Studies in Literature and Language
Crisis and Reconstruction: The Way out of Ecological Dilemma in Doris Lessing’s The Old Chief Mshlanga
Abstract
The Old Chief Mshlanga is a short story written by Doris Lessing who is the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007, which is based on the traditional realistic narrative techniques, and takes the African colonial life as the background to highlight the ecological aftermaths caused by colonial oppression and white racial superiority. The ecological value orientation conveyed by the short story coincides with the core of postcolonial ecocriticism. So this paper mainly aims at analyzing the root causes, crisis and reconstruction of ecological dilemma contained in the context through the postcolonial ecocriticism, exploring Lessing’s racial concerns and ecological ideas, and emphasizing the key role of harmonious ecological environment and equal and independent racial relations in the process of realizing social justice and environmental justice.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3968/12854
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