VIETNAM ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
GRADUATE ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
BÙI THỊ THU THỦY
NEW POETRY (1932 -1945)
FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF
ECOCRITICISM
Major: Literary Theory
Code: 9.22.01.20
ABSTRACT OF THE DOCTORAL
THESIS IN LITERARY THEORY
HÀ NỘI, 2020
The work was completed at:
Graduate Academay of Social Sciences
Vietnam Academay of Social Sciences
SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISORS:
1. Assoc. Prof. Lưu Khánh Thơ
2. Dr. Phạm Phương Chi
Reviewer 1: Assoc. Prof. Do Lai Thuy
Reviewer 2: Assoc. Prof. Doan Duc Phuong
Reviewer 3: Assoc. Prof. Mai Thi Huong
The thesis will be defended in front or the Academy-level
Thesis Commitee, at: Graduate Academay of Social Sciences, 477
Nguyen Trai, Thanh Xuan, Ha Noi at
2020
The thesis could be found at: - National Library
- Academay Library
INTRODUCTION
1. The urgency of the subject
From the end of the 20th century to the present, the risks of
environmental degradation have become serious. This raises questions
regarding the survival of mankind. And this is why in the economic field,
there is the concept of sustainable development that advocates economic
development while preserves the ecological environment for future
generations. The realm of social sciences and humanities has also emerged
the concept of ecocriticism. In essence, it is the study of the relationship
between man and nature. It is considered as a new research approach that is
interdisciplinary and increasingly influential.
Ecocriticism, also known as “green research”, appeared in
Western Europe and has been spreading worldwide. Through many stages
of development, ecocriticism shows its potential and has been approaching,
introducing, applying, and studying by Vietnamese literary researchers.
Currently, studies based on ecocriticism chiefly aims at
contemporary literary compositions that still contain limitations. They
especially focus on the prose instead of poetry genre. For this, we want to
shed light on theories of ecocriticism to explore an important entity of
Vietnamese literature in the twentieth century, Thơ Mới (New Poetry).
2. Research Purposes and Objectives
2.1 Purposes of the research
This research examines whether ecocriticism, a literary approach
that originates from the West, have similarities or differences when viewed
in relation to Vietnamese literature, especially with New Poetry.
The research would like to discover New Poetry from a new
perspective, i.e. the connection of this school of poetry with biological,
environmental, and natural issues. Since then, the thesis affirms core values
and multiple dimensions of New Poetry. New Poetry is valuable even when
explored through the approaches that appear much later than New Poetry’s
birth and development.
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Given such interpretations of ecocriticism, we would like to
affirm that ecocriticism is only a new approach to New Poetry, like other
approaches used to approach this part of poetry.Our dissertation is not to
identify New Poetry as an ecological whole. Because the focus of New
Poetry is the individual ego and human loneliness.But studying this literary
movementthrough the lenses of ecocriticism, we want to discover more
meanings and values of New Poetry. Therefore, the theory of ecocriticism
will contribute to illuminating various aspects of ecological literary trends
in New Poetry. Accordingly, New Poetry is envisioned as a case study to
prove the usefulness of ecocriticism in studying the realities of Vietnamese
literature.
2.2 The Objectivesof the research
- Give an overview of the research situation concerning eco-critical
theories in the world and in Vietnam.
- Analyze the birth and development of ecocriticism in the world,
thereby giving particular judgments about the development and connotation
of ecocriticism.
- Study the relationship between nature and people in New Poetry.
- Study languages and symbols in New Poetry.
3. Aims and scope of the research
3.1 Aims of the research
- The research targets include direct and indirect works that show the
relationship between nature and man in New Poetry.
- Apply the knowledge of ecocriticism to explain the relationship
between nature and man in New Poetry, thereby confirmingthe
contributions of New Poetry fully and comprehensively.
3.2 Scope of the research
Our dissertation mainly surveys the collection entitled New Poetry
from 1932 to 1945 Authors and Works, Lại Nguyên Ân (compiled), 1999,
Writers Association Publishers, Hanoi - (Volume 1 and 2 - 1401 pages).
