece—Walden is a classic of this literature genre.Chuang Tzu is one of the scholars with the original ecological consciousness,whose masterpiece Chuang Tzu is also an excellent work of Chinese eco-literature.However,looking at the existing researches on the two works at home and abroad,there haven‘t been any researches on the characteristics of ecological literature.This thesis is designed to give a comparative study of the characteristics of ecological literature in Walden and Chuang Tzu from the eco-holism perspective with a particular focus on the similarities and differences between the two books in ecological literature.Ecological holism which stands at a height of the overall ecosystem is to observe the relationship between human beings and nature.Besides,it reflects the unique ecological ideal and criticizes the ecological crisis.From the perspective of ecological holism,which should be analyzed to study the characteristics of ecological literature in the two works? What characteristics of ecological literature are expressed in the two books? What are the similarities and differences of them? In order to answer the above questions,this thesis applies the method of combining theory with text analysis through careful reading to study the similarities and differences of the characteristics of ecological literature in the two books.This thesis is composed of three parts: the first part is the introduction,the second part is the main body which includes three chapters,and the third part is the conclusion.The first part is the introduction in which the reasons of choosing this thesis are explained.This part focuses on the research status and research results of Walden and Chuang Tzu at home and abroad,and makes a literature review to confirm the significance of writing this thesis.Besides,the theoretical meaning and realistic significance of this thesis are expounded.The second part falls into three chapters.Chapter One gives the theoretical foundation in which the concept of eco-literature and eco-holism and reasons for their rise are given.Then the characteristics and development course of eco-literature are expounded.At the same time the brief introductions to the two books and their authors are made in this part.In Chapter Two,the similarities of the characteristics of eco-literature in Walden and Chuang Tzu are analyzed from the eco-holism perspective.Both Walden and Chuang Tzu embody ecological integrity which stands at a height of overall ecosystem to observe the world;Concerning the theme of eco-holism: the relationship between human beings and nature,both Walden and Chuang Tzu elaborate the harmony between man and nature,criticize the conquest and control of nature,and expose the impact of nature on the human spirit;Walden and Chuang Tzu describe the ecological crisis,which is one of the prominent characteristics of eco-holism.The social roots of ecological crisis are explored and the negative effects of advanced technology are criticized in these two books.Walden and Chuang Tzu convey the authors' ecological ideal,namely,human and nature coexist harmoniously and peacefully.In Walden,man is part of nature,man with God and nature is highly unified,which expresses ecological integrity;As for the theme of the relationship between man and nature,the ecological harmony,the critique of conquering and controlling nature,and the spiritual impact of nature are expounded;Concerning the ecological crisis,the critique of industrial revolution and advanced technology are described in Walden which shows the author‘s prospectively searching for the social roots of eco-crisis,and the returning to the natural environment is the practice of the author‘s ecological ideal to live harmoniously with nature.In Chuang Tzu,?the profound oneness of the universe and humanity? express ecological integrity;As for the theme of the relationship between man and nature,the book Chuang Tzu describes the story and fable or directly preaches to clarify the fact that human should perform nothing in face of nature instead man should respect nature but not control or rule nature;The description of wandering in absolute freedom,returning to nature(nature itself and natural state of the existence of all things)expresses Chuang Tzu‘s ecological ideal to stay harmonious with nature;In the book Chuang Tzu,the description of the critique of advanced technology and the ingenious machines show the pursuit of the social roots of the ?ecological crisis? at that time.Besides,in Chapter Two,the reasons for their similarities are given.In Chapter Three,the differences of the characteristics of ecological literature in Walden and Chuang Tzu are analyzed from the eco-holism perspective.As for the theme of ecological holism,Walden clearly describes a simple life,describing how to get less in nature,while Chuang Tzu is a description of the spirit harvest,describing the spiritual supremacy;As for ecological ideal,Chuang Tzu has clearly stated self-contained ecological freedom,emphasizing the return of all things to their true natural state,while in Walden,the author returns to the wild nature which is the practice of his ecological ideal;As for exploring the social roots of ecological crisis,Walden describes the criticism of industrial civilization and mechanism,criticizing that the people have become the slaves of machinery,while Chuang Tzu criticizes the machinery-oriented mental state of people.Besides,in Chapter Three,the reasons for their differences are given.The last part is the conclusion,which presents the summary of the previous analysis,and points out the core opinions and significance of the thesis.This thesis gives a comparative study of the characteristics of eco-literature in Walden and Chuang Tzu from eco-holism perspective.The analysis will be helpful for readers to have a better understanding of the ecological connotations in the two books,which is instructive for individuals to appreciate the beauty and value of nature,to maintain the balance between material wealth and spiritual wealth.For society,it has certain significance to solve the environmental crisis and spiritual crisis.At the same time,ecological consciousness benefits the construction of ecological civilization and is conductive to the sustainable development.Besides,the love for nature and the ecological protection consciousness as well as the behaviors expounded in the two books enlighten people to keep the balance and stability of ecosystem in nature.However,there are still some limitations in this thesis,such as the narrow horizon and the short of systematic researches.Learning from the ecological philosophy,ecological aesthetics and other fields is conductive to enhancing the levels of the study in the future.