An Eco-criticism Look Into Plains Of Promise

Plains of Promise is the first novel of famous Australian writer Alexis Wright (1950-),who is also a contemporary Aboriginal writer in Australia. The novel attracts great attentionas it truthfully presents Australian Aborigines’ pains and sufferings under the colonial rule.However, the success of the work is not just the faithful representation, but also the detaileddescription on Australian eco-environment and the revelations of cultural hegemony. And thispoint of view coincides with the popular eco-criticism. So this thesis will reveal westerncolonists’ great havoc on Australian natural and cultural environment from three theoreticalviewpoints of eco-criticism—the criticism on anthropocentrism, biophilia and biodiversity aswell as multiculturality, by analyzing erosion of western religion, damage oneco-environment and bankrupt of traditional culture.The analysis of this thesis shows that in the novel Plains of Promise all the Aboriginesare asked to believe in God and estranged from their ancestor spirits. In the past, there werebirds’ twitter and fragrance of flowers on the land. But now it is littered with corpses.Aborigines who fight for their culture and environment are cruelly suppressed by whitecolonial government. By this novel, Wright reviles the evil consequence caused byanthropocentrism and indirectly expresses the ideal about ending western hegemony.This thesis starts with the introduction of background of eco-crisis and the meaning andtheoretical basis of eco-research on Plains of Promise. Then, this thesis, from three theoreticalperspectives of eco-criticism, respectively analyzes the nature of anthropocentrism,environmental changes and sharp contrasts before and after colonists’ occupation, unequaltreatment and even massacre of animals as well as Aborigines and their culture’ssuppression by colonists in racial discrimination and cultural hegemony. Next, the internalcorrelations among the three theories will be explained. Meanwhile, the thesis, combining thecurrent ecological situation in the world, points out that practical significance of the threetheories cannot be ignored. Through analysis, the thesis reveals that anthropocentrism inwestern culture inevitably results in the destruction of eco-diversity and cultural diversity andfinally threatens human survival and development.Through the description and analysis of ideology, ecology and culture in the colony andthe combination with the current eco-crisis, this thesis reveals the fact that nowadays westerncountries are still carrying out ecological cultural colonization. The aim of the thesis is to warnpeople to eradicate anthropocentrism and respect eco-cultural differences and diversity. Only ifhuman beings revere life and advocate multiple cultures, can they get rid of eco-crisiscompletely and save themselves.