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In addition to examining the discourses of ecocriticism in New
Poetry, we examine the relationship between nature and humans in
literature before and after the New Poetry’s birth to highlight and
differentiate the differences of the above-mentioned relation inNew Poetry.
4. Theoretical framework and research methods
Systematic method; Statistical methods; Interdisciplinary method; Method
of cultural and poetic approach; Comparative method.
5. New scientific contributions of the research
This is the first comprehensive and systematic research on New Poetry
which appliesthe theories of ecocriticism.
The dissertation summarizes, analyses, and assesses detailedly and
specifically researcheson ecocriticism in the world and in Vietnam,
showing the standpoint and development trend of ecocriticism in Vietnam
in present.
The dissertation is not to answer whether New Poetry is ecocriticalliterature or not but mainly points to the multifaceted values and
meanings of New Poetry through the lensesof eco-critical theory.
Using the theories of ecocriticism, the dissertation explores, for the
first-time, basic aspects of the relationships between humans and nature in
New Poetry: Nature as an object and as a subject. At the same time, the
dissertation discovers the ecological language system and its fundamental
symbols in New Poetry: the symbol of the garden, the symbol of the
forest ...
6. Theoretical and practical significances of the dissertation
Theoretical significance: The dissertation focuses on answering
which contributions of New Poetry have for ecocriticism, that is, when
applied in the case study of the natural poetry in New Poetry, which may
need to be added for ecocriticism; how New Poetry could comment and
discuss further for ecocriticism. Using thetheory, appeared in a different
social and historical context compared to Vietnam, for the Vietnamese
poetry, which was also born in a specific socio-historical context, certainly
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has mismatches and inappropriateness. The study of New Poetry from the
ecocriticism perspective suggests that this inadequacy might be a theoretical
contribution of the dissertation; New Poetry, therefore, has more
theoretically values.
Practical significance: The dissertation is a reference for those who are
interested in ecocriticism and willing to discover more values of New
Poetry (1932-1945).
7. The structure of the dissertation
In addition to the Introduction, Conclusions, References, and Appendices,
the main content of the dissertation consists of 4 chapters as follows:
Chapter 1: Overview of the research
Chapter 2: Ecocriticism as a literary approach
Chapter 3: Ecological aspects of the relationship between nature
and humans in New Poetry
Chapter 4: Ecological languages and symbols in New
Poetry Chapter 1
OVERVIEW OF RESEARCH
1.1 Research of ecocriticism abroad
1.1.1 Ecocriticism in the West
1.1.1.1. The early period
In the early period, research on literature and the environment
began to get noticed and has been increasing in the world. But they mostly
focused on studies in the UK and the U.S., especially in the western part of
the U.S. Many works focus on the wildness and the epiphany of the
individual, pointing out the harmony and balance of nature and between
man and nature - things that are actually created by human culture and
language rather thannature itself. Therefore, ecological critics call this stage
as the commendation of ecocriticism.
1.1.1.2. The period of development
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Originating in the United Kingdom and the United States,
ecocriticism has expanded globally. Formed since the 1970s and thrived
from 1990 to 2007, ecocriticism, which has been on its stage of
development by 2008, has many research directions, more broadening to
gender, race, and class issues as well as emphasizingintercultural
perspectives ... This proves the promise of ecocriticism as a developing and
global research direction.
1.1.2. Ecocriticism of non-Western nations
The expansion of ecological scriptures, includingall the world’s
literature with the contribution of global critics, is considered as the most
recent milestone in the practicing of ecocriticism to explore environmental
issues and aim at environmental criticism in literary traditions in Asia,
especially Japanese, Korean, or pieces of literature written in Chinese. This
meansthere are branches of ecocriticism and these branches have their own
characteristics for each culture, each literature is also the ecocriticism of its
culture and literature.
1.2 Research on ecocriticism in Vietnam
1.2.1 Trees, animals and environmental crises in literary research in
Vietnam
The writer will examine documents about Vietnamese ecocriticism
and translations, syntheses, introductions, and writingson theories of
ecocriticism to determine the position of ecocriticism in literary research on
eco-criticism in particular and in Vietnamese literary research in general.
