TITLE:
An Ecological Reading of Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year
AUTHORS:
Huifang Ma, Fanyu Li, Wannan Wang
KEYWORDS:
A Journal of the Plague Year, Anthropocentrism, Spiritual Ecology, Ecological Reflection
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Social Sciences,
Vol.12 No.5,
May
31,
2024
ABSTRACT: Epidemics have been recurring events throughout human history, leaving profound impacts on social structures and the course of civilization. Each major epidemic shapes the collective memory and historical narrative of societies, often leading to significant changes in healthcare systems, governance structures, and cultural practices. Ecocriticism, a field that examines the relationship between literature and the natural environment, offers insights into the specific cultural perspectives and ecological views reflected in literary works. This paper applies an ecocritical perspective to interpret Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year, analyzing its critique of anthropocentrism, the imbalance of spiritual ecology among London citizens during the plague, and reflections on the relationship between humans and nature depicted in the work.