摘 要

在东学西渐影响下，女性主义学家借用了中国儒道思想解说生态女性主义。近年来风靡全球的英国时代剧《唐顿庄园》对生态女性主义进行了精妙详尽的诠释，也在潜意识中展现了东西方文明交流互鉴的成果。国内外对《唐顿庄园》和生态女性主义这两个主题的研究不在少数，但从跨文化角度分析英剧中生态女性主义的研究亟待发展。本文首先关注“天人合一”观点和阴阳学说和生态女性主义理论在整体观和自然观的契合点，再从男性对女性的压迫、人类对自然的统治及女性意识的觉醒与反抗这三个角度分析英剧《唐顿庄园》 中生态女性主义观点的体现，旨在让中国观众深入理解剧中女性个人意识的苏醒和探求男女关系的过程，领悟生态女性主义与儒道思想的相通之处，阐述了打破僵化的两性模式，构建一个男女平权、人与自然和谐共处社会的理想。中国传统文化为生态女性主义的深化发展提供了新视角，这对中国作品积极吸纳西方文明来发展自身具有借鉴意义。

关键词：生态女性主义；跨文化交流；《唐顿庄园》；天人合一；阴阳论；儒道思想

Abstract

Under the influence of the transfusion of oriental civilization, feminist scholars have borrowed Chinese Confucianism and Taoism to shed light on ecofeminism. The popular British TV period drama Downton Abbey gives a subtle and detailed interpretation of ecofeminism, as well as a subconscious demonstration of the results of exchanges and mutual learning between oriental and occidental civilizations. There are many pieces of research on the themes of Downton Abbey and ecofeminism at home and abroad, but the research concerned about ecofeminism in British dramas from a cross-cultural perspective still exists wide research space. This thesis focus on the integrating point between ecofeminism and the Theory of "the Unity of Heaven and Human" and Yin-Yang Theory in the holistic view and the view of nature in the first place, then analyze the embodiment of ecofeminism in Downton Abbey from three perspectives: men’s dominance over women, human’s control over nature, and the awakening of female consciousness and females’ challenges to patriarchy, so as to give Chinese audiences insight into the process of female characters’ awakening of individual consciousness and search of the relation between two sexes in this drama, as well as the perception of the inner relation between ecofeminism and Confucianism and Taoism. This thesis expounds on the author’s ideal of breaking the rigid gender pattern and constructing a society of harmonious coexistence. Traditional Chinese culture provides a new perspective for the deepening of ecofeminism, which is also of reference significance for Chinese works’ self-development.

Key words: ecofeminism; cross-cultural communication; Downton Abbey; the Unity of Heaven and Human; Yin-Yang

Contents

中文摘要 II

Abstract III

Contents IV

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Background and Significance of the Study 1

1.2 Literature Review 2

1.3 Research Purpose and Methodology 3

1.4 Structure of the Thesis 3

2 Preliminaries and Definition of Related Concepts 5

2.1 Definition of Related Concepts and Terms 5

2.2 Ecofeminism Theory 6

2.3 The Theory of "the Unity of Heaven and Human" 6

2.4 Yin-Yang Theory 7

3 Interconnection Between Ecofeminism and Confucianism and Taoism 8

3.1 Similarities from the Holistic View 8

3.2 Similarities from the Naturalist View 9

4 An Ecofeminist Analysis of Downton Abbey 11

4.1 Male Dominance over Females 11

4.2 Human’s Control over Nature 12

4.3 Awakening of Female Consciousness and Their Challenges to Patriarchy 13

4.3.1 Feminist Roles Upstairs 13

4.3.2 Feminist Roles Downstairs 16

5 Conclusion and Discussion 18

Reference 20

Acknowledgements 22

An Analysis of the Ecofeminism in British TV Period Drama Series from the Cross-Cultural Perspective: A Case Study of Downtown Abbey

1 Introduction

Background and Significance of the Study

In the 1970s, with the inseparable transfusion of oriental civilization, the radical feminist movement evolved into a more harmonious feminist stage. Given the ecological and environmental problems, ecofeminism has come into being and kept absorbing the essence of excellent culture. This approach of integrating the positive elements of oriental civilization into occidental civilization—using Confucianism and Taoism for reference to interpret ecofeminism— is in turn worthy of studying so that Chinese scholars and Chinese studies can achieve cultural confidence, respect, and infusion for a better cross-cultural exchange. In recent years, British dramas featured by remarkable female characters have achieved great success in cross-cultural communication around the world. The representative British period drama Downton Abbey has caused a sensation with its exquisite costumes, compact and novel plots, especially its vivid interpretation of ecofeminism.