The total number of Vietnamese literature researches on ecocriticism from a
theoretical perspective is 27 articles (Table 1 attached) and ecocriticism
surveyed includes 77 documents (Table 2 attached).
Through surveying the two tables, the writer realizes that the
approach on literature in the relation to Vietnamese environment is
compatible with the content of ecocriticism in the first stage, which is
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interested in natural landscapes, the contrast between culture (urban,
modernization) and nature (countryside, wilderness). This is manifested and
also caused by the reception of ecocriticism in Vietnam (translations,
syntheses) which aims at the natural content of classical ecocriticism.
Specifically, Table 1 shows that ecocriticism has been introduced
(translations, syntheses), analyses (theoretical articles) in Vietnam, though
not early but rather abundantly and updated. Through these translations and
syntheses, it can be seen that what is accepted of ecocriticism in Vietnam is
primarily the relationship between man and nature. Accordingly, the issues
regarding the harmony of nature are emphasized and most concerned. It was
not until the book published by the Institute of Literature that the recent
developments of ecocriticism - its focus on political, social, and historical
issues - were introduced. Therefore, the interaction between the
environment and the issues of class, feminism, and ethnicity is of
theoretical interest. And this promises a trend of applying and developing
new ecocriticism in Vietnam.
Further analysis into Table 2 shows that the works that take folk
literature, medieval literature, and modern literature as research targets
mainly approach ecocriticism in its first wave. These are discoveries of
harmony and respect between man and nature. It can be said that, through
the lens of ecocriticism, Vietnamese scholars have discovered the position
of nature as the subject in relation to humans in Vietnamese literature. This
is a new direction in criticizing and studying literature on the subject matter
that is often seen as a linguistic structure, which explores the human world
with all its complexities and intricacies.
And it can be clearly seen that Vietnamese scholars discover
Vietnamese literature from the perspective of ecocriticism in the first wave,
the vision which is profoundly rooted in deep ecology and associated with
the protection and conservation of nature. The authors appreciate the
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stationary stability of nature and its dialectical relationship with humans;
they recognize and appreciate the universal concept of nature and focus on
the texts which were written explicitly about nature and plants.
1.2.2 Literature and environmental justice in research on
ecocriticism in Vietnam
This part of the dissertation discusses the presence of ecocriticism
in Vietnamese literature as the representation of ecocriticism in the second
wave. In the second wave, ecocriticism characterizes byits distance from
Eurocentrism, aiming at discovering texts from the world outside Europe;
ecocriticism became a non-Western literary approach of Western and nonWestern scholars. Ecocriticism in the second wave is featured by its
orientation towards social, political and historical issues.
Specifically, in Vietnam, before and after the International
Conference on Ecocriticism: Local and Global Voices organized by the
Institute of Literature (Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences) (December
2017), a series of works on ecocriticism in Vietnam identify humans
concerns in relation to the ecological environment: i.e. the issues of the
urban environment and suburban areas in literary texts of all genres rather
than only literature written about nature and the wildness. Vietnamese
scholars no longer recognize humans and nature as opposites but think that
the former is a part of the lattercycle, therefore, all changes in human life
will affect nature. Implying in the critical and analytical arguments about
the environment of Vietnamese scholars is seemly a great concern for
protecting the natural environment against the destruction of nature due to
the impact of the civilization process.
So, although ecocriticism in Vietnam reflects the development of
worldly ecocriticism through different stages (from the tendencyof studying
documents about nature to the consideration of specific political and social
issues such as war, industrialization and modernization), it has its own
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characteristics in its moving to the traditional view of human-natural unity.
This makes the peculiarity of ecocriticism in Vietnam in relation to
ecocriticism in several other countries in the region.
This shows that ecocriticism is highly likely to be further developed
in Vietnamese literary research. The need for studies on ecocriticism in
Vietnam is further emphasized by public awareness of particular
environmental changes related to air pollution, food hygiene, and the
destruction of aquatic and silvicultural systems.
