The Crisis Of Nature,society And Spirit—A Study On Underworld From The Perspective Of Ecological Marxism

Don De Lillo is one of the most eminent contemporary American novelists.His works mirror the realities of America and fully reveal the pathologies of American society.Underworld is De Lillo’s greatest and richest novel to date,full of his views and criticisms on American politics,economy,and culture,as well as his concerns and opinions on human society’s environmental problems.Underworld depicts various phenomena of the ecological crisis,exposes the capitalist system as the root cause of the ecological crisis.It makes human beings face up to ecological problems,and calls on human beings to protect nature.This thesis investigates the natural ecological crisis,social ecological crisis and spiritual ecological crisis in Underworld from the perspective of Ecological Marxism,so as to explore the ecological imbalance phenomenon,human survival dilemma,and the system root of the ecological crisis in De Lillo’s novel.There are six parts in this thesis.The introduction briefs Don De Lillo and the novel Underworld and provides a literature review at home and abroad as well as the thesis statement.Chapter one introduces the origin and development of Ecological Marxism and the key terms of its theory: the idea of “the domination of nature,” “economic reason,” and the theory of metabolic rift.Chapter two discusses the natural ecological crisis in Underworld.Humans’ unending pillage of natural resources,colonization of land,and economic progress have resulted in environmental degradation and a rise in pollutants.Human living space is shrinking,the material transformation of man and environment is disrupted,and all these factors ultimately lead to the imbalance of natural ecology.Chapter three illustrates the crisis of the social ecological environment in Underworld.Racial discrimination and class consciousness exacerbate people’s alienation;resource plundering and pollution transfer to the Third World under hegemony exacerbate the globalization of capital and aggravate the inequality of the world;excessive accumulation of capital drives commodity overproduction,leading to the capitalization of daily life;and the profit-seeking nature of capital makes research and development of science and technology a means for capital to manipulate and promote.Chapter four deals with the spiritual ecological crisis in Underworld.People become objectified as a result of capitalism’s manipulation of their desires and values;psychological alienation is also brought on by capitalists’ abnormal social environment;capitalist ideology not only gives rise to a crisis of faith but also the fear of death,which ultimately lead to people’s spiritual loss and desolation.The conclusion summarizes the root of the natural,social,and spiritual ecological crisis in Underworld,namely that the capitalist system is the root cause of the ecological crisis.This thesis also exposes the anti-ecology of the capitalist system and reveals the ecological relevance embedded in the novel,as well as emphasizing the value of nature,warning humanity of its destruction,and urging people to defend nature.