我们只有一个地球,它的生态系统正在受到破坏,其后果已经严重威胁到人类社会的存在。不管人们从什么样的渠道得到这一认识,今天都已经成为大多数人的常识。但是,这些生态问题与文学批评有什么关系?如果我们仅仅因为今日生态危机日益加重而要求文学艺术提倡环保、提高人们的生态意识,这岂不又成了“主题先行”式的宣教?倘若生态批评不是在这一点上做文章,那么它又能在多大程度上为解决生态危机做出贡献?谁都知道一本生态批评的著作是无法修复南极上空的臭氧层空洞的。我们不禁要问生态批评何为?这是我在读鲁枢元先生的《生态批评的空间》一书之前对“生态批评”本身产生的疑问。 We have only one Earth, its ecosystems are being destroyed, and its consequences have posed a serious threat to the existence of human society. No matter what kind of channels people get from this understanding, today has become the common sense of most people. However, what is the relationship between these ecological problems and literary criticism? If we only demand that literature and art advocate environmental protection and raise people’s ecological awareness just because of today’s ecological crisis, will this not become a “theme-first” mission? If ecocriticism does not fuss at this point, how much can it contribute to solving the ecological crisis? Everyone knows that a critique of ecocriticism can not fix the ozone hole in Antarctica. We can not help but ask what the ecological criticism is? This is a question I have made of “ecocriticism” before I read Mr. Lu Shuyuan’s book, “Space for Ecological Criticism.”