書寫自然史──威爾遜為早期美國境內「自然的可愛之臉」所做的刻畫

Writing Natural History: Alexander Wilson’s Delineation of Early America’s “Lovely Face of Nature”

威爾遜是一位書寫自然史的早期美國作家。他寫了《美國鳥類學》及《住在山林的人：一部描述在一八零四年秋天的尼加拉瓜瀑布之旅的詩歌，由〈美國鳥類學〉的作者所撰》等自然史作品。在其作品中，威爾遜以詩歌及散文的形式刻劃了他對美國境內原始自然美景以及本土鳥類的詳細觀察。可惜的是，長久以來威爾遜的自然史書寫不但被多數的美國文學史選集和自然書寫選集所忽略，而且威爾遜本人僅被多數後人視為「美國鳥類學之父」，而非自然作家。不同於上述觀點，本文聚焦於威爾遜的自然史作品，分析其詩歌及散文中的自然史論述，並探究威爾遜為早期美國境內「自然的可愛之臉」所做的描寫與刻劃。本文欲指出，威爾遜的自然史書寫實乃美國文學中不容忽視的重要文本，因為其作品一方面詳實記錄了有關美國本土鳥類及大地美景的自然史知識，藉此為美國詩歌及散文引介了斬新題材、增進讀者對本土自然的了解，進而為建國初期的美國建構一套獨特而獨立的國族文化；另一方面，威爾遜亦透過詩歌及散文傳達了他對自然萬物的肯定與欣賞態度，進而為早期美國引進一套初期的生態思維與環境保護倫理。

Alexander Wilson is an early voice in the tradition of American natural history writing. He composes many nature essays and poetic works of natural history, such as American Ornithology and The Forester. In his works, Wilson closely describes the beauty of the pristine environment and innumerable birds in America and was recognized as America's foremost authority on birds in his time. However, it is surprising that for a long time Wilson played a significant but largely unexamined role in American literature and in American nature writing tradition. Today he is remembered only as the ”Father of American Ornithology” by most people.Exploring Wilson's delineation of Early America's ”Lovely face of Nature,” this essay examines Wilson's effectiveness as a writer of literary natural history. In this essay, I contend that Wilson's works of natural history should be regarded as significant pieces of American literature because, introducing the scientific knowledge about America's birds into American prose and poetry to educate the American public about their own land, these works define a uniquely American subject. Also, Wilson's verses and nature essays should be deemed important pieces of American literature because they introduce many proto-ecological ideas, thereby initiating a tradition of proto-environmental ethics for early America.