从生态批评视角分析《白鲸》中亚哈的悲剧命运 英语学专业

1、题 目 从生态批评视角分析白鲸中亚哈的悲剧命运 ON AHABS TRAGIC FATE IN MOBY DICK FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF ECO-CRITICISMAcknowledgmentsI wish to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Ms. Tao Ruixuan and Ms. Wu Jingyuan. I am deeply grateful for not only their profound literary knowledge whic

2、h triggered my interests in eco-criticism, but also for their patient guidance and insightful advice throughout the process of my writing. Without their generous help, detailed and responsible instruction, I can by no means bring forward this thesis by myself. Throughout my studies, I have to delive

3、r my thanks to my classmates and friends for their generous help and invaluable support during these four years. Last but not least, I have to thanks myself, because during this time, I pay much attention to my thesis.AbstractIn recent years, more and more experts and scholars began to use different

4、 angles to interpret and explain the research of Melville and his works. The research on Moby Dick has been carried out from the aspects of narrative art, mythological archetypes and symbolic meanings. However, there is still space for research on the ecology of man and nature presented in Moby Dick

5、, especially from the perspective of eco-criticism to analyze the tragic fate of Ahab and its causes.With the reading of the works and a great deal of information about eco-criticism and ecology ethics, and mainly based on the concept of the wilderness in eco-criticism, this thesis tries to analyze

6、Moby Dick by using the new idea of ecological ethics to reveal the ecological thoughts that Melville embodied in this work so as to provide readers with a new perspective to understand the significance of the works in the context of the increasingly serious ecological crisis.This thesis consists of

7、four parts. The first part is a brief introduction to Herman Melville and his work Moby Dick, and the main purpose of writing this thesis. The second part is literature review of the domestic and international studies and critical comments on Moby Dick. The third part briefly describes wilderness in

8、 light of eco-criticism. Taking the ecological critical theory as the theoretical fulcrum, this paper discusses its embodiment of wildness respectively from the point of sea and white whale. At the same time this paper analyze the novel from different angles of the fate of the tragedy of Aha, the en

9、lightenment of human and natural harmony and our attitude towards nature. The fourth part is conclusion; this thesis considers that human beings can only avoid the tragedy by respecting nature and keeping man and nature in harmony.Key words: Moby Dick; Ahab; eco-criticism; wilderness; human and natu

10、re摘 要近年来,越来越多的专家学者开始从不同角度对麦尔维尔及其作品的文章其进行各种解读和阐释。从叙事艺术、神话原型以及象征意义等方面进行分析。然而，当前学界对白鲸中所呈现的人与自然和谐的生态思想的研究还可以继续推进，特别是从生态批评视角来分析小说中亚哈的悲剧命运及其原因方面，还有很大的阐释空间。通过细读作品文本和大量有关生态批评的资料，基于生态批评中“荒野”概念，本文试图运用生态批评学这一新兴理念对白鲸进行深层次的分析，以揭示麦尔维尔在该作品中体现的生态思想，从而为读者解读该作品提供一个新的视角，从而更深刻地理解该作品在当下生态危机日益严重的背景下的重要启示意义。本论文包含四个部分。第一部分

11、简要介绍赫尔曼·麦尔维及其作品白鲸,以及本论文的主要研究目的。第二部分主要对白鲸的国内外文献综述进行总结和梳理以及批评评论。第三部分简要叙述诠释了生态批评主义视角下对荒野的界定和理解, 并以其作为本文的理论支点，从而以生态批评理论为基础，探讨白鲸中的荒野，分别从海洋和白鲸的角度论述其体现的荒野意象。同时，从不同角度分析亚哈悲剧命运的根源、人与自然和谐相处的启示，以及我们对待大自然的态度。第四部分为结论部分，本文认为只有尊重自然，保持人与自然的和谐相处才能避免一切悲剧的产生。关键词:白鲸；亚哈；生态批评；荒野；人与自然 Contents云南民族大学毕业论文(设计)原创性声明iAckno

