论早期美国文学中生态描写的目的和意义

The Ecological Descriptions in the Early Colonial American Literature

早期殖民地时期美国文学中的生态描写有着深远的目的:这些生态描写暗藏着对清教神学思想的论述,它们试图以描写生态自然之名来弘扬基督教教义、构建和宣传基督教神话和清教神学思想;同时,这些着眼于对新大陆赞颂的生态描写与清教神学思想相结合,积极参与美国国家意识的构建,成为日后美国国家意识的滥觞。

The positive ecological descriptions in the early colonial American literature is usually regarded as a means to attract the European immigrants. Yet there exists behind these ecological descriptions of the nature and environment a far more significant purpose: they aim at an indirect expounding of the Puritanical ideology and a spreading of the Christian creeds and Christian mythology. At the same time, these positive ecological descriptions pave the way for the establishment of the American national consciousness.