（英语语言文学专业论文）追求和谐之旅——《马语者》的生态批评解读.pdf

vi 摘摘 要要 尼古拉斯埃文斯是二十世纪后期的英国当代作家。同其他世界闻名的作家相比， 他的作品并不是太多。但是他的小说却受到了广大读者的欢迎，尤其是他的第一部小说 马语者 。这部小说的出版使他名声大振。该书 1995 年问世后立刻成为了当年的畅销 书。1998 年，一部由马语者 改编的同名电影被公映，并在第二年获得了“金球奖” 。 马语者不仅是一部著名的爱情小说，同时也反映出了现代人的生存状态。作者 正是抓住了时代的脉搏，对当今世界进行深入的洞察。整部小说以救治伤马“朝圣者” 为主线，逐渐展示了故事中交织在一起的各种错综复杂的关系。小说包含了作者的生态 观以及对自然价值的认同。 同时我们还能从中体会到他对如何建立并保持人与自然的和 谐关系的极大关心。 本文试图对尼古拉斯埃文斯的作品马语者进行生态批评研究，从中探讨其内 在的生态主题。文章主要从自然生态，社会生态和精神生态三个方面进行解读，通过不 同的角度反映作者对自然治愈力量的认同以及对尊重自然和回归自然的倡导。 引言部分对作者尼古拉斯埃文斯及其作品马语者进行了简要概括，并对小说 的基本内容及其现有的研究成果进行了综述。与此同时，引言还综述了生态主义理论的 基本概念，包括生态主义的发展以及不同流派的生态观。 第一章通过小说中大量的自然景物的描写重点分析了人与自然的关系。大多时候， 美丽的自然风景都会对人的内心世界产生积极的影响并为他们提供安慰。 通过小说人物 对自然景物及动物的友好态度， 我们能真正体会到作者呼吁人们尊重自然和与自然和谐 相处的初衷。 第二章通过对小说中安妮一家的生存状态的分析,充分探索了作品对现代人类在当 今社会中面临的问题的揭示。受到强烈的物质欲望的驱使，文明社会的现代人类逐渐偏 离了自然并失去了其原有的质朴的本质。 人与人之间乃至与亲人之间的关系也变得极为 不和谐。工业文明对人的本性的扼杀迫使人们不得不重新审视荒野的价值。小说对汤姆 一家和谐生活的描写真正体现了尊重自然，与自然和谐相处的价值。通过分析,我们可 以明确地感受到作者对自然的信任。自然被视为拯救人类的神圣之地。 第三章致力于对人类精神世界失衡状态的探索以及自然的治愈力量对人类精神的 作用的分析。现代文明带来了社会进步和科技的迅猛发展，同时改善了人类的物质生活 vii 条件。然而，随之而来的问题也显而易见。丰裕的物质生活也带来了现代人的压抑,苦 闷和困惑，同时导致了自我的缺失。安妮一家正是如此。通过安妮和格蕾斯精神世界的 改善，作者把自然的强大治愈力量呈现在了我们面前。通过对小说人物汤姆的人生经历 的分析，作品中回归自然的主题也得以体现。 结论部分进一步详述了小说的生态主题。回归自然，与自然和谐相处对于现代人来 说是保证其幸福地，有意义地生活的最好办法。 关键词:关键词: 生态批评 自然 和谐 自然的治愈力量 iv abstract nicholas evans is a contemporary english writer. compared with many world-famous writers, he doesnt produce so many works as they do. however, his novels are popular with many readers, especially his first novel, the horse whisperer, which makes him very famous immediately after its publication. the book itself became the bestseller upon its publication in 1995. in 1998, a film adapted from the novel was released with the same title. the next year after its release, the movie won the golden globe prize for its excellence. the horse whisperer is not only a famous romantic novel but also a novel reflecting modern mans existing state. the author just catches the pulse of the era and penetrates the inside of the modern world, having the process of healing the injured horse pilgrim as the main thread to display many intricate relationships interwoven together. the novel contains the authors ecological viewpoint and his recognition of natures value. meanwhile we can also feel his deep concern about how to build and keep the harmonious relationship between human and nature. this thesis attempts to make an ecocritical study of nicholas evanss novel the horse whisperer to explore the ecological theme implied in it. the thesis analyzes the novel from three aspects, that is, natural ecology, social ecology, and spiritual ecology, which, from different angles, reflect the authors acknowledgement of natures healing power and his advocacy of respecting nature and returning to nature. the introduction offers a brief summary of the author nicholas evans, his novel the horse whisperer and the current study on it. in company with the summary above is the introduction to the basic concepts of ecocriticism, including the development of ecocriticism and the ecological views from different schools. chapter one focuses on analyzing the relationship between human beings and nature by a large number of descriptions of the natural scenery presented in the novel, which, most of the time, can give a positive impact on peoples minds and offer comfort to them. from the characters friendly attitudes toward the natural landscape and the animals, we can really feel the authors intention to call on people to respect nature and live in harmony with nature. v chapter two explores the problems revealed in the novel, which modern man now is facing in the modern society, by analyzing the existing state of annies family. driven by the strong desire to pursue infinite material possessions, the civilized modern man is going far away from nature and gradually loses his unsophisticated nature. the relationship between man and man is extremely disharmonious, even between the family members. the strangulation of humanity caused by the industrial civilization forces people to rethink necessarily the value of wilderness. the description of toms harmonious family really embodies the value of respecting nature and living harmoniously with nature. according to this chapter, the authors belief in nature can be clearly felt. nature is regarded as a sacred place for salvation. chapter three is devoted to penetrating the imbalanced state in peoples spiritual world and the healing force of nature on peoples spirit. modern civilization has brought