生态批评视角下《白鲸》中马尔维尔的自然观

Melville’s View of Nature in Moby Dick from the Perspective of Ecocriticism

摘要: 19世纪超验主义思想中，自然观居于核心地位，强调自然的神圣性与精神启示。赫尔曼·梅尔维尔的史诗小说《白鲸》正是这一哲学脉络下的文学结晶，它通过宏大的捕鲸叙事，对人与自然的关系进行了深邃探索，展现了作家超越时代的生态意识。从生态批评视角审视，船长亚哈被塑造成一个背离自然、偏执复仇的悲剧形象，其征服白鲸“莫比·迪克”的疯狂旅程，象征着人类中心主义对自然法则的野蛮挑战与最终溃败。相反，叙述者以实玛利等人则体现了某种程度的观察与共存。小说通过这种鲜明对比，深刻揭示了工业文明初期人类无限扩张欲望所蕴含的生态危机。梅尔维尔的自然观对21世纪具有强烈的现实警示意义。亚哈的悲剧命运犹如一则寓言，警示当代人类：在生态环境日益脆弱的今天，必须摒弃征服与掠夺的惯性思维，转而寻求与自然和谐共生之道。任何无节制的索取，终将招致自然的反击，带来毁灭性的后果。这部作品因而成为一面跨越时代的镜子，映照出人类永恒的生存命题。

Abstract: In the 19th-century Transcendentalist thought, the view of nature held a central position, emphasizing the sacredness of nature and its spiritual enlightenment. Herman Melville’s epic novel “Moby-Dick” is a literary masterpiece within this philosophical context. Through the grand narrative of whaling, it delves deeply into the relationship between humans and nature, showcasing the author’s ecological consciousness that transcends his time. From an ecological criticism perspective, Captain Ahab is depicted as a tragic figure who deviates from nature and is obsessed with revenge. His mad pursuit of the white whale “Moby Dick” symbolizes the brutal challenge of anthropocentrism against the laws of nature and its eventual downfall. In contrast, the narrator Ishmael and others embody a certain degree of observation and coexistence. Through this sharp contrast, the novel profoundly reveals the ecological crisis inherent in the unbridled expansionary desires of the early industrial civilization. Melville’s view of nature holds a strong practical warning significance for the 21st century. Ahab’s tragic fate serves as a parable, cautioning contemporary humans that in today’s increasingly fragile ecological environment, we must abandon the habitual thinking of conquest and plunder, and instead seek a path of harmonious coexistence with nature. Any unrestrained exploitation will eventually invite nature’s retaliation, leading to devastating consequences. Thus, this work becomes a mirror spanning eras, reflecting the eternal survival proposition of humanity.