Ecological Return

Wendell Berry(1934--) is a contemporary American writer, conservationist,cultural critic and farmer. He is now the author of over 50 books of fiction, poetry and prose. Published in 2000, his novel Jayber Crow is very rich in his ecological and social critical thoughts.Plenty of academic attention has been paid to Berry’s agrarian and ecological thinking, his other critical thoughts and his writing styles since the 1980 s, but there has yet been studies that thoroughly examine Berry’s agrarianism and ecological thinking as presented in Jayber Crow. After a meticulous reading of the novel, this researcher has found it to be a full embodiment of Berry’s agrarian ideal, which is seen in three aspects: restoring the good qualities of the farmer, rebuilding the place and preserving memories and traditions.. Such an agrarian ideal is in essence an ecological thinking that centers on “return.” This study, using ecocriticism as its theoretical backing, aims to investigate Berry’s agrarian ideal in the above-mentioned three aspects as well as the profound ecological return thinking.This thesis is divided into three parts, namely an introduction, a three-chapter main body and a conclusion.The first part starts with an introduction of Wendell Berry and Jayber Crow.Then it presents a literature review of existing studies on the author and the novel,followed by a presentation of the thesis statement of this study. It also introduces its theoretical backing and defines the key terms of the study-- agrarianism and ecological return. It ends with an account of the thesis structure.The main body includes three chapters. Chapter I explores the restoration of the good qualities of the “cultivators of the land” in Berry’s agrarian ideal. These qualities are what Berry would like to see the citizens of his agrarian ideal have. Chapter II focuses on Berry ideas about the rebuilding of the place-based community, which involves homes, neighbors and place autonomy working together as the counter force to the disintegration of the place by industrialism. The last chapter is concerned with the preservation of good memories and traditions for Berry’s agrarian ideal.The conclusion presents the findings of this studies. The study comes to the conclusion that Berry’s agrarian ideal is essentially an ecological thinking whose focal point is “return.” Such an ecological return thinking should not be misinterpreted as a call for the regression of civilization. Instead, it advocates the world to forsake the predominant but destructive industrial values and resort to the valuable agrarian ones in order to solve the problems brought about by industrialism and rebuild the homeland. It emphasizes conservation and man’s role in the efforts of conservation, which can be seen from his thinking on the good qualities of the farmers, his place thinking as well as his advocacy for the preservation of memories and traditions.The significance of this study is twofold. It for one thing has academic significance. Due to the effort in illustrating Berry’s agrarian ideal and the ecological return thinking, it will enrich the studies on Wendell Berry, the novel and of ecocriticism. The study, for another, has practical implications. In the current industrial context, the research on agrarianism and ecological thinking can inspire people to contemplate the ecological crises that are plaguing humanity and therefore may prove to be conducive to solving the ecological problems in the course of the development of human civilization.