social progress and rapid development of science and technology, improving the living conditions of mankind. however, the attendant problems are also very obvious. materially better life has also put modern man into a state of depression and confusion, which leads to his loss of self. annies family is a case in point. from the progress of annies and graces spiritual improvement, the author shows before us the powerful healing force of nature. by the analysis of toms life experience, the theme of returning to nature implied in the novel is emphasized. the conclusion further elaborates the ecological theme of the novel. returning to nature and living harmoniously with nature are the best way for modern man to live happily and meaningfully. key words: ecocriticism nature harmony natures healing power iii 学位论文原创性声明学位论文原创性声明 本人所提交的学位论文“the pilgrimage to harmony-an ecological study of the horse whisperer”，是在导师的指导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的原创性成果。除文 中已经注明引用的内容外， 本论文不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的研究 成果。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已在文中标明。 本声明的法律后果由本人承担。 论文作者（签名） ： 指导教师确认（签名） ： 年 月 日 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书 学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解河北师范大学有权保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交学 位论文的复印件和磁盘，允许论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权河北师范大学可以将学位论 文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检索，可以采用影印、缩印或其它复制手段保 存、汇编学位论文。 （保密的学位论文在 年解密后适用本授权书） 论文作者（签名） ： 指导教师（签名） ： 年 月 日 年 月 日 1 introduction nicholas evans, a contemporary english writer as well as a journalist, a screenwriter, and tv and film producer, is famous for his romantic novel the horse whisperer in the late 20th century. nicholas evans was born in bromsgrove, worcestershire, england in 1950 and later received education at bromsgrove school. before going to college, he served in africa with the british charity voluntary service overseas (vso). after returning home, he went to oxford university to study journalism as his major and then worked as a newspaper reporter and television screenwriter. the horse whisperer is a british novel, but nicholas evans sets his story mainly in the western united states, a state named montana. there is a central focus on depicting the beautiful scenery of montana and the life of the american ranchers there. it is no wonder that many commentators have regarded it as an “american novel”. nicholas evans spent six weeks in the united states interviewing many people and observing their treatment of animals various diseases. nevertheless, he eventually went back to london to complete his fiction. in the novel, there are many descriptions of the british scene, for example, the background of the heroine annies life experience which can be said to be a microcosm of that of evans himself in a certain period of time. the horse whisperer is the first novel nicholas evans has produced. in 1993, he heard about something about “whisperers”, who were said to be able to see into the horses soul and soothe the injured horse by communicating with it using some specific languages. nicholas evans was very interested and decided to create his first novel, adopting “whisperer” as the main hero. in 1995, the horse whisperer was published. after its publication, this book was translated into 36 foreign languages and obtained sales of up to 1500 million, ranking the first in the bestseller list of about 20 countries and leading in the “publishers weekly” bestseller list. it also occupied no. 10 on the list of bestselling novels in the united states for 1995 as determined by the “new york times” and was one of the top ten best-selling books “usa today” voted out in 1998. before the novel was completely finished, a famous american 2 director robert redford had spent three million u.s dollars buying the film rights. on may 15th, 1998, the movie, with the same name of the novel the horse whisperer by nicholas evans, was released in the usa. also in the same year, this film was released in many different countries, such as france, australia, hong kong, etc. upon its release, the movie gained an unexpected popularity which became a classic achievement in hollywood film industry and led to the word “whisperer” being coined as a slang term for anyone with a strong affinity for a particular animal or being. the next year the film brought many awards for its excellence, including an important one, the