In recent years, research on the Anthropocene has been a rage, but it is rarely

discussed from the perspective of ecological literature. The relationship between -

human and animals comes up repeatedly in ecological novels, and their views can be roughly divided into two: one holds that humans are the center of all things while the other advocates the rejection of anthropocentrism. I find that neither of these two

views truly understands the ethical and ecological significance of “actual animals.”

My master’s degree thesis studies the metonymy of “actual animals” in novels that

depict epidemics, in which animals, serving as hosts for parasites, spread viruses and impact the ecological environment and human society. Animal ethics is also involved, from which I proceeded to explore the relationship between animals, ecology and society. On this basis, my present project will delve into animal ethics and animal rhetoric in ecological novels.

Literary works often discuss ethical relationships. Yet, it is worth thinking about

why literature is not limited to writing about human ethical relationships, but instead

extends the consideration of human ethics onto the animal world. Can the true

relationship between animals be characterized “ethical”? Does the behavior of

animals really reflect the emotions of loyalty, gratitude, etc. that humans project onto

them? I will explore the relationship between animal behavior and ethics in literary

works, taking the study of ethology as my point of departure.

Similarly, the relationship between animals, ecology and society is manifested in

the rhetoric of ecological novels, including metaphor and metonymy. My MA thesis

has demonstrated that existing research rarely pays attention to animal metonymy. I

therefore propose to continue to explore the metonymic relationship between “actual

animals” and ecology in ecological novels, and the metaphorical meanings of animal

totems in different tribal communities at the same time.

As defined on these pages, ecology is no longer limited to nature itself, but also includes cultural anthropology, which is premised upon the inseparability of human

culture and nature. In the ecological novels since the new century, Wolf Totem (《狼

圖騰》) (2004) and Tibetan Mastiff (《藏獒》) (2005) respectively write wolves

and Tibetan mastiff totem culture. Wolves and Tibetan mastiffs are endangered

grassland animals. The metonymy of wolves and Tibetan mastiffs leads to the

speculation as to whether biological extinction is the normal run of affairs of the

ecosystem. At the same time, what kind of “contribution” can humans make regarding this issue? From the perspective of cultural anthropology, wolves represent Mongolian culture, and Tibetan mastiffs represent that of Tibet. The metaphorical meaning of totems has a profound relationship with tribal communities, and therefore defines the ethical relationship and national discourse of “actual animals.” In addition, animals in Southeast Asian ecological novels Monkey Cup (《猴杯》) (2000) and When Wlid Boars Cross the River (《野豬渡河》) (2018) play the role of demigurge, even humans breast-feed animals’ kids as a way of showing back-feeding. Therefore, the ethical relationship of “actual animals” is not only between animals, between humans, but also between humans and animals. This study will explore cultural anthropological allegories through animal metaphors and analyze animal behaviors and ecology through animal metonymy.

The objective of this study is to examine Latin American ecocriticism through an analysis of Agustina Bazterrica's "Tender is the Flesh", with a view to critiquing anthropocentric thinking from the perspective of posthumanism and considering alternative perspectives. Latin America serves as the primary setting for postcolonial ecocriticism, a region that is profoundly concerned with environmental degradation and posthuman existence. In her work, Bazterrica draws international attention to environmental issues and social justice by addressing the unethical practices of animal agriculture in societies facing the dual challenges of pandemics and environmental degradation. In order to establish a methodological foundation, this study examines the theoretical aspects of ecocriticism and posthumanism. The theories are then applied to the analysis of the works in order to identify their messages and literary historical significance, with a particular focus on human existence and identity in the posthuman era.

In order to establish a methodological foundation, this study examines the theoretical aspects of ecocriticism and posthumanism. The theories are then applied to the analysis of the works in order to identify their messages and literary historical significance, with a particular focus on human existence and identity in the posthuman era. By reexamining the question of human-animal identity, this study challenges the assumption that humans have the exclusive right to manage and exploit animals. It calls for a significant shift in speciesist thinking, which has been deeply embedded in human civilization since its beginnings. To achieve this, it critically examines anthropocentrism by integrating its concerns into discussions of the adverse effects of ecosystem destruction and the problems it causes between humans and non-human life forms.

