Research On Animal Writing And Ecological Ethics In Annie Proulx’s Novels

Annie Proulx,a writer who is famous for her regional characteristics and ecological writing,is still writing at the age of nearly 90.Her more than ten works show consistent concern for key words such as tradition,nature and region,In Anne Proulx’s ecological world,the abundant animal images are not only an important part of the natural scenery,but also rich in profound ecological connotations,which convey the author’s multiple values.A comprehensive grasp of Proulx’s animal writing can re-examine the relationship between human and animal in different ecological dimensions,deepen the writer’s ethical consciousness,and open up the expectation of a new ethical order between human and animal in the realistic context.In this thesis,Annie Proulx’s three works with strong ecological color the Shipping News,That Old Ace in the hole and Barksins are selected as the research object.This thesis uses the method of ethical literary criticism to study the text,analyzes and sums up the relationship between animal issues and ethical expression in the work,shows the ethical dilemma and ethical choice faced by human beings and animals in the text combined with post-colonial ecocriticism theory and trauma theory,and comprehensively excavates the thoughts of ecological ethics in the work.This thesis is divided into three parts:introduction,text and conclusion,and the text is divided into four chapters.The introduction briefly describes the reasons for the topic selection,defines the concepts and terms involved in the topic,sorts out the creation and research status of Proulx,then clarifies the research significance,methods and innovations.The first chapter analyzes the main pedigree and textual presentation of animals in Proulx’s novels.It focused on the relationship between animals,humans and animals in the text,then constructed the surface plot structure through the depiction of animal images and the explanation of the way humans get along with animals.The binary opposition is a typical feature of the animal writing.On the one hand,animal images are divided into two camps:the main body of life and the literary symbol,which shows the diversity of the animal image pedigree.On the other hand,human beings engage in a series of exchanges with real animals and symbolic animals,deducing the two ethical relations of "seeing and being seen" and "harmonious coexistence",thus forming the unique animal writing style,which is capable of depicting the nature and introspection and criticism from the overall ecological perspective.The second chapter focuses on the animal writing and ecological poetic dwelling ethics in Proulx novels.In Anne Proulx’s works,the occurrence and development of animal survival crisis is positively correlated with the reconstruction of human poetic dwelling ideal,which constitutes a dual narrative linear clue.When animal violence becomes a clear indication of the emasculation of human rational will,the ideal of poetic habitation also faces collapse.In this sense,people caught a glimpse of their own future crisis in the plight of animal survival,they rebuilt their ethical consciousness,and actively explored the strategic mechanism of animal protection,so as to make the ideal of poetic habitation reappear.The existence of animals plays an important role in the reconstruction of ecological order,which also shows the sublimation of animals to the ideal of human habitation.On the one hand,the companionship of animal companions is therapeutic.They help the characters to get rid of traumatic memories and chaotic order with complete order reconstruction.On the other hand,the divine animals present the transcendence.They copy the divine color of nature and inspire the characters to establish an "ecological resonance" with nature in the emotional dimension.The third chapter describes the animal writing and post-colonial ecological ethics in Proulx novels.It points out that animal representation from the perspective of post-colonial ecology is difficult to get rid of "othering".On the one hand,the metaphor of colonizers’ animalization makes them become alternative animals under colonizers’desire gaze and power discipline.On the other hand,the Native Indians fell into an identity crisis.Their civilization was dissolved and subverted by imperial discourse.Besides,the imbalance of species order is a symptom of post-colonial ecological ethics,which is reflected by writers in two forms.Firstly,it explains the strong irrational will under colonial rule by describing human atrocities.Secondly,it points to the harm caused by capital development and power discipline in the post-colony with the help of animal fables in the text.Finally,the ecological crisis challenges the self-identity of invaders at another level.In the ethical conflict between "invasion" and "expect",the natural image is no longer invincible in the eyes of invaders by violent rule,forcing invaders and their descendants to reflectThe fourth chapter focuses on the animal writing and the ethics of biological community in Proulx’s novels and explores Anne Proulx’s consciousness of biological community in the two worlds inside and outside the text.In terms of text inside,she was able to face up to the animal at the same time,which was full of compassion for animals,with the theory of animal welfare ethics argued that although the ethics also existed in the ecological protection strategy "utopia" and animal image the other limitations.However,the three works have formed an almanac history of the development of animal ethics and become the mirror reflection of the animal ethics in modern society,which can be regarded as pioneering work.Proulx’s writing of animals has strong practical significance,it provides a new ethical guide as instructive for solving various animal problems,which first requires modern society to establish a multidimensional and open human cognitive system,correctly view the opposition between human factors and animal factors,then re-examine various animal problems.It looks forward to the animal ethical order of harmonious coexistence,which requires mankind to complete the difficult transformation of "Dehumanization" and embrace the new ideal of biological community.The conclusion part points out that Anne Proulx is a passionate "animal spokesperson" who has created an animal world with diverse pedigrees in her works.Animals written by Anne Proulx are participants in poetic habitation,metaphors of animalization in post-colonial ecological problems,and a new concept of biology in the context of biological community.Poetic habitation ecological ethics,Post-colonial ecological ethics and the Ethics of biological community respectively point to the three dimensions of ecological ethical philosophy in the writer’s works,and correspond to the three levels of natural ecology,social ecology and spiritual ecology.They are independent and have some intersection,showing the spiral rise from nature to society to ideology.From a practical point of view,animal writing is a small incision in Proulx’s ecological research to explore a more realistic and effective way out of ecological difficulties.From the perspective of research,animal writing can summarize,sort out,analyze and study animal image groups in the works of more writers who are keen on ecological writing,and grasp the common laws among them.