Representing Nature in Early America: John Davidson Godman's Natural History Essays and the Establishment of Cultural Identity

再現早期美國的自然環境：高德曼的自然史散文與文化認同建構

10.7084/LIS.201212.0121

盧莉茹(Li-Ru Lu)

高德曼 ； 《美國自然史》 ； 《一位自然史作家的漫談》 ； 自然史散文 ； 文化認同建構 ； John Davidson Godman ； American Natural History ； Rambles of a Naturalist ； natural history essay ； the establishment of American cultural identity

語文與國際研究

9期（2012 / 12 / 01）

121 - 140

英文

高德曼是一位美國建國初期的自然史作家，他的代表作包括了《美國自然史》與《一位自然史作家的漫談》這兩部作品。《美國自然史》是美國文學裡描述與記載美國境內本土哺乳動物第一部自然史作品，而《一位自然史作家的漫談》則呈現了高德曼在家園周遭散步時對自然萬物所做的觀察與發現。本文以布蘭契（Michael P. Branch）等批評家的生態論述（特別是自然史論述）觀點探討高德曼的作品，將高德曼的自然散文置於十九世紀美國文化民族主義初期的整體文化脈絡下檢視，探討高德曼的作品如何為早期美國大地及本土物種做第一手觀察與詳實記錄、如何為早期美國散文引介了有別於同時期其他自然作家的題材與創作形式，進而為建國初期的美國形塑一套獨特而獨立的國族文化。

John Davidson Godman was a naturalist and a writer of natural history in early-nineteenth-century America. In his lifetime, Godman composed two works: ”American Natural History” and ”Rambles of a Naturalist”. These books closely represented America's natural wor1d and delineated its nonhuman inhabitants, especially the mammalian species. The aim of this study is to examine Godman's natural history essays in the context of early American national identity-building. This study explores Godman's engagement with the construction of American cultural identity in early nineteenth century, discussing how Godman introduced the scientific information about America' s mammals and other nonhuman inhabitants into American prose writings, how Godman's works were different from his contemporaries, and how Godman's essays of natural history shaped a uniquely national and cultural identity for ”young” America.

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