12、wledgmentsiiAbstractiii摘 要iv1. Introduction11.1 A Brief Introduction to Herman Melville11.2 A Brief Introduction to Moby Dick21.3 The Purpose of the Thesis22. Literature Review42.1 Domestic Studies42.2 International Studies52.3 Critical Comments53. Interpretation of Ahabs Tragic Fate from the Perspe

13、ctive of Eco-criticism.73.1 A Brief Account of Eco-criticism73.2 Wilderness in Light of Moby Dick83.2.1 Wilderness Embodied in the Sea83.2.2 Wilderness Embodied in the White Whale103.3 Analysis of Ahabs Tragic Fate Based on Eco-criticism113.3.1 The Fate of a lonely Protester113.3.2 The Tragedy of Pr

14、ofession123.3.3 The Symbolic Meaning of Ahabs Revenge133.4 Enlightenment of Ahabs Tragic Fate143.4.1 Harmonious Coexistence of Human and Nature143.4.2 The Significance of Ecological Balance154. Conclusion17References18 1. IntroductionHerman Melville (1819-1891) has been regarded throughout most of t

15、he twentieth century as one of Americans most powerful literary artists, particularly for his masterpiece Moby Dick (1851), which is regarded as an encyclopedia of everything: history, philosophy, religion, etc, in addition to a detailed account of the operations of the whaling industry. From the pe

16、rspective of eco-criticism, the tragic fate of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick reveals the urgent need to achieve and maintain the harmonious relationship between man and nature.1.1 A Brief Introduction to Herman MelvilleMelville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist and poet. He was one

17、of the great American writers and a major figure in the world literature, and he was also known as the “American Shakespeare”. Moby Dick was a whaling adventure dedicated to Nathaniel Hawthorne in the first place, and Melville wrote to Hawthorne, “I have written a wicked book and feel as spotless as

18、 the lamb”. This work was not recognized as a masterpiece until 30 years after Melvilles death.Herman Melville was born in New York City on August 1, 1819. He was a descendent of English Dutch colonial families. Once, his father was a successful dry-goods. When he was five years old, he began his ed

19、ucation career and then he read many books. At the age of 12, his father died because of bankruptcy. His family circumstances were worse, so he had dropped out of his school life and experienced a hard time. He worked as a store clerk, a bank messenger and a teacher.In 1845, he became a seaman on wh

20、aling ship. In the next 4 years, he went to many places in the world with the whaling ship, so this experience helped him broadens his horizons. He was imprisoned because he worked for riot and other reasons. Later, he joined the American warship “American”, when he landed in Boston; he ended his ow

21、n life at sea. These experiences were a precious treasure for his writing. In 1845, he left the army and returned to American, so he began his own writing life. The first novel Typee is based on his South Pacifics life. Because his professional fortunes waned, he had many difficulties at home; he di

22、ed of illness in 1891. He was almost completely forgotten. In 1919, the unfinished manuscript for his novella Billy Budd was discovered by his first biographer. He was the first writer to have his works collected and published by the Library of American.Herman Melville was a controversial writer at

23、that age; some critics regarded him as an elegist, a fatalist and even an anti-humanist writer. But now more and more people began to pay much attention to his works, especially Moby Dick. And this story reveals a sad vision of the authors embarrassment with “the universal problem of reconciling our

24、selves to our aloneness and our mortality (Harry Levin, 1980: 285)”.1.2 A Brief Introduction to Moby DickMoby Dick is a great novel by Herman Melville. It is a rich, deep and forceful novel. Some critics even point out that “to get to know the 19th century American mind and America itself, one has t

25、o read this book (Chang Yaoxin, 1990: 113)”. It describes the dread fight between Pequot Captain Ahab, who engaged in the whaling industry for 40 years, and a huge, ferocious whale Moby Dick in the first hall of 19th century, the vigorous era of whaling industry of America, reflecting the authors do

26、ubts and fears towards the great development of capitalism.The book tells a story between the captain of Ahab and a white whale named Moby Dick from the South Pacific. When he was young, he was bitten off a leg by the white whale in whaling ship. Then he was borne a grudge, and set foot on the road

