The Realization Of An Ecological-Self In Animal Dreams Based On Arne Naess’s Ecosophy T

Barbara Kingsolver,who won the National Humanities Medal in 2000,is regarded as one of the most influential writers in the 20^thcentury.Her novel Animal Dreams follows the story of the heroine Codi who seeks real identity and protects environment in her hometown.This thesis,based on Naess’s Ecosophy T,attempts to explore Codi’s predicament,the development of her ecosophy,and the realization of her ecological-self.Traditional conceptof self generally excludes nature,and studies on self-realization in literary works tend to ignore the natural dimension.Therefore,this thesis focuses the realization of Codi’s ecological-self.Codi’s obscure origin provokes identity crisis and seeking the truth of it is the starting point for her to realize self-identification and move towards realization of ecological-self.The environmental crisis in her hometown Grace awakens her to ecological awareness.Influenced by Hallie and Loyd,Codi gradually establishes her ecological thought,with extended care and relational thinking as its core concepts,which forms the basis for her action of environmental protection.With the establishment of ecological thought,Codi’s identification continues to extend and deepen.In her fight for environmental justice,Codi identifies with the residents of the community and the local culture after self-identification,and her narrow self expands into social self;she identifies with the interests of other living beings and their living environment as her own,and her social self deepens and grows into ecological-self.The transpersonal and altruistic identification signals the full maturity of Codi’s self.At this stage,Codi’s ecological-self comprises all that she identifies with,including herself,other people,non-human beings and nature.Codi realizes ecological-self in the process of identification,which not only contributes to her self-improvement,but also to the local environmental health.Codi’s example clearly illustrates the significance of the realization of individual ecological-self in building a model of harmonious coexistence between human world and nature.