An Ecocritical Interpretation Of Cold Mountain

Charles Frazier is a celebrated American novelist with ecological concerns who describes the marvel of nature and man-nature relationship in most of his novels.His first novel,Cold Mountain,earned him the National Book Award for Fiction in 1997.Since its publication,Cold Mountain has drawn great attention from scholars and critics.However,most of the criticisms have focused on its parallelism with Homer's The Odyssey,its mythological archetypes,the nature wiling,the feminist and ecofeminist narrative as well as the themes and artistic features of Cold Mountain,leaving the ecocritical reading of Cold Mountain by employing Lu Shuyuan's trichotomy of ecology rarely attended.The present thesis interprets Cold Mountain from the perspective of ecocriticism by analyzing natural ecology,social ecology and spiritual ecology in the novel in order to reveal Frazier's ecological thoughts reflected in it.In terms of natural ecology,the thesis mainly discusses the view of nature and man-nature relationship depicted in the novel,and it reveals that nature breeds and sustains all lives and that each existent is of significance and possesses its own value to make its due contributions to nature,and it is an interconnected system where all elements are mutually affected and interdependent.Besides,the thesis unfolds the novelist's belief that nature is the harbor for man's soul and the habitat for human being,which supports man's both material and spiritual life,a harmonious relationship between man and nature represents the prerequisite and foundation for man's survival and development.Consequently,the story shows Frazier's love for nature and yearning for the harmony between man and nature.Regarding social ecology,through analyzing the social landscape and human relationship described in the novel,the thesis reveals the brutality of the war and the ensuing devastating impact on society as well as the twisted human relationship under such circumstances.At the same time,Frazier also presents the harmonious human relationship among people who are barely affected by the war.This reflects Frazier's anti-war attitude and his longing for peace and praise for harmonious human relationship.In regards of spiritual ecology,it delves into the inner world of two major characters namely Inman and Ada.By analyzing Inman's distorted humanity and his journey of spiritual healing,and Ada's loss of subjectivity and her subjectivity reconstruction process,the thesis unveils the negative influence of the Civil War and patriarchy on the spiritual world of Inman and Ada,and points out that a sound spiritual ecology can be realized through returning to nature and reconciling with nature.It discloses the huge impact of nature and the great influence of a hannonious man-nature relationship on people's inner world.Natural ecology,social ecology and spiritual ecology are correlated with each other,maintaining a harmonious natural ecology lays a foundation for building a balanced social ecology and constructing a healthy spiritual ecology,while social and spiritual ecology in turn affect the development of natural ecology.To interpret Cold Mountain from the perspective of ecocriticism can be of great significance not only in providing a different angle to interpret the novel,but also in raising people's awareness of the importance of nature,appealing to people to shoulder the responsibility of preserving natural ecology by identifying with nature and building a harmonious relationship with nature,and on this basis,to build a sound social and spiritual ecology so as to address the present ecological crisis.