golden globe prize. nicholas evans is a diligent writer. in the ten years after the horse whisperer, he also published the loop (1998), the smoke jumper (2001) and the divide (2005), almost each of which is popular with the readers. the horse whisperer tells a story of a 13-year-old girl named grace maclean who, whilst out riding her beloved horse pilgrim with her good friend judith, is hit by an out-of-control truck. this serious horseriding accident severely injures grace both physically and spiritually and also shaken up in this accident is graces beloved steed pilgrim, who, badly injured, is so traumatised and nearly driven mad by this deadly calamity that he wont allow anyone to get close to him. grace, who loses the lower half of one leg, cant cope with her physical disability and the mental scars of having seen her best friend run down by an 18-wheeler truck and killed, which make her become extremely withdrawn and vow never to ride again. neither of grace and pilgrim can seem to find their way back to life as it was before. faced with this situation, graces parents annie graves and robert maclean are ill-prepared to help their daughter out of the life-altering trauma. annie, the determined mother, intuitively senses that grace and pilgrim are an indivisible unity, and that curing the crazed horse will mend graces broken heart too. so she refuses to accept other peoples advice, even the vets, to have pilgrim destroyed. in a desperate leap of faith, annie puts everything else, even her cherished career, on hold and drives her reluctant daughter from new york to montana with the horse in tow hoping that tom booker, a horse whisperer, who is said to have an incredible talent of healing horses, can cure the profoundly traumatised horse and help the deeply depressed child. under the massive montana sky, a long period of 3 restoration begins, which changes all their lives forever. it is tom who helps both grace and pilgrim begin to deal with the aftermath of the accident. grace, who once swears never to ride again, now overcomes her fear and goes back up on pilgrim eventually. pilgrim, the maddened and crazed horse is made whole again. the girl and the horse reform that bond they once share. in the land of the wild west, annie changes the way she sees life. under the beautiful auspices of the montana countryside, the beautiful scenery and the country life make her begin to reevaluate the choices she has made in life. she becomes enamored with both tom and life on the montana ranch. since its publication, the horse whisperer has received a variety of interpretations. many people think it is a book telling a moving love story. during the healing process, annie feels attracted to tom, and so does tom who, in annie, finds something he hasnt felt before. the passionate love between them is accepted as the middle-aged married peoples eagerly seeking for passion or even sex beyond their marriage. in some peoples opinions, those middle-aged people should be sympathized with. they, under the dual pressure of family and society, are yearning to refresh their dull lives and repressed spirits by pursuing romantic ultra-marriage love. however, other people focus on the themes of giving and giving up. in their eyes, the novel presents some good qualities to be admired. one can be found in tom booker who, in order to heal the horse and the girl, shows extreme patience and great perseverance. there is such a scene where tom sits in a field and waits patiently through an afternoon and evening until pilgrim gives up his fear and walks over to him. he offers profound love and respect to the animal, and puts all his heart and soul to the tough job, although terribly demanding. the second is the sacrifices made by the mother, annie. the determination of bringing grace and pilgrim back from the troubled condition to a normal life urges her to make a firm decision, that is, to put her cherished job aside, which is undoubtedly risking losing it forever and take grace and pilgrim to montana. annie, an uptight and career-driven woman, who always devotes too much time to her profession, which causes an emotional distance both to her daughter grace and to her husband robert, has now grown to care about all to protect her daughter and become a sensuous caring mother. still others think the horse whisperer is a wonderful tale of hope, and terrific courage. having a glimmer of 4 hope, annie is unwilling to believe that pilgrim is beyond