论约翰·巴勒斯写作中的自然、文化与科学

在约翰·巴勒斯看来,人与自然是生生相息、紧密相连的,生态危机产生的根源是现存文化中广为流传疏离自然的态度。要改善人与自然的关系,不仅要消除自然资源用之不竭的神话,防止其被过度使用,同时还要转变占据主导地位的文化态度,使人们学会亲密地欣赏自然。在巴勒斯的文化叙事里,科学有助于提升人们的物质生活水平,但也能帮助提升他们的情感、想象和精神的敏感性,进而帮助他们谦卑地与自然相处。作为美国早期重要的自然作家,巴勒斯一直思索着:在不断发展的时代里,怎样才能把对自然的爱、工业和经济的发展以及科学的进步构建成一个人与自然和谐栖居的画面。

Nature,Culture and Science in the Writings of John Burroughs

As for John Burroughs, humans and nature are closely related, and it is the widespread attitude prevailing in current culture of alienation towards nature that fundamentally gives rise to ecological crises. In order to improve the relations between humans and nature, people need to not only discard the myth of inexhaustible nature and prevent her overuse, but also change their dominant cultural attitudes and then appreciate nature more intimately. In Burroughs＇ cultural narrative, science contributes to enhancing both human material life and their emotional, imaginative and spiritual sensibilities, and thus helps them learn to coexist more humbly with nature. As an important early American nature writer, Burroughs painstakingly ponders how to, in an era of continuous development, construct love of nature, industrial and economic development, and scientific advancement into a picture of humans and nature living harmoniously.