Rereading Walden: A New Model of Literary Ecology

Henry David Thoreau has been regarded as a patron saint of ecology, his Walden being a key point of reference in literary ecology. The currents of the study in the field, however, have focused mai ...

Rereading Walden: A New Model of Literary Ecology

Henry David Thoreau has been regarded as a patron saint of ecology, his Walden being a key point of reference in literary ecology. The currents of the study in the field, however, have focused mainly on nature untouched by man. As a result, Walden is appreciated by many leading ecocritics as a text in which wild nature is vividly portrayed with the unmediated language of reality. Undoubtedly Walden is largely wrought with descriptive and non-anthropocentric language. But language is basically tainted by human perspectives, and therefore, it is not possible to describe nature and wilderness without metaphorizing. In reality, it is not nature itself and as such but a kind of humanized nature that is depicted in Walden. The question of hunting presented in the text also confirms the interrelation between man and nature.
Deconstructive studies on Walden point out the inevitable discrepancy between nature itself and how it is described by man and his language. Accepting the discrepancy without reservations, however, may lead to losing sight of the dynamic flow toward nature as well as the constant tension between human motivation and nature found in the text of Walden. It is important to note that the Thoreau's work makes strenuous attempts to reach real nature, even while conceding that this quest can be made only by man, through his language. This reading of Walden may open up not only a new understanding of Thoreau's work but also a new horizon of ecocriticism―one that extends far into the whole canvas of literary ecology without reducing it to a narrow line of nature-oriented literature. It can be concluded that Walden remains an essential touchstone for building a new model of literary ecology.