William Gilpin's Picturesque Theory and the Formation of Thoreau's Aesthetic Style in Prose
In the 1990s,the study of Thoreau began to rise in China.Since then,scholars have diversified the interpretation of Thoreau and his prose from the aspects of culture,politics,and transcendentalist philosophy.However,in general,the research on Thoreau's nature writing from the perspective of ecocriticism occupies the mainstream,while the aesthetic investiga-tion of Thoreau's nature writing is relatively rare.The overemphasis on Thoreau's ecological thought has often obscured the aesthetic value of his prose.Based on the cultural and aesthetic context of the American Romantic period in the 19th century,this paper explores the influence of the eighteenth-century British picturesque theory represented by William Gilpin on Tho-reau's nature writing,and reveals the origin of Thoreau's prose aesthetic style and the aesthetic characteristics of his landscape reproduction.On the one hand,Thoreau did employ Gilpin's picturesque concepts and principles in many aspects of landscape representation;on the other hand,he was good at excavating the native landscapes,combining the picturesqueness with poetic description,scientific accuracy,wildness,and moral elements to form a unique Thoreau style.Thoreau not only cultivated the American's natural aesthetic sensibilities,but also exert-ed a profound influence on subsequent natural literature in the United States.
Henry David ThoreauWilliam Gilpinpicturesque theorylandscapeswilder-ness
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