salvation and her daughter is desperate to recover from the trauma. with the strong will, especially the unconquered courage, annie, regardless of the reluctant permission of her husband and the strong rejection of grace, drives across the country to montana on her own responsibility in search of tom booker, a horse whisperer. tom booker possesses great perseverance, deep love and unselfish dedication which predict hope and is vital to success. annie and bookers attachment to each other means the courage to pursue what they really want. in the novel, there is also courage to accept things the way they are, the courage to risk losing everything, and the courage to accept that loss. yes, all these interpretations help us approach this novel from different aspects and enrich our understanding of this book. however, the novel is more than what is mentioned above. it is more than a story of healing process, more than the recovery of grace and pilgrim, more than the deep love between annie and tom. it is based on many anfractuous relationships: relationship between man and animals, relationship between mother and daughter, relationship between husband and wife, relationship between lovers, relationship between the urban civilization and rural civilization and relationship between human and nature. all these relationships are related to natural environment. the novel tries to discuss the importance of natural environment in peoples life, especially for the city people. up to now, about this novel, not many scholars have set foot in this field. only a few people have tried to read it from the angle of ecocriticism. based on the novel, in 1997, a person named shi yan, wrote an article analyzing the underlying theme of the story, which discussed the distorted nature of the city people. the development of urban economy and modern science and technology causes “modern diseases” that have been plaguing modern people who, as a result, are becoming more and more fussy, irritable and indifferent. the author revealed the living state of modern people and their unhappy life. at the same time, the article also showed us peoples strong desire to return to nature. here comes the enlightenment: nature can save modern man. in 2007, zhang yanqiong, from northwest normal university, wrote another article, in which the author analyzed nicholas evanss ecological consciousness implied in the novel the horse whisperer from the perspective of ecocriticism. this article emphasizes the fact that man and 5 animals are friends co-existing in nature, so man should well treat animals, and nature is humans home, therefore, advocating harmonious co-existence between man and nature is particularly necessary. however, there is much left to be done with the novel in reading it from the perspective of ecocriticism. in the past two decades, a growing number of philosophers have become concerned about the potentially disastrous ecological problems of modern industrial civilization, ranging from depletion of atmospheric ozone to the loss of species diversity. in recent years, facing various pollutions and the worsening environment, more and more people have begun to realize the aggravation of the global environmental crisis. nicholas evans, precisely grasping the pulse of the times, reflects his ecological consciousness in his work the horse whisperer, thus interpreting the novel from the angle of ecocriticism has a strong realistic meaning. 1970s and 1980s saw the appearance of ecocriticism in america, just meeting the times demand. it focuses on the studies of literature and environment. in 1978, william rueckert, an american scholar, first used the term “ecocriticism” in his article “literature and ecology: an experiment in ecology”, in which he expressed his idea to “experiment with the application of ecology and ecological concepts to the study of literature”.i since the 1990s, study of ecocriticism has developed rapidly and widely. in 1992, the association for the study of literature and environment (asle) was formed at the annual meeting of the western literature association, which is the first academic research institution in ecocriticism, whose mission is “to promote the exchange of ideas and information pertaining to literature that considers the relationship between human beings and the natural world”.ii asle now has been an international academic organization of ecology. in the next year, the first periodical isle (interdisciplinary studies in litera