The Greening of Contemporary Literature

Andrea Riemenschnitter
University of Zurich

From the Book of Odes and Zhuangzi's animistic fables through Pu Songling's sentimental spirits, eco-themes and topoi of environmental connectedness abound in East Asian literatures and culture. Today, creative commentaries by cultural producers on environmental issues, such as climate change, urbanization, industrial pollution, or the irredeemable transformation of cultural landscapes, inspire to rethink modernity in its changing relationship with nature. The industrial revolution, population growth and economic exploitation have led to an unprecedented extinction of natural species through human intervention. Elegiac swan songs to vanishing species and traditional forms of sustainable livelihood, such as Gao Xingjian’s Soul Mountain (Lingshan, 1990), Jiang Rong's novel Wolf Totem (Lang Tuteng, 2004), or Zhang Chengzhi’s History of the Soul (Xinling shi, 1991), evoke a desire for an alternative modernity that respects the diversity of local ecologies. At the same time, the idea of humans sharing the world with an ever-growing diversity of new species, as mirrored in the artificial, posthuman subjects in science fiction literature or in movies like Jeffrey Lau's Kungfu Cyborg (Jiqi xia, HK 2009), reveals a global environmental zeitgeist that meets scientific progress with positive curiosity. This paper will explore the greening of contemporary literature in a survey of themes and theories related to environmental concerns in the wake of China’s economic rise.

当代文学的“绿化”

洪安瑞
苏黎世大学

从《诗经》和庄子万物有灵的寓言，到蒲松龄笔下多愁善感的花妖狐魅，生 态主题和人与环境紧密相连的母题在东亚文学和文化中比比皆是。今天，对环境的诸多问题，比如气候变化、城市化、工业污染、或者文化景观无法补救的改变等 等，文化生产者都做出了许多富有创造性的评论， 激发我们从现代性与自然之关系变化这一角度重新思考现代性。工业革命，人口增长和经济开发经由人类的干预导致了自然物种史无前例的灭绝。作家们为正在消失 的物种和可持续发展的生活方式唱起了挽歌，比如高行健的《灵山》（1990），姜戎的《狼图腾》（2004），张承志的《心灵史》（1991），这些作品 都激发起人们寻找另一种现代性的渴望，这种现代性尊重本地生态系统的多样性。与此同时，人类与越来越多样的新物种共享世界这一想法，在科幻小说和电影中的 人造的、后人类的主体身上得到了体现，比如刘镇伟的《机器侠》（2009）。这种新观念揭示了当下一个全球性的环保精神，它将科学进步与积极的好奇心相结 合。中国经济的发展引发了人们对环境的关切，本文将通过考察与之相关的主题和理论，探讨当代文学的“绿化”现象。