27、of revenge. He commanded the ship travel across all over the world, so he found the big white whale and began his hunting trip. Unfortunately his fighting is a failure, although he had stabbed this white whale, it was very tenacious and cunning chewed the boat and sank the whale ship. When the white

28、 whale dragged the whaler to escape, the rope twined Ahab, he was hanged and the whole his crew on the boat drowned. Only a sailor fled through the coffin of the reform of the life-saving. 1.3 The Purpose of the ThesisFrom the perspective of eco-criticism, the author analyzes the tragic fate of Capt

29、ain Ahab in Moby Dick and the root cause of the tragic fate by analyzing the character Ahab as well. Therefore, first, we must establish the concept of nature. We humans should realizes that human and nature are interdependent and interrelated as a whole, grasp the law as a whole, which are regarded

30、 as a basis for understanding of nature and transformation of nature, the establishment of a comprehensive and harmonious coexistence between man and nature and harmonious development. Second, we must get out of the “anthropocentrism” of the errors, and we must learn to respect the laws of nature an

31、d play a combination of subjective initiative, destruction of ecological balance, otherwise we will be punished by the laws of nature. Meanwhile, in the evaluation of all economic activities and social activities, we not only need to consider the immediate value, but also need to consider long-term

32、values. Finally, In order to protect nature, the capacity of modern society to protect nature is gradually enhanced, including environmental monitoring capacity, ecological balance maintenance and repair capacity, biodiversity and the protection of the original ecology of key areas, clean production

33、 capacity, pollution prevention and control capacity. This is a new material force which must be produced after the development of the productive forces to a certain level. It is the expansion, perfection and enhancement of the function of the productive forces of modern society. But this is not eno

34、ugh; humans need to work harder to achieve harmony between man and nature.2. Literature Review Over the years, both the domestic and international studies of Moby Dick have achieved great results. Comparatively, the research of Moby Dick abroad is more systematic and comprehensive.2.1 Domestic Studi

35、esAlthough the research initiated later than the West, there is a trend of spring bamboo shoots. Up to the writing time of this paper, there are 456 articles on Moby Dick on CNKI (China National knowledge Infrastructure). In 1957, Shanghai Translation Publishing Company published Cao Yongs translate

36、d Moby Dick, which brought Herman Melvilles works to China for the first time, and so the study of Moby Dick began at home.Chinese scholars use various forms to research the famous work Moby Dick. In the discussion of the cause of Ahabs tragic fate, the domestic researchers mainly elaborated from th

37、e following aspects: Christian original sin, the objectivity of things and Ahabs individualism.From the aspect of the original sin of Christianity, Jia Ting pointed out, “The tragic fate of the Captain of Ahab in Moby Dick was the disobedience of Jonah, for he disregarded Gods various hints of the n

38、ature and the warning of his crew. Step by step, he was caught in a desperate desire to dominate the fate of desecration of God and arrogance of the self-deification. The defiance of Christianity and the absolute authority opened the curtain of human suffering (Jia Ting, 2010: 79-80)”.From the aspec

39、t of objectivity, scholars mainly elaborated the tragic fate of Ahab from the aspect of the struggle between human and nature. The existence of all things has its objective laws, which does not transfer human wills. Liu Fang pointed out, “The white whale has great power, immortal mysterious power, w

40、hich is a symbol of nature. The fight between Ahab and nature can also be considered a struggle of human and nature. This is an eternal law of human and nature. Ahabs pursuit of Moby Dick and his conquest of natures ambition led to his destruction (Liu Fang, 2011: 73)” .In the aspect of Ahabs indivi

41、dualism, it is mainly manifested in the desires and power of Ahab. In terms of the tragedy of Moby Dick, Bai Xihan pointed out, “In the process of revenge, the captain of Ahab knows the great dangers he must faces, but he didnt want to die in the beginning, or he didnt think of death. He thought onl

42、y to eliminate this evil representative, which is the White Whale, Moby Dick, and his blind revenge full of desires led to the final tragic fate” (Bai Xihan, 2000: 14-17). The authoritarian rule of Ahab made him the ruthless monarch of the Kingdom. Here, Ahab is a symbol of authority and hierarchy.

