A Study of Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio From the Perspective of Eco-criticism

Abstract

Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941) is a famous American writer. His creative ideas and skills have exerted a profound influence on many American writers. At the same time, his works express that under the impact of modernity and mechanization, the ecological environment has been seriously damaged, and the local civilization has gradually disappeared, and describe the loss of human sense of belonging and spiritual alienation in this process. Winesburg, Ohio is a famous work by Sherwood Anderson. In this book, he sharply describes the negative impact of mechanization on ecology from three aspects of natural ecology, spiritual ecology, and social ecology, and he calls for the return of ecological values and the protection of ecological environment. While discussing the ecological crisis brought by modernity, Sherwood Anderson also discussed the reconstruction of the close relationship between man and nature, which provided ideas for solving the plight of human existence and called for building a world in which man and nature live in harmony, which coincided with the central idea of ecological criticism. From the perspective of eco-criticism, this paper discusses the problems brought by modern civilization in Winesburg, Ohio , subverts the control of industrial civilization over human, re-realizes the harmonious coexistence, and re-stores the harmonious relationship between human and nature, which is important to guide the construction and development of contemporary ecological civilization.