Sub conclusion
This chapter of the dissertation examines and analyzes the theories
of ecocriticism, which has been received and applied in the study of
literature in general and Vietnamese New Poetry in particular. The
dissertation places the appearance and development of Vietnamese
ecocriticism in the flow of worldly ecocriticism in both theoretical and
applied aspects. In other words, the dissertation does not list and summarize
works on ecocriticism in Vietnam separately and rampantly but analyzes
and surveys them in a certain direction and method. In this way, the writer
expects that the overview of ecocriticism in Vietnam will be a contribution
to the theoretical conclusions of the ecological and environmental literary
approach, i.e. ecocriticism.
Chapter 2
ECOCRITICISM AS A LITERARY APPROACH
2.1. Ecocriticism takes an earth-centred approach to literary research
2.1.1. The philosophical premise of ecocriticism
Take nature as the central reference system in the study of literary
works. The most evident for this is when the theorists of ecocriticism point
to the philosophical premises of the literary approach: Ecological
consciousness; Ecological philosophy; Deep ecology; Theland ethic;
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Animal liberation theory; Marx and Engels’s ideology on ecological
Marxism.
From the above philosophical foundations, it is possible to realize a
general thesis that ecocriticism, by placing nature or ecology at the central
reference point in the literary research, is based on the rhizomic thought that
is developed by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in Capitalism and
Schizophrenia, 1972–1980. The rhizomic spirit of ecocriticism manifests
through the ecologists’ elimination of the ordered, separated and fixed
relationship between humans and nature; instead, ecocriticism provides
aninterconnected, interactive and generative model between humansand the
natural world.
2.1.2. Ecocriticism and “tree stories”
Ecological critics often tell two imaginative stories to implicitly
affirm the role of literature on nature in shaping the literary approach from
the eco-critical perspective. These stories show that ecocriticism is the
earth-centred approach to literary research. This is a declarative definition
of ecocriticism, which defines the characteristics of ecocriticism in relation
to other directions of literary research.
This dissertation focuses on analyzing Cheryll Glotfelty’s definition
that is stated in the introduction of the book, known as the textbook on
ecocriticism,The Ecocriticism Reader: Landmarks in Literary Ecology
(Athens and London: University of Georgia, 1996) and the workThe
Environmental Imagination: Thoreau, nature writing, and the formation of
American culturepublished in 1995 by Lawrence Buell (Cambridge, MA
and London, England: Harvard University Press). We suggest that both
Glotfelty and Buell, the representatives of theorists of classical ecocriticism,
explore the literature about nature in the early period to offer theoretical
interpretations of ecocriticism. In other words, with classical ecocriticism,
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ecological critics rediscover the literature in the early period and re-read the
scriptures from a “green perspective”.
2.2. The succession of ecocriticism
2.2.1. The crisis of classical ecocriticism
Research shows that classical ecocriticism often focuses on praising
nature and writes primarily about American nature. But researchers on
ecocriticism, namely Dana Phillips or Cohen, have pointed out that:
Humankind is facing a serious environmental crisis. Ecocriticism, therefore,
needs to be promptly shifted its literary studies to engage in the burning
issues of humankind.
2.2.2. Environmental justice in ecocriticism
If the first wave of ecocriticism specifically emphasizes village and
wild spaces rather than urban spaces, ecocriticism in the second wave
affirms that the wall separating these spaces is the product of history, that
nature is a human-shaped object, and that since the industrial revolution, the
city landscape and the environment, which is created in general, must be an
equally productive platform for ecological constructions.
Ecocriticism is an ecological and environmental-centred literary
approach. However, from the late 1990s and early 2000s, the ecologicalcentred argument of ecocriticism faced challenges, which needs to be
considered and expresses in a way that encompasses social and political
issues – i.e. environmental justice. The dissertation analyzes the theoretical
researches involving in this debate to create a change in the premise of
“taking nature as the center” of ecocriticism. Specifically, the dissertation
shows that ecocriticism connects environmental theory with public health,
towards the landscape of urban, industrial, labour safety, waste and social
ethics.