In traditional Chinese Culture, there does exist the view of man’s oppression for and contempt for woman, Confucianism and feminism are often seen as two irreconcilable concepts, and even some radical feminists regarded Confucianism as its opposite. However, western scholars have found that the idea of "the Unity of Heaven and Human" and the theory of Yin-Yang are highly compatible with ecofeminism. The collision and integration of traditional Chinese ideologies with ecofeminism after breaking its limitations will provide a new realm for the deepening development of ecofeminism and a new perspective for cross-cultural studies. Westward transfusion of eastern culture has regained worldwide attention from more than half a century ago, and there are still many excellent traditional Chinese thoughts that are still not recognized by Occidentals. This thesis will encourage Chinese people and the coming generations to strive to dig out the essence of Chinese traditional academics, to make the westward transfusion of eastern culture gradually a trend.

1.2 Literature Review

1.2.1 Domestic Research

The research on feminism in China started relatively late, so did the research on ecofeminism. Domestic studies on British TV drama series could be divided into 4 categories: linguistics, translation, culture and feminism. Many works analyze the awakening of female consciousness and the feminism of the heroines in British TV drama series, as well as the reasons for the success of cross-cultural communication of some specific British drama. However, the research on ecofeminism in British dramas from the cross-cultural perspective is weak and in a stage of urgent development.

1.2.2 Overseas Research

Overseas academic studies on ecofeminism are no doubt very diverse, and the comparative studies on Confucianism and Taoism and feminism are much earlier than in China. Moreover, they have gone further with relatively broad horizons and have raised many challenging questions. For example, Jytte Nhanenge borrowed Taoist thought to interpret ecological feminism in her masterpiece Ecofeminism: Towards Integrating the Concerns of Women, Poor People, and Nature into Development. However, foreign scholars may not have a genuine understanding of Chinese culture, and there are some misunderstandings in the research of the development of traditional Chinese philosophy and feminist ideology in China, which may require further study. As to the study of British costume drama Downton Abbey, existing foreign studies stress more from perspectives that differ from those of domestic ones. The former focus on the cultural connotation of the work itself, among which the famous ones are Kelly Boyd’ s “Upstairs and Downstairs: British Costume Drama Television from The Forsyte Saga to Downton Abbey”, Katherine Byrne’s “Adapting Heritage: Class and Conservatism in Downton Abbey”, and Rosalía Baenaamp; Christa Byker’s “Dialects of Nostalgia: Downton Abbey and English Identity”, etc.

From the above brief literature review, the author thinks that the traditional Chinese culture based on Confucianism and Taoism provides a new dimension for the development of ecofeminism, which could be a good angle. The innovation of this thesis is to study the view of “ the unity of man and nature” and the theory of Yin-Yang associated with ecofeminism, then analyze the ecofeminism in Downton Abbey.

1.3 Research Purpose and Methodology

1.3.1 Research Purpose

By analyzing the ecofeminism in the British TV drama series Downton Abbey, which is very well known to Chinese audiences, the study seeks to bring about a deeper understanding of this period drama for Chinese audiences, a more comprehensive perception of the interconnection between ecofeminism and Confucianism and Taoism, and a growing emphasis on the role of cross-cultural communication. What is more, this thesis proposes that traditional Chinese culture need to examine the unreasonable elements of discrimination against women in its own thoughts and absorb the advantages of feminism for self-development, and calls for the liberation of nature and women to build a society featuring gender equality and balance, harmony between human society and nature, and a colorful world that embraces cultural and biological diversity.

1.3.2 Methodology

In the thesis, approaches of analysis and synthesis and augmentation by examples are conducted.

(Ⅰ) Analysis and Synthesis

With the critical review related books, newspapers and magazines in major libraries, and the full utilization of CNKI and online information resources, the author has collected and organized considerable domestic and foreign studies and original data on ecofeminism and the philosophy of Confucianism and Taoism, and do careful reading and analysis of these data to achieve systematic and comprehensive research.

(Ⅱ) Argumentation by Examples