翁斯蒂〈優勝美地山谷與蝴蝶百合大樹〉中之民族主義、環境保存主張與帝國主義

Nationalism, Environmental Advocacy, and Imperialism in Frederick Law Olmsted's "The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees"

盧莉茹(Lu-Li Ru)

《人文社會學報》 5期 (2006/12) Pp. 93-103

摘要

一八六五年（美國南北戰爭開始的那一年），被喻爲〈國家公園之祖父〉的翁斯蒂(Frederic Law Olmsted, 1822-1903)發表了一篇名爲〈優勝美地山谷與蝴蝶百合大樹〉(”The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees”)的文章。此文提倡以設立國家公園之形式來保存美國境內的原始荒野環境。翁斯蒂書寫此文之目的一方面是想藉由荒野保存來彌補、撫平南北戰爭所帶來的國族分裂與認同危機，另一方面則是想藉由設立國家公園來提昇文明人之身心健康與教化層次。由於翁斯蒂在此文中不時大聲疾呼荒野保存之必要性，因此批評家們一致高度肯定翁斯蒂，認爲他是荒野生能保存運動的先知。
此文不同於上述批評家們之解譯。本文擬重新審視翁斯蒂國家公園論述(the discourse of national park)的民族主義、環境保存主張、與帝國主義之議題，分析翁斯蒂如何以勞荒野保存之名，行漠視美國境內的野蠻人之人權(the rights of the Indians)及荒野自然的權利(the rights of wild nature)之實。本文欲指出〈優勝美地山谷與蝴蝶百合大樹〉一文看似旨在保存美國原始荒野，但實際上則是對於美國境內之「野蠻人」及荒野自然的一種論述上的帝國主義帝宰制與征服。

關鍵字

翁斯蒂 ； 優勝美地山谷與蝴蝶百合大樹 ； 國家公園論述 ； 民族主義 ； 環境保存主張 ； 帝國主義

並列摘要

For the nineteenth-century Americans, ”national park” was a brand-new idea. Observing the rapid destruction of the American wilderness, Frederick Law Olmsted (1822-1903) composed an essay entitled ”The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees” in 1865; in this essay, he advocated the preservation of America's wild scenery in the form of national parks. In short, it is Olmsted who took a leading role in formulating and instituting the idea of national park. Consequently, readers of Olmsted's ”The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees” immediately posit it into the niche of classic environmental ”manifesto” in early American literature, and most critics maintained that Olmsted was a prophet of the wilderness preservation movement. In ”Constructing Nature: The Legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted” (1996), Anne Whiston Spirn asserted that Olmsted ”was a pivotal figure in the formative years of the conservation movement” (92). In Frederick Law Olmsted and the American Environmental Tradition (1972), Albert Fein claimed that Olmsted was America's ”most comprehensive environmental planner and designer, who contributed to the development of . . . a national park system” (3).
In this paper, I still consider Olmsted is rightly praised as a ”prophet” of the national park movement; however, I think Olmsted's ”The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees” is not really concerned about the rights of the ”savage men” and the rights of wild nature at all. In this article, I wish to explore the intricate relations of environmentalism, nationalism and imperialism in Olmsted's ”The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees.” In the following section of this essay, I will firstly discuss the historical background of Olmsted's ”The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees”; then I shall explore the issue of cultural nationalism in Olmsted's national park discourse. Next, I will analyze Olmsted's environmental advocacy in ”The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees,” and then I will examine the issue of imperialism in Olmsted's national park discourse. Finally, I shall make a conclusion in the last part of this paper.

並列關鍵字

Frederick Law Olmsted ； The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees ； national park discourse ； environmental advocacy ； nationalism ； imperialism