2.2.3. Ecocriticism of globality, extinction, animals and interdisciplinarity
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2.2.3.1. The early emergence of the third wave of ecocriticism
Theorists of ecocriticism have mentioned the “third wave” of
ecocriticism. But what is described the third wave of ecocriticism is often
seen as being tested and predicted; Nevertheless, theorists of ecocriticism
theorize that this is an approach that contributes not only to the social
sciences and humanities but also to a larger dialogue about the
environmental crisis that people are facing.
2.2.3.2. The globality, the extinction, the animal and the
interdisciplinarity
The third wave of ecocriticism has its own characteristics, moving
from the characteristics of ecocriticism in the previous two periods. First of
all, regarding the development of the political aspects of ecocriticism,
ecological theorists and practitioners tend to move towards combining postcolonial criticism with ecocriticism. In particular, firstly, ecocriticism tends
to be inextricably linked with the region and the community, promoting the
alliance with the local place and the ecological originality. Second,
ecocriticism of the third wave is interdisciplinary. Ecological critics will
work with a broader spectrum of historical data and documents than before.
Thirdly, ecocriticism is increasingly paying special attention to animal
expression in human re-cognition.
2.3. Identify literary approach from an eco-critical perspective
The dissertation analyzes the definitions of Glotfelty, Richard
Kerridge, Scott Slovic, William Howarth about ecocriticism. From these
generalizations, ecocriticism can be envisioned consisting of two basic
contents: Firstly, it is the analysis of representation and content of ecology,
the relationship between man and nature, ethical lessons related to ecology,
the process of ecological awareness in literary works. Secondly, which
impacts the above analysis and representation may have on the readers’
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formation of ecological and environmental awareness and on the realities of
nature and the environment itself.
Sub-conclusion
This chapter of the dissertation defines the specific content about
the eco-critical approach of the research. In other words, the chapter content
answers the question of howNew Poetry is received by using the ecocritical approach. These analyses of the dissertation propose an
understanding of ecocriticism as an approach to literature in general in
relation to environmental and ecological issues. Given such interpretations
of ecocriticism, we would like to affirm that ecocriticism is only a new
approach to New Poetry.
Chapter 3
ECOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF THE RELATION BETWEEN
NATURE AND HUMANSIN NEW
POETRY 3.1. Nature as an object
3.1.1. Nature as a living being exists outside of humans
If in medieval literature, human and nature responded and
intertwined, the two is always separated in literature in the Romantic Period
and nature is automatically regarded as an object. This can confirm the
external position and the respectful, uncontrollable state of the lyrical
subject in New Poetry. From the perspective of ecocriticism, it can be seen
that New Poetry expresses a state of respect for nature, a view of nature as a
whole, a world of its own. This is a unique characteristic of New Poetry
written about nature from the perspective of ecocriticism.
The appreciation for nature, its role and beauty, is emphasized by
ecological critics on the basis that nature embraces people as a part of it and
that nature enhances the spiritual life and human life in general. Such
emphasis on the lyrical subject’s respect to nature in New Poetry is one of
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the popular approaches of ecocriticism, i.e. the approach based on
“aesthetic construction”.
The correlation of the relationship between man and nature in New
Poetry with its view of “deep ecology” also shows the influence of the
Eastern philosophical thought, especially the view of Taoism, on this
relationship. Western environmental philosophers themselves are also
influenced by Taoism, a way of living achieved by observing the flow of
natural events such as water, dew, fire, etc. Taoists emphasize the principle
of non-self to be in harmony with nature. The concept of living, which is in
tune with the religion of nature, exalts the ecological and evolutionary
principle that man is a part of nature and must shape his way of living in
accordance with the processes and cycles of nature.
3.1.2. Nature as a reflection of people’s ecological insecurities
Poetry, especially romantic New Poetry, is basically exploited in
the aspect of reflecting, evoking and encouraging the harmonious
relationship between man and nature; nature, hence, is a sustainable place, a
source, a fulcrum which is opposite to society, urban, industry, science, the
material embodiment of the unstableness, busyness and ambitiousness. The
poetry section of natural disasters and of relating social issues has not
received much attention, especially from the eco-critical perspective, and
has not yet explored in studies on New Poetry.
