《白鲸》的生态反思_英语论文

The Ecological Reflection on Moby Dick

摘要

赫尔曼·梅尔维尔是19世纪美国最伟大的小说家、散文家和诗人之一。他的代表作《白鲸》于1851年10月出版,但没有引起人们的重视,直到20世纪20年代才受到社会的广泛关注和高度评价，并且被誉为美国文学史上的一座丰碑。小说的背景设定在19世纪中期，那时美国已经成为捕鲸业的中心。小说中，亚哈船长对鲸鱼的疯狂追杀，最后葬身海中,揭示了人类如果只为了满足自身利益, 把自然放在敌对面，一味想去征服它，蔑视自然界则必将受到自然界的惩罚。斯巴达克只看重白鲸的经济价值，最终也葬身海中。而该小说的叙述者以实玛利对白鲸和自然抱着敬畏、欣赏的态度，最终得救。从而，凸显了麦尔维尔的生态危机意识，并对人类如何走出生态困境有了深沉地思考。

本文主要包括三个部分。第一部分为背景介绍，主要介绍了赫尔曼·梅尔维尔的生平、《白鲸》的社会背景和它在文学历史上的地位，国内外评论家和学者对其研究的现状并且介绍了生态批评和人类中心主义这两个理论。第二部分为正文，包括两个章节。第一章主要分析了小说中所呈现的生态意识的觉醒。第二章试着分析了文中所展现的生态危机。最后是结论部分。人类必须重新审视和重建与自然的关系，必须和自然和谐相处才能得以生存。

关键词《白鲸》 生态批评 人类中心主义

Abstract 

Herman Melville was one of the greatest novelists, essayists and poets in the United States. His famous book is Moby Dick which was published in 1851 while it did not capture the attention of the public until the 1920s. Since then, people have shown great interest on it and praised highly of it. It is set as a monument in American literature. The novel is set in the middle 19th century when America became the center of whaling industry. Captain Ahab chases madly after Moby Dick and dies at the sea, which tells us that humans will get retaliated and punished by nature if humans put nature in the opposite side just to satisfy our own needs and over-hype our power and despise nature and other creatures. Starbuck only sees the economic value of nature and eventually is drowned in the sea. However, Ishmael, the narrator of the novel who treats the white whale and nature with admiration and appreciation, survives. By doing this, Melville reflects his prospective ecological consciousness and how humans can get out of the ecological crisis. 

In general, this paper is divided into three parts. The first part is introduction. In this part, Herman Melville and his masterpiece Moby Dick are introduced, as well as the current research status of this book at home and abroad. Eco-criticism and Anthropocentrism are illustrated briefly in this part, too. The next part is the main body, including two chapters. In Chapter One, the awakening of ecological sense in Moby Dick is presented. Chapter Two is about the Ecological crisis in Moby Dick. The last part is conclusion. Humans must reexamine and reconstruct the relationship between humans and nature and only when we live with nature in harmony can we coexist with nature.

Key words: Moby Dick Eco-criticism Anthropocentrism 

Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter One Humans’ Awakening of Ecological Sense in Moby Dick 4

1.1 Ishmael and His Ecological Sense 4

1.2 Melville’s Awakening of Ecological Sense Embodied in Queequeg’s Disappointment at Human Civilization 7

Chapter Two The Ecological Crisis in Moby Dick 9

2.1 Captain Ahab’s Hostility towards Moby Dick 9

2.2 Captain Ahab’s Brutality towards the Crew 11

2.3 Starbuck and His Shattered Anthropocentrism 13

Conclusion 14

Bibliography 16

Acknowledgments 17