A Study On Animal Writing And Ecological Ethics In Alice Munro’s Short Stories

Alice Munro(1931-),the winner of Nobel Prize for literature in 2013,is a famous Canadian short story writer,who is hailed as “master of contemporary short story” by Swedish Academy.Influenced by social and historical background in Canada and the experience of growing up in small town,Munro closely focuses on ecological issues,and animals are frequent images in her works.Through animal writing,Munro shows her empathy and compassion for animals and harsh rebuke to the selfishness and greed of human beings,as well as her long-cherished wish for the harmonious development of all the existences in the ecosystem.Munro’s short stories: Boys and Girls,Heirs of the Living Body,Age of Faith,Runaway are saturated with descriptions of animals,which are of great value for the study on her ecological ethics.Hence,these four short stories are selected as research objects.Ecological ethics chiefly explores the relation between humankind and nature as well as the relation among human beings.As time goes on,the moral obligations and ethical concerns of ecological ethics extend unceasingly.The concepts of ecological equality and ecological integrity,as two vital elements of ecological ethics,enlighten humankind to respect nature and reconsider the relation with nature and jointly build a harmonious ecological environment.Based on ecological equality and ecological integrity,the framework of the thesis is settled down.On the grounds of animal writing in these four short stories,this thesis is going to explore Munro’s ecological ethics and the significance of her animal writing.The thesis is divided into five chapters.The first chapter introduces Munro and her works,summarizing the studies on her works from home and abroad.Besides,it introduces the theories of ecological ethics,the source of topic selection,the purpose and value of the research as well as the thesis framework.The second chapter explores the equal relation between humankind and animals as well as animal metaphors in Runaway and Heirs of the Living Body,to reveal Munro’s ecological equality on harmonious symbiosis between humankind and nature as well as men and women.The third chapter probes into the close connection between humankind and animals in Age of Faith and Boys and Girls,to uncover Munro’s ecological integrity on harmonious symbiosis between humankind and nature.Chapter Four discusses the formation of Munro’s ecological ethics and the causes for her animal writing from the perspectives of Canadian regional culture,Munro’s family background and living environment.Chapter Five is the conclusion of the thesis.Referring to the study,it finds that the regional culture as well as Munro’s family background and living environment have a great effect on Munro’s animal writing.Her animal writing uncovers the relation between humankind and animals,at the same time,exposes the relation between humankind and nature,expressing the ecological ethical concept of equal and harmonious coexistence among human beings as well as the coexistence between humankind and nature.Munro intends to arouse more audiences’ attention to ecological issues so that humankind can be aware that ecological equality and ecological integrity contribute to the harmony of the whole ecosystem.