New Poetry first expresses people’s sense of natural phenomena
which are unfavourable to humans. In other words, the lyrical subject in
New Poetry acknowledges the natural phenomena that make the locals
displeased in the tropical monsoon region; human physiological responses
to the typical climate and weather in tropical regions and rural areas. At a
higher level, nature in New Poetry has become a force to threaten human
life; along with the socio-cultural forces, nature participates in destroying
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people. Remarkably, the tendency of this relationship is mainly omens and
scourges. This shows people’s insecurity in the universe.
But New Poetry about natural disasters, viewed from the ecological
perspective, not only reflects the disillusionment of people about
themselves to nature and the disillusionment about nature as a peaceful
returning place and a constant place. New Poetry about natural disasters,
with the poetic meanings developed on the events of natural disasters,
reflects and joins the discourse on environmental and social justice. It can
be said that New Poetry seems to be in tune with the issues related to
environmental and social justice, which are being exploited and developed
by the critics of the second wave to approach literature.
3.2. Nature as a subject
3.2.1. Nature as the pull and push forces of an urban place
In New Poetry, the city has become the main topic. And from the
point of view of ecocriticism, the urban in New Poetry is the object of
criticism, the refusal in which the poets turn to nature. For the poets of New
Poetry, urban is a dream of vanity. But then urban is just a fleeting dream
for the poets. The more they hope, the more they are disappointed. Because,
apart from its luxury and development, the city has full ofscrambling,
cheating, lies .... The whole of chaos, uncleanness, and dirtinessexists in
urban life. This is the grey area in the imagination of the urban that used to
be shimmering, sumptuous, flashyforcontemporary poets.
Clearly, from an eco-critical point of view, it can be seen that the
urban in New Poetry is “a nightmare of the urban”. Disruption,
disappointment, and frustration with the city are common feelings of the
New Poetry’s poets. This urban tragedy is compatible with the eagerness of
the poets in nurturing their urban dreams in the early days. The more eager
theyare, the more painful and lost they feel. And the peaceful place for the
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New Poetry’s poets, which corresponds with the view of ecological critics
in the first wave, is the countryside.
3.2.2. Nature as the returning place for people in the modern world
The relationship between people and nature in New Poetry as the
writings about nature in general and ruralness in particular. Accordingly,
nature is the past and the ideal place for people to return to take refuge, to
escape from the modernity with typical embodiments such as the city,
technology, worries of making a living and chaos. Poetry about the
countryside is also an expression of the relationship between nature and
people in modern times in New Poetry.
The nature of the countryside in New Poetry, like that of poetry
about the country in general, offers a poetic image of order, sustainability
and values of consensus, harmony - that is a stable life. The lyrical
characters in New Poetry, both directly and indirectly, reveal the tendency
towards rural nature to live simply, to escape from the stresses of
civilization in the city. Simplicity and peace are the things that repeat in
poems about the picture of the countryside.
Thus, the nature in New Poetry is the returning place for people in
modern times, where people could return to the past, the peace and the
awakening of the mind and of the sense in the body. All of this shows
people’s observation and perception of their primary role in the efforts to
free themselves from the consequences of modern life.
Sub-conclusion
Ecocriticism considered the position of nature as the center or
periphery in relation to the spiritual and physical world of people (lyrical
characters, storytellers, characters). And ecocriticism is mainly practiced in
the literature about nature. From the approach of ecocriticism, this chapter
explores aspects of the relationship between man and nature.
Chapter 4
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ECOLOGICAL LANGUAGES AND SYMBOLS IN NEW POETRY
4.1. Ecological language in New Poetry
4.1.1. The issue of ecological language in poetry
The discourse of ecocriticism and poetry about the environment and
nature are considered by many researchers to be interoperable and
interdependent. Both are interested in the idea. An eco-critical approach to
New Poetry can help to see the similarities or dialogues - through images
and languages - of New Poetry to contemporary environmental issues and
with its eco-critical discourse as the research theory of literature and
humanities in present.
