Abstract:

Willa Cather is one of the most renowned women writers in the American literary history in the first half of the twentieth century. As one of her most distinctive Nebraska pioneering novels, O Pioneers! establishes her unique position in the American literary circle. By analyzing the historical development and the struggling course of Alexandra’s, Cather accused men of their oppression of women and their domination of the environment, exploring the ideal relationship between male and female, human and nature. The correct comprehension of these two patterns of relationship helps us to deeply interpret the themes of the work and the harmonious society designed by the author in this novel, so as to reveal the importance and necessity of her thoughts.
The publication of O Pioneers! not only means much to the author herself, but also catches great attention from many critics and scholars home and abroad. They have approached it from various angles in different periods. The reevaluation of this novel from culture criticism, myth criticism, eco-criticism and feminism draws increasing critical attention, yet to approach the novel from the perspective of eco-feminism is still rare. The present thesis attempts to reinterpret it from this new angle so as to excavate the ecological feminist ideas of the work and the novelist’s humanistic concerns, provide certain methods and suggestions to the deal with various relations in modern society.

Key words:  Willa Cather; O Pioneers! ; Eco-feminism; patriarchal society

摘要：

薇拉·凯瑟是20世纪前半叶美国知名女作家。《啊，拓荒者！》作为其最具代表性的著作，奠定其独树一帜的文学地位。小说通过分析女主人公亚历山德拉的成长和奋斗历程向我们展示了一种新型的两性关系和人与自然的和谐关系模式，而对这两种关系的正确理解有助于我们深入认识作品的主题，体会作者在其作品中着力要为我们构建和谐社会的良苦用心，从而揭示薇拉·凯瑟对自然的热爱和提倡女性在自然中获得平等价值的思想的重要性和必要性。
关于这部作品，国内外批评界在不同时期曾分别从女性主义批评和生态文学批评等角度做过研究，但这类批评均未能充分诠释薇拉·凯瑟这部作品所蕴涵的女性与自然的关联意识，以及超前于同时代美国作家的富含女性特质的生态哲学思想。本课题欲借生态女性主义的理论对这部作品进行尝试性研究，深入挖掘作品的生态女性主义思想和小说家的人文关怀，为我们在当代社会处理各种关系提供了一定的方法和建议。

关键词：薇拉•凯瑟；《啊，拓荒者！》；生态女性主义思想；父权制社会