43、No one can disobey his willing, and all his crew must unconditionally obey his rule and exploitation. 2.2 International StudyThe study abroad of Moby Dick includes many aspects, such as the authors life, religion, society, politics, ecology, narration, culture and postcolonial research. According to

44、 the period, the research can be divided into the following three stages.The first stage is in 1920s-1930s, and the research mainly confined to Melvilles life studies, such as Lewis Mumford's Herman Melville (Lewis Mumford, 1929) and John Freeman's Herman Melville (John Freeman, 1926).The se

45、cond stage is in 1940s-1990s, when the climax of the research on Melville appeared. A lot of study of Melville's works published in this period, such as W. E. Sedgwicks Herman Melville: The Tragedy of Mind (W E. Sedgwick, 1944).The third stage is the early 21st century, when the research came in

46、to the systematic stage; cultural study was commissioned in full swing, post-colonial interpretation work became the main achievements. 2.3 Critical CommentsThrough the survey of the above researchers, we can find that the research perspectives of domestic and foreign scholars on Melville's Moby

47、 Dick focus on Ahab's tragic fate of is single, lack of macro-system, and in-depth study. Based on eco-criticism, this thesis carries out a research on the souls in wildness to analyze the tragic fate of Ahab.Eco-criticism theory and practice in foreign countries has 30 years of development, and

48、 its development is more mature, and this theory has reached the domestic academic world. Lately, its understanding and acceptance are also to be biochemical. The captain Ahab is an influential figure, and when we put it in the field of eco-criticism, such a new, open and diverse theoretical backgro

49、und to be examined, it not only contributes to multi-dimensional mining and deep analysis, but also helps understand the text more in-depth, and comprehensively, and to a certain extent, enrich the eco- criticism theory.3.Interpretation of Ahabs Tragic Fate from the Perspective of Eco-criticismThe c

50、ore idea of eco-criticism is harmony. "Wilderness", as a key term in eco-criticism, is a natural word in literature, and the understanding of the wilderness is the essence of American nature literature. Based on these literary critical approaches, the sea and the whale in Moby Dick convey

51、the vitality of life and spiritual glory, and has abundant symbolic meanings.3.1 A Brief Account of Eco-criticismWith the fast development of modern industrial society, humans life changed a lot. But at the same time, the human beings pay much attention to material interest rather than the environme

52、nt consideration; therefore, eco-criticism came into being. Eco-criticism is one of the most recent interdisciplinary fields that have emerged in literary and cultural studies; it mainly emphasizes the linkage between human beings and non-human beings. It is also a new branch in literary and cultura

53、l studies. It studies the relationship between the natural world and the literary essay. Eco-criticism aims at setting a new ecological society for sustainable development. Harmony is the most fundamental implications in eco-culture and eco-literature, it advocates and searches for the harmony betwe

54、en human and nature. Cheryll Glotfelty, the first professor of literature and environment at the University of Nevada, and also one of the main American advocates of eco-criticism, thinks that eco-criticism has three characteristics: First, the focus of eco-criticism is the relationship between phys

55、ical environment and literature or even culture; secondly, eco-criticism mainly studies text with earth-centered method; thirdly, scientific ecology and eco-criticism are inseparable, but eco-criticism doesn't mechanically borrow approaches, research strategies and data results from ecology (Che

56、ryll Glotfelty, 1996: vii). Eco-criticisms content is very abundant, and wilderness is a part of it. What is the wilderness? The original meaning of the wilderness is nature and wildness. It is the original nature that human beings have never been to. The wilderness is not only the nature of the ent

57、ity, but also the natural state of mind, or the natural state of mind. Greg Garrard has made a definition of the wilderness: The idea of wilderness, signifying nature in a state uncontaminated by civilization, is the most potent construction of nature available to New World environmentalism. It is a

58、 construction mobilized to protect particular habitats and species, and is seen as a place for the reirivigoration of those tired of the moral and material pollution of the city (Greg Garrard, 2004: 59).From the above analysis, we can know wilderness is a very important concept in the study of western literature and ecology, which is a place that never has been polluted by civilization, potent construction of nature and New World environment.3.2 Wilderness in Light of