In her 2019 novel, Barefoot Doctor, Can Xue tells the story of Yun Village, a paradisiacal society seemingly disconnected from the modern world and its concerns of capital and progress, where a group of barefoot doctors continues the traditional practice of bringing life-saving herbs from the mountainside to the doorsteps of village inhabitants who entrust them with their lives and well-being. Reading the novel through frameworks of ecocriticism and incorporating ideas of urbanism and technology, this paper explores how Can Xue constructs a communication network between plants, animals, and humans that resembles the information networks of the internet age. In this literary world, Can Xue imagines the existence of an invisible network of communication between all beings that is built on the foundations of technological progress and traditional knowledge and provides a vision of a less anthropocentric and more eco-friendly future.

The novel uses the knowledge and practice of traditional Chinese medicine as a device to explore the intimate connection between local flora, fauna, and human inhabitants to construct a natural world that embodies its own subjectivity at the largest scale of unfathomable wilderness to the smallest scale of the single plant. Drawing from the work of American ecocritics, such as William Cronon and Wendell Berry, in addition to Chinese ecoaesthetics and East Asian ecocriticisms, the paper begins by examining how Can Xue characterizes natural and human-nature relationships in the spaces of wilderness, rural village, garden, small town, and eventually, urban city center. In each encounter with the natural world, whether it is with the unpredictable mountain ecosystem or the single stalk of banlangen, nature and its parts wield the power to affect change and communicate with their human counterparts, establishing a reciprocal relationship between nature and humanity.

Though the urban city center is never explicitly described, through themes of profit and progress and characters that return from the city, Can Xue casts, in negative, a rough outline of where the city is located in the minds of her characters. Eventually, the space of the city is filled by her post-urban vision where countless pockets of human settlements are placed alongside gardens, farms, and forests, between which constant, invisible, and far-reaching communication occurs indiscriminately between all living things. Such a vision aligns with recent urban theories that suggest that the future of cities lies in increased connectivity and delocalization.

Barefoot Doctor offers a framework where technology and tradition can work in tandem to address the problem of environmental deterioration. In the intricate literary world that Can Xue creates, the unity of nature and man that dominates traditional aesthetics in ancient Chinese literature finds new life in the webs of information networks and urban infrastructures, offering a post-urban vision of the world.

This paper explores how the creatures in Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海經) collapse the logic of human-nonhuman binaries by transgressing body boundaries, discussing to what extent Classic of Mountains and Seas reunifies the dichotomy and revivifies the archaic by magnifying ecophobia. This research also examines the creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein for comparison. Despite their distinct historical and national backgrounds, both texts employ similar descriptive methods in the nonhuman narrative, representing the nature of body queerness, a celebration of heterogeneity and diversity, and the rejection of human-constructed uniformity and collectivism. However, compared to Frankenstein, Classic of Mountains and Seas goes further in terms of the temporal sense of narrative, highlighting the vital difference between Gothic and ecogothic. In Classic of Mountains and Seas, the temporal sense is constructed as evolutionary rather than biographical. Overall, the research employs a comparative approach, drawing on the theories of Simon C. Estok’s ecophobia (2009) and Sigmund Freud's “uncanny.” It argues that although the creatures in Classic of Mountains and Seas follow the Gothic tradition regarding Freud’s “uncanny” effect and share some similarities in body appearance, such as “patchwork” with the creature in Frankenstein, Classic of Mountains and Seas further questions the human-knowledge-constructed logic of ecological binaries and collapses anthropocentric speciesism by evoking a deeper ecophobia. This study contributes to the ongoing questioning of human-nonhuman dualism under the anthropocentric gaze and offers new insights into how to recognize another Chinese map of cultural consciousness. In this renewed but ancient map, the “metanarratives” of the absolute dichotomy between human and nonhuman, such as the myth of Kua Fu Chases the Sun (夸父追日) and The Foolish Old Man Moves the Mountain (愚公移山), are refreshed by a healthier interaction of more openness and possibilities. From this perspective, the interpretation of Classic of Mountains and Seas could be a good starting point for reviving the archaic in modern times.