Abstract: In the present “post-theoretical era”, along with the deepening of ecocriticism and ecological studies of literature, some scholars have gradually shifted their early focus on the relations between man, nature, and man's living environment to animals, man's con-existing companions on the earth, hence a sort of “animal studies”. This should be viewed as a sort of “animal turn” in contemporary ecocriticism. Actually, there has also appeared a subtle change in the relations between man and other species on the earth: man, once the “master of earth” and “primate of all things”, has evolved into a kind of “posthuman”, returning to his original status as just one of the species on earth. Man and animal should maintain a relationship of friends and companions. Such a new relationship between man and animal has become another topic that attracts more and more attention from both writers and literary critics. This is also one of the topics addressed by those theorists of the “post-theoretical era”. Post-theorists like Jacques Derrida, Dona Haraway, and Cary Wolfe, who have significantly illuminated ecocriticism and animal studies, have published a great deal on this topic. The author of this article intends to further his previous studies on ecocriticism and argue that this sort of “animal turn” does anticipate a new phase in ecocriticism.

Key words: ecocriticism, animal studies, anthropocentrism, posthuman, deconstruction