say a few words about

Gothic ecology is a literary model that combines Gothic and environmental writing, urging attention to crisis representation by depicting dangerous and threatening landscapes. It is regarded as the irony of green ecological criticism, with ecological phobia as its core, exploring human anxiety, contempt, and fear of nature. Gothic ecology emphasizes the revenge of nature on humans, highlighting the terror or Gothic characteristics of nature, while viewing the human body as an extension of nature, affirming human animal instincts and natural attributes, and deconstructing anthropocentrism. Ecological criticism has gone through four waves, from wilderness to cities, and then to global environmental injustice and material shift, showing a green tendency. Cohen criticized ecocriticism for ignoring negative descriptions of nature by humans, while Estock and Morton emphasized the need to pay attention to the negative relationship between humans and nature, which promoted the development of Gothic ecology.

review

Gothic ecology, as a branch of green ecological criticism, originated from the exploration of the concept of "wilderness", which has undergone a transformation from an ancient place where wild beasts roamed to a pure land untouched by civilization during the Romantic period. Garrard distinguished between the "Old World Wilderness" and the "New World Wilderness", the latter echoing the environmental movement of the late 20th century, while the former became a forgotten past. Estock and Girard recognized the wilderness of the Old World, opposed Leopold's "land ethic," proposed the concept of "ecological phobia," and emphasized the fear of the agency of the natural environment. Smith and Hughes defined the Gothic ecology in their book "The Gothic Ecology", advocating for the use of ecological criticism theory to explore Gothic literature and emphasizing the rebellion of nature's agency against human control over nature. The Journal of Gothic Studies introduces the concept of "transphysicality", expanding the scope of Gothic ecology research and incorporating non-human, racial, and feminine discourse. The book 'Gothic Ecology in 19th Century American Literature' marks the maturity of the Gothic ecological theoretical framework, which is divided into racial Gothic ecology and non-human Gothic ecology.

conclusion

The role of Gothic ecology in ecological criticism is gradually emerging. It corrects the representation bias of green ecological criticism, emphasizes the terrifying side of nature, proposes the concept of "Gothic nature", endows nature with subjectivity, and responds to the non-human turn. Gothic ecology introduces psychological concepts, forming the concept of "ecological phobia", revealing human anxiety and panic towards nature, and prompting humans to re-examine their relationship with nature. It also provides new ideological weapons for environmental injustice movements, exposing the harm of anthropocentrism, Eurocentrism, and gender discrimination to nature, people of color, and women. Although Gothic ecology has been criticized for lacking an independent theoretical system, its openness and inclusiveness also provide potential for its development. The significance of Gothic ecology lies in the reorganization and explanation of ecological criticism theory from a Gothic perspective, expanding the scope of ecological criticism research, and providing new critical methods and theoretical basis for analyzing Gothic literature.