The Relationship between Humans and the Natural World in Gary Snyder's Turtle Island

要旨

Gary Snyder's poems argue for the protection of nature. The inter-relationship between humans and the natural world is a key ecocritical theme of Gary Snyder's poetry. His poems reference mythical characters of American Tribes as well as the cultural and religious ideas of Eastern Philosophy, reflecting his study of Buddhism in India, China and Japan. In Japan, he practiced Zen Buddhism. In his poetry, human beings are presented as a part of nature, as well as human activities disturbing the harmony of nature. The present paper analyses five poems from Snyder's collection Turtle Island, "I went into the Maverick Bar", "Prayer For the Great Family", "Manzanita", "Magpie's Song" and "For the Children" to illustrate the way in which Snyder shows the relationship between humans and nature, placing humans within nature while also commenting on human activities disturbing it. Snyder's poetry demonstrates a commonality with ecocriticism and environmentalism as it reaches back into human prehistory and mythology and these elements in his poetry are drawn as critical frames herein.

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