A Study Of Ecological Aesthetics In Chinese Contemporary Novels

In the 20th century, as the industrial civilization presses forward, the speed of human’s consumption of nature in exchange for economic progress has increased. As a negative side-effect of this exchange, humans bore the "greenhouse effect." Due to this prominent issue, there has been a juxtaposed escalation in global warming, acid rain, mudslides, nuclear pollution, dust storms, fog and haze. With the problems, the industrial civilization has also brought ecological crises of mankind’s spirit and society. From these troubles spurred a movement that brought attention to ecological problems. By the end of the 20th century, China joined this movement and began discussing ecological issues in the academic fields of human sciences, literature, aesthetics, philosophy, and ethics, among other things. Soon, all academia was working hard to protect the ecological environment and rebuild humanity’s enchanting home.Come the dawn of the new century, much attention was brought to ecological topics due to the wide array of published novels. These publications were very critical of some environmental issues, and urged human intervention is some aspects of the human-made ecological degradation. This author’s writing focuses on the study of ecological aesthetics, which can deepen a reader’s knowledge about ecological crises caused by anthropocentricism. Also, the paper proposes a method of ecological holism that would create a harmonious and equal relationship among human beings, nature and society.The thesis is mainly divided into the following three parts:The first chapter introduces the origin of ecological aesthetics, including the definition and the social and cultural context of that field. Then it follows it’s developmental track, from the differences before and after the new century to the foundational ecological novels of China.The second chapter analyzes the three main aspects of China’s ecological movement in the beginning of the twenty-first century. The first is the ecological novels that are keen on the narrative of ’spiritual nature.’ The second is the doomsday critique of reality. The third is the expression of the idealistic world involving ecological harmony.The third and final chapter discusses the both the benefits and the shortcomings of ecological aesthetic thoughts in the new century ecological novels. The benefits of Chinese traditional ecological wisdom are the enlightenment of the current plight of ecological preservation. The shortcomings are mainly in the roots of the ecological crises which have not been fully studied and the ways of expressing ecologically aesthetic thoughts which are very similar is their ideas.