삶과 죽음의 순환

The Cycle of Life and Death : Margaret Atwood's Ecological Vision

This paper examines how Atwood constructs the ethical stance of a transpersonal ecology which transcends the point of view of human beings. Transpersonal ecology suggests that the sense of self is expanded to include other entities through the identification process. The basic premise underlying identification is the experience of commonality which is paralleled with empathy. A sense of empathy here is generated not only by the mind but also by the body. An obvious place to start is the animal description is Atwood's poems. In her use of imagery combining animal and body, Atwood challenges a kind of solipsism in power in power structures. The animals in her work are engaged in a borderline process where openness to otherness is possible. Contextualized in the way in which her earlier works interrogate the binaristic structures, her collections You Are Happy and Interlunar emphasize interconnected relationships among humans and animals and the process of identification. As particularly signalled by 'Songs of the Transformed' in You Are Happy, animal poems demonstrate Atwood's respect for all life forms, transcending the species barrier. Animals are a recurring focus in Atwood's poetry and their different manifestations and forms enable us to trace the development of many themes.