New Developments in Chinese Ecocriticism: Toward a Global Environmental Dialogue

Foreign Literature Studies ›› 2020, Vol. 42 ›› Issue (1): 14-21.

New Developments in Chinese Ecocriticism: Toward a Global Environmental Dialogue

Scott Slovic

Online:2020-02-25 Published:2021-02-26
About author:Scott Slovic is Professor of Literature and Environment, Professor of Natural Resources and Society, and a faculty fellow in the Office of Research and Economic Development at the University of Idaho, USA. He served as the founding president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment from 1992 to 1995, and since 1995 he has edited ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, the leading journal in the field of ecocriticism. The author of more than 300 articles and the author, editor, or co-editor of twenty-seven books, his most recent publication is The Routledge Handbook of Ecocriticism and Environmental Communication, which he co-edited with Swarnalatha Rangarajan and Vidya Sarveswaran. He also serves as co-editor of the book series,Routledge Studies in World Literatures and the Environment and Routledge Environmental Humanities. Email: slovic@uidaho.edu

Abstract

Abstract: Aside from the United States, China may have the largest number of scholars currently working in the field of ecocriticism (ecological literary studies) and in related fields such as ecoaesthetics. Reasons for this may include the practical need for Chinese intellectuals to address issues of environmental degradation and also the rich traditions of relevant ideas in classical Chinese philosophy, especially in Daoist and Confucian thought. Some key publications in recent Chinese ecocriticism, available to Western readers, include the special cluster coordinated by Wang Ning, which appeared in the Autumn 2014 issue of ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, and the 2017 English edition of Lu Shuyuan's book, The Ecological Era and Classical Chinese Naturalism: A Case Study of Tao Yuanming, which originally appeared in Chinese as The Specter of Tao Yuanming in 2012. Increasingly, the tendency among younger Chinese ecocritics is to identify the influence of Chinese environmental thinking upon Western (or global) traditions of environmental and humanistic thinking rather than focusing on the influence of Western thought on Chinese culture. The growing availability of Chinese ecocriticism in English is helping to raise the profile of this scholarship for international audiences. I see this as a positive contribution to the global dialogue about human responsibility for overcoming ecological and humanitarian problems throughout the world.

Key words: Chinese ecocriticism, Daoist proto-ecological thinking, transnational dialogue, Tao Yuanming

Scott Slovic. New Developments in Chinese Ecocriticism: Toward a Global Environmental Dialogue[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2020, 42(1): 14-21.

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