《生命的法则》的生态书写研究

A Study of Ecological Writing in The Law of Life

摘要: 杰克·伦敦的短篇小说《生命的法则》以克朗代克淘金经历为背景，讲述了老印第安人科斯科什被部落遗弃、最终顺应自然法则而死的故事，体现了死亡不可避免、适者生存的自然法则。现有研究多从自然主义视角解读小说，侧重分析小说呈现了哪些生态思想，而对文学创作手法如何承载这些生态思想的探讨相对不足。研究以生态批评为理论视角，从空间生态建构与时间生态叙事层面分析《生命的法则》的生态书写路径。研究发现，小说通过写实的极地荒野描写确立自然主体性，借“人–生物–自然”的互动塑造生命共同体图景，以老克朗的心理转变演绎生命循环法则，用“麋鹿–老人”，“火–生命”的意象叠加完成生态思想的艺术化呈现。研究旨在为生态批评视域下的杰克·伦敦研究提供新的分析路径，同时回应“文学如何呈现生态思想”这一理论问题。

Abstract: Jack London’s short story The Law of Life set against the backdrop of the Klondike gold rush, tells the tale of an old Indian man named Koskoosh who is abandoned by his tribe and ultimately dies in accordance with the laws of nature, illustrating the inevitability of death and the natural principle of survival of the fittest. Existing research has largely approached the story from a naturalistic perspective, focusing on identifying the ecological ideas presented in the text, while paying relatively little attention to how literary techniques convey these ecological themes. This study, from the theoretical perspective of ecocriticism, analyzes the ecological writing trajectory of The Laws of Life through the lenses of spatial ecological construction and temporal ecological narrative. The research finds that the novel establishes the subjectivity of nature through realistic depictions of polar wilderness, constructs a vision of a life community through interactions among humans, animals, and nature, enacts the cycle of life through the psychological transformation of Old Koskoosh, and artistically expresses ecological ideas through layered imagery such as “moose-elder” and “fire-life”. This study aims to offer a new analytical pathway for Jack London scholarship within the context of ecocriticism, while also addressing the theoretical question of how literature represents ecological thought.