A Study on the Female Consciousness of the Novel “Surfacing”

Xu+Jia+ying

Abstract：Margaret Atwood （Margaret Atwood） is one of the most outstanding writers in contemporary Canada，known as the queen of Canadian literature.Her works mainly involves nationalism and feminism，ecological doctrine that three aspects of the subject，and from the aspect of national consciousness and female consciousness reflects its social responsibility and historic sense of mission.Atwood is among the first to recognize the feminist movement and environmental movement of the relationship between the writers，one of his novel“Surfacing”is contains profound feminist consciousness and the ecological consciousness in the works.As a socially responsible female writer full of eco-feminist consciousness，Atwood is extremely concerned about the degradation of nature as well as the oppression of women in the patriarchal society. Therefore，this thesis intends to study Surfacing from the perspective of eco-feminism，probing into the author's ecological concern and her feminist thought.

Key words：Atwood Female consciousness “Surfacing”

ⅠIntroduction

Novel“Surfacing”the surface of the clue is the heroine how to riddle of father disappeared，and profound content is hidden under the surface of finding the lost modern civilization in the women themselves.Atwood by describing the nameless heroine lost in the process of returning from a father，to find a spiritual journey and self regression，expressed her attention to the problems of female existence and fate of women，and to upgrade the attention to for the human，nature and all life common humanitarian care，so that more progress reveals her thoughts more mature.Ecological feminism is a diverse，complex，there is differences of ecological culture，is a kind of ontology，the rule of “the focus is on women and the relationship between the rule of nature”.“Ecological feminism”（eco-feminism），was a term first in 1974 feminist or death.It is a branch of feminist philosophy，and closely related to the ecological criticism，“is a variation in the development of new ecological ethics”.The rise of ecological criticism movement originated from the reflection of early humanism proposition，its purpose is to resolve a confrontation between man and nature.Ecological criticism scholars think：early humanism should be advocated freedom and equality，and fraternity limited within the human has limitations and incompleteness.They believe that man and nature is a unified whole，should not take people outside of the degeneration of instrumental value of nature （instrumental），other creatures in nature should become the object of concern. However，when talking about the relationship between human and nature，ecological criticism is basically no gender issues，thus incurred feminists.They think the ecological crisis is the result of oppressive patriarchal social structure，rule and the rule of nature to a woman has a direct link.So，the liberation of nature and of women's liberation must simultaneously.Feminist and ecological socialism towards the joint in the 1970 s，ecological feminism trend has been formed，and derived a variety of genres.“The most simple terms，ecological feminism is establish relationships between ecological and feminist movement，it expresses the theory point of view，namely，recognition according to gender，race，class，not the ideology of justice and diminish environmental ideology causal.”

ⅡThoughts Origin of Ecological Feminist

“Surfacing”published in 1972.Is“ecological feminism”ideological trend in the early 1970 s initial forming period of germinating，works on the relation between man and nature，people and thinking，the position on the ecological environment can be seen as Atwood early theory point of view of ecological feminism literature practice.In the heroine's words and deeds and thinking，we see the author's men and women in the patriarchal social hierarchy criticism of binary opposition relations，the ecological environment destruction due to economic development，as well as to the problem of human thinking.And it all comes down to her for exploration and design of modern people's material and spiritual home.Novel about a young female artist from old neighbor who lived in the lake house report missing father，Joe on her boyfriend，accompanied by Anna and her husband，David，go back to Quebec in a remote village in northern looking for his father.Looking for his father is also a female artists journey of self recover. She want，dwelling on the past，think people in modern society，the relationship between human and nature.Atwood from a feminist perspective，in addition to culture， ethnic conflict in the novel，the pen was more people - mostly men and women，human and the nature of conflict and to the person's spiritual exploration.She will be the female's social position associated with human life in the natural situation，puts the human natural ecological system，the women recover increased anxiety to human exploration of the self，human material and spiritual home the height of the positioning in the ecosystem.Man is the home of one of the two major components，in the level of patriarchy society， male，female of binary opposition relations for a long time.To this，the ecological feminist concern is the main focus of gender discrimination and oppression.They think，women and nature in the long under patriarchy Shared a common fate：because women have long been equal to the natural，physical，emotional，individual （men corresponding culture and non-material，rational，abstract），so，where is the woman be devalued，where nature is relegated.Ecological feminist concern，therefore，the idea of ecological crisis is always first and against discrimination against and oppression of women in the level of patriarchy society together.“Surfacing”the heroine in childhood have men and women in the patriarchal social hierarchy of binary opposition relations，in her memory，childhood is a good thing，parents' marriage is a symbol of a world inseparable combination and unity of the two aspects.However，when she grew up，away from home life experience makes her become hate the unequal status between men and women in marriage，with her words，“at first，everything is good，but when I married him，he took me，after we had at the same time the paper assumes the obligations，he changed.I still don't understand why signed his name on the paper will have what different，he began to demand that the， asked the.”

Ⅲ Conclusion

Margaret Atwood，known as “the Queen of Canadian Literature”，is generally viewed as one of the most influential literary figures at the early period in Canadian literary history.Surfacing，as her outstanding literary creation，has manifested the logically perfect combination of ecological awareness and feminist thoughts.As an eco-feminist literary landmark，the book has great practical significance in modern Canadian literature，which offers us a fresh angle of rethinking the current situation of nature and women in modern society.

For Atwood，the ultimate goal is to transcend the limited and narrow-minded patriarchal system and reconstruct a harmonious society where humans and nature get on well with each other，and where women and men，as equal counterparts，share equal social positions and enjoy absolutely equal rights.Atwood's efforts find expression in Surfacing，and an attempt to resurface Atwood's ideas with an interpretation and analysis as clear as possible has been what the author of this thesis has been dedicated to.

References：

[1]Bodian，Stephan.“Simple in Means Rich in Ends：An Interview with Arne Naess”.Deep Ecology for the21stCentury：Readings on the Philosophy and Practice of the New Environmentalism，2013，（10）.