4.1.2. The system of ecological language in New Poetry
4.1.2.1. New Poetry as ecological palettes
Adjectives of colour, particularly light and soft colours, create a
prominent subject in the language of poems about nature in New Poetry. In
other words, words in New Poetry mostly focus on the bright shades of
nature and the ecological world. The most common adjectives are green,
yellow, pink and white. From the classical ecological approach, the dense
appearance of adjectives indicating the bright colours, especially the
greencolour in New Poetry, shows the people’s respect for nature. The
adjectives of bright green in New Poetry create an impression of nature as a
beautiful “place”, having its own life, separating from the human world.
Therefore, it is easy to see how ecocriticism considers nature and the
ecological world as the centrethrough the appearance of many adjectives
that indicate the bright colours of nature in New Poetry.
Thus, the world of colours in New Poetry appears as a living being,
the result of the “sensory perceptions” of lyrical subjects. In other words,
the world of colours is like a place where a complex interaction of natural
and cultural cycles takes place. It can be said that the language
referringcoloursin New Poetry shows the inseparability, or rather the
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exchanged and interactive relationship between subject and object, nature
and culture in poems about nature and ecology. This is in line with the
recent theoretical developments in eco-critical theory. It is taking nature not
as a “place” which is separate from and opposed to people but rather as a
process in which the interaction of conceptual processes, the manipulation
of cultural codes and the natural process are perceived by the human senses.
4.1.2.2. New Poetry as the beginnings of the theory of ecocriticism in
Vietnam
In New Poetry movement, there are poems that directly discuss the
relationship between man and nature corresponding to the idea of this
relationship in eco-critical theory. In other words, New Poetry is included in
it, through the form of poetry, with specific rhyme, rhythms and
punctuation, specific philosophies and concepts of ecocriticism.
With the argumentativeness of ecology, in New Poetry, we can
come across poems or expressions that can be the manifesto or motto of
ecocriticism or environmental movements. It seems that the lyrical authors
use these images as just an idiom, a universal concept. The process of
conceptualization also makes it possible for verses to become declarations
of a philosophy of life toward nature. Thus, New Poetry, when viewed from
the perspective of eco-criticism, is full of the potential to become an
ecological discourse, participating in the discourses and ideas on the
ecology of humankind today.
4.1.2.3. New Poetry as theoretical potentials in verses for ecological
trauma
Ecological critics have searched in literature for representations that
suggest the possible injury of the ecosystem. A prominent theme in the
poemsof New Poetry about forests in particular and nature, in general, is
loss and pain. In these poems, the face of nature appears groaning, painful
as a result of a rough intervention.
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The argumentativeness of ecological trauma, images of animals,
which is personifying as analysed above, raises the question of whether the
expression of those natural losses is an embodiment of human domination,
that man is not allowing nature to speak its true voice, that man is putting
words in nature’s mouth, speaking for nature in his understanding and
voice. Affirming that a basic content in the relationship between man and
nature is seen in ecocriticism. This is the relationship between humansand
the inhuman natural world that characterized primarily by trauma.
And so, New Poetry with its personifyingexpressions - the
embodiment of imagination - touches on ecological trauma and this is
similar to the trauma of people and nations under the exploitation policies
of the colonialists.
4.2. Ecological symbol in New Poetry
4.2.1. Symbols and the symbol of the “garden” in ecocriticism
Poetry readers may sometimes feel they lack the “key” to unlock
the “secret meaning” of poems that are full of symbols and signs. It is true
that there are poems that require readers to have such a key. But there are
poems proving that there are more things to discuss the symbol than to rely
on the correspondence formula1: 1 between symbols and meanings.
New Poetry has many symbols such as the symbol of loneliness,
the symbol of the grief for past, the symbol of traditional culture, the
symbol of rivers, the symbol of fields, ... But according to our observation,
the “garden” is a symbol that represents the most ecological characteristic
of New Poetry. Studying the symbol of garden, we aim at two purposes.
Firstly, the symbol of “garden” indicates the place and this is the place to
relieve human suffering in the urban environment. Second, the symbol of
the “garden” also shows the ecological discourse of New Poetry which
corresponds to the first stage of ecocriticism.
4.2.2. The symbol of the garden in New Poetry
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