摘 要

惠特曼是十九世紀美國詩人，由於崇尚民眾民主自由價值而被譽為「民主詩人」。然而，惠特曼其一生歷經貧困與坎坷，青春時期在嚴峻現實的環境下仍苦讀自學，這樣的人生經歷使他對不同的社會階層與世界萬物，有著更深的關心。他所著作的《草葉集》(Leaves of Grass) 第一版於1855年7月初首度問世，顛覆了當時十九世紀社會對作家期待的印象。惠特曼也熱衷探索人與自然、與宇宙之間的關係，並深信萬物各有其生存價值，這樣的自然觀也融入他的詩歌作品，也與生態論述所強調的眾生平等觀(egalitarianism)相互輝映。不同於當時代的作家，惠特曼喜歡用許多感官性、大膽、甚至帶有情色意味的字眼來描寫他對美國大自然景物的熱愛。本論文主旨是探討惠特曼詩歌中生態意識的建構，架構共分為五章。第一章主要立論於探討惠特曼對大自然讚嘆與對民主價值追求，兩者之間的相互連結關係。第二章以分析比較愛默生與惠特曼的思想為探討主軸，以證惠特曼的生態意識建構除了深受愛默生思想洗禮，發展出獨樹一幟的自然觀。第三章則是探討惠特曼《草葉集》詩歌中所涵蓋的植物意象，透過分析其象徵的意義，以理解惠特曼如何建構心中理想的生態想像。第四章則討論惠特曼詩歌中非人類物種之聲，檢視惠特曼的生態意識是否打破過往人類與非人類之間的二元對立。第五章則為全書總結。

Abstract

This thesis focuses on Walt Whitman (1819-1892, acknowledged as “Bard of Democracy”), exploring the ecological sensibilities of the nineteenth-century American poetry in Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. Whitman used many sensational and venturous words to express his admiration for nature and landscape in America. Whitman’s interest in the relationship between human and nature motivated himself to incorporate every individual and every creature into his songs, which is close to concept of ecological egalitarianism. Focusing on Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, this thesis explores the complexities of human’s attitudes toward nature.
This book is composed of five chapters. Chapter One begins with exploring the interwoven connection of democracy and nature in Whitman’s poems and gives an introduction to a scholarship review about Whitman. Chapter Two aimed at exploring the similar aspects of Whitman and Emerson as well as comparing their differences for the purpose of certifying that Whitman’s poems about Nature embody a great number of concepts in Emerson’s poetic theory. Chapter Three focuses on the botanical imageries and symbols in Whitman’s work by expanding Whitman’s conception of democracy. Chapter Four analyzes the depiction of Nature in Whitman’s poems to reconsider the complexities of Whitman’s attitude toward the relationship between nonhuman creatures and human beings. Chapter Five concludes with affirming the decent value of ecological ideas embedded in Leaves of Grass.

Table of Contents
論文審定書 ……………………………………………………… i
Acknowledgement …………………………………………………… ii
中文摘要 …………………………………………………… iii
Abstract …………………………………………………… iv
Chapter One: Prologue: Reconsidering the Interdependency of Nature and
the Idea of Democracy in Whitman’s Poems ……………1
Chapter Two: Exploring Emersonian Roots of Nature in Whitman’s Poetry …………………………………………………… 20
Chapter Three: The Imageries and Emblems of Plants in Leaves of Grass …………………………………………………… 35
Chapter Four: Whitman’s Idea of Egalitarianism and Nonhuman Creatures in Leaves of Grass ………………………………………53
Chapter Five: Epilogue: Toward A Future Exploration of Whitman’s Ecopoetry ………………………………………………72
Works Cited ……………………………………………………………78

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