摘 要

《八月之光》是美国南方文学代表作家威廉·福克纳所作的小说作品。小说刻画了 20 世纪早期，乔·克里斯默斯作为一名黑白混血儿的悲剧一生。通过将人物置身于美国南部转型时期的南方社会中，福克纳剖析了美国社会中因黑白人种关系不平衡而造成的种种黑暗面。本文将从生态批评的角度研究该作，通过展现福克纳的生态意识、生态失衡造成的冲突以及针对此种失衡的解决方案来探索作家的价值观与生态观点。《八月之光》的生态批评研究不仅能帮助读者更好地理解福克纳的作品，而且对促进生态社会具有重要价值。

关键词：威廉·福克纳，《八月之光》，生态批评

Contents

1. Introduction 1
2. Demonstration 2
   1. William Faulkner and his eco-consciousness in Light in August 3
      1. The awakener towards environmental crisis 3
      2. The advocate of racial equality 4
   2. Manifestations of ecological disequilibrium 4
      1. Environmental damage by industrial civilization 4
      2. Racial conflicts between the white and the black 6
   3. Solutions for ecological disequilibrium 7
      1. New life brought by Lena, a holy image of pregnant woman 7
      2. Salvation of Joe Christmas, the holy son with the hybrid identity 8
3. Conclusion 8

Works Cited 11

Bibliography 12

An Ecocritic Study of Light in August

1. Introduction

William Cuthbert Faulkner (September 25, 1897- July 6, 1962), was an American novelist, poet, and playwright, and one of the most influential writers in American literature as well as an outstanding representative of “Stream of Consciousness” writings in the US. In 1949, he won the Nobel Prize in literature for his great contribution to American modern novels.

In Light in August, Faulkner depicted two characters: Christmas and Lena. As a mulatto, Christmas suffered a lot from the racism. Influenced by his family’s enthusiasm for Puritan culture, although he denied his black descent, he could hardly take himself as a white man. Therefore, such an abnormal living environment and psychological state not only had great impact on Christmas’s personality and life but also ultimately sealed his tragic fate. As an unmarried pregnant woman, Lena traveled thousands of miles to the town of Jefferson to look for the child’s father. The novel describes the ten days Lena spent in the town: she met various people, who were worried about her and provided her with a lot of help after they learned her situation. However, Lena was optimistic and confident all the time, holding a harmonious and quiet attitude toward life. From Lena, we can see the original and simple nature of human beings, which implied the inclusiveness of nature and made her life hopeful at last. From the ecological perspective, this paper will analyze the ecological imbalance and salvation reflected by the human relations to provide readers with a new perspective to learn the social situation in the American South in the 19th century as well as Faulkner’s ecological idea.

Since it was first published in 1932, the book has experienced ups and downs

before becoming Faulkner's masterpiece. In recent years, people have been studying the novel from a variety of perspectives. For instance, Karen Marie Andrews and Susan Elaine Bauch studied it from the perspective of interracial marriage, holding that it was the rumors and belief but not evidence or rationality that influenced the

behavior of the characters and resulted in their different fate. Mariko Enomura explored the characters’ struggles with their own identity in the novel. Roxann Wylie discussed the typical family in the American South after the Civil War, revealing the relationship hidden between the characters’ tragic fate and the war.