Ecological Literature And Its Strategy In The Postmodern Period

Since 1950s and 1960s,with the increasingly serious environmental pollution, ecological problem has been becoming a common concern throughout the world. In literary field, the problem has also been paid more and more attention,and a large number of literary works about ecological problem emerge. Silent Spring, an ecological work written by Rachel Carson, is a turning point. Not only did it make a deep impression on people about ecological thoughts, but also it directly pushed ahead the appearance and development of ecological thoughts and environmental movement. In the meanwhile, it opened an era that literary writers created ecological works consciously and the ecological literature of America and Europe entered a prosperous stage.Surveying the development of ecological literature in postmodern period since 1950s and 1960s, it shows different stages and hierarchies. This thesis will take three works---American writers Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Don DeLillo's White Noise and Canadian writer Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake as examples to illustrate the characteristics of human's damage to environment in different stages of postmodern period. Since 1960s, Euro-American industrialized countries have been taking place the Third Revolution of Science and Technology. Silent Spring mainly describes human beings destroy nature with scientific technology. To 1970s and 1980s, Euro-American developed countries stepped into post-industrialized society. White Noise emphasizes the over-consumption brings about the exhaustion of natural resources and ecological crisis. At the turning of the century, human beings got into an age of globalization and knowledge explosion. Euro-American people were enjoying the convenience of globalization and information when many complicated problems appeared. Oryx and Crake exposes that human beings are facing the crisis of existing.Ecological literature in postmodern period also takes the deconstructive and critical strategy of postmodern literature and it shows hierarchies. In different stages the focus of ecological crisis is different so that writers emphasize on different aspects to deconstruct and criticize the society in their works. In 50s and 60s, the ecological crisis primarily shows human beings use scientific technology to damage environment so that the writer focuses on criticizing scientific absoluteness and knowledge worship. During 70s and 80s, Euro-American countries entered into post-industrialized society, consumption became a new threat of ecological pollution. However, Ecological literature deconstructs the anthropocentrism that human beings conquer nature at will and materialistic view that are increasingly inflated. When humans stepped into the new millennium, the damage humans did to nature showed in many ways. Ecological literature criticizes thoroughly different original sins in culture.Not only does the ecological literature in postmodern period take the deconstructive strategy in postmodern period, but also it forms a series of constructive goals. After the nature is destroyed, ecological literature claims that human and nature should have a harmonious relationship. It makes an attempt to make nature return to be the core of the world. It also puts forward an ecology-centric strategy to save the world. When the desire of consumption reaches to every corner of the earth, every species even substance will be threatened. Ecological literature argues that every thing (living or nonliving) in the earth should be equal and be regarded as an indispensable joint in"the web of zoology". Ecological wholeness will be a new but important strategy. However, when the earth is going to be destroyed by ecological crisis and the ecological disaster can't be controlled, where is the way out for human beings? What strategy should the ecological literature take? This is a new topic of ecological literature, but it is also a"final"strategy of ecological literature. I think it demands ecological literature broadens its perspective, expands the category of time and space in the"Field of Zoology". Maybe only the"Field of Universe"is the"final"strategy.