| Isaac Asimov,a Russian-American writer known as one of the “Big Three” science fiction writers,published his first science detective novel The Caves of Steel in 1954.In this novel,Asimov discusses the relationship between humankind and nature,and proposes that the alleviation to their contradiction is to break down anthropocentrism,restore the discourse power of nature and establish a harmonious society for the coexistence between humankind and nature.Thus,with the aid of science fiction theorist Darko Suvin’s Cognitive Estrangement,this thesis discusses the estranged construction of science fiction background and detective story to analyze the relationship between humankind and nature developing from conflict to reconciliation,in order to reveal Asimov’s reflection on the establishment of a new relationship between humankind and nature.This thesis is divided into three parts.The first part is an introduction to the thesis.It gives a brief introduction to Isaac Asimov and his novel The Caves of Steel,literature review,the theoretical basis,summarizes the previous research and its deficiencies,and illustrates the main structure of the thesis.The second part is the main body of the thesis,which consists of Chapter Two,Chapter Three,and Chapter Four.Chapter Two analyzes the estranged construction of its science fiction background of The Caves of Steel and explores how it presents a situation that humankind conquers nature relying on the technological advancement by means of estranged environment,estranged time and estranged characters.Estranged environment is analyzed from three aspects,respectively,food,transportation and accommodation,in order to expose how nature is marginalized from various aspects of human daily life.While estranged time creates a sense of spatial and temporal dislocation by displaying human future in advance and hence releases sensory impact and raises deep reflection.Estranged characters include Spacers and robots who are regarded as alien siblings of human race.Their unique ways of behavior provide humankind an opportunity to reflect on himself and a reference for solutions to a new relationship between humankind and nature.ChapterThree discusses the estranged construction of the detective story and explains how nature counterattacks humankind in the motive,the process and the ending of a crime.For the purpose of returning to nature and guarding the earth,Earthman Julius attempts to sabotage humanoid robot,but he ends up with killing a Spacer Sarton by accident,which covers his body and soul with bloody evil.In this process,nature functions in an indirect way and Julius’ consequence implies that humankind would eventually suffer from self-destruction by violating otherness.The ending is estranged by making Spacers forgiving Julius.Chapter Four concludes the enlightenment given by the novel.Earthmen and Spacers finally make a compromise,which implies the possible reconciliation between humankind and nature.By means of The Caves of Steel,Asimov arouses readers’ introspection on anthropocentrism and imprisonment of technology and inspires them to try their utmost to respect otherness,emphasize human shared destiny with nature and restore the relationship between humankind and nature.The third part is the conclusion.It summarizes the thesis and emphasizes the research significance. |
