Issue 1
Feb.  2024
Turn off MathJax
Article Contents
WANG Chen, LUO Qiubai. The Self and Nature in an Independent Life: An Exploration of Thoreau's Educational Practices and Thoughts[J]. Journal of Modern Education, 2024, (1): 16-27.
Citation: WANG Chen, LUO Qiubai. The Self and Nature in an Independent Life: An Exploration of Thoreau's Educational Practices and Thoughts[J]. Journal of Modern Education, 2024, (1): 16-27.

The Self and Nature in an Independent Life: An Exploration of Thoreau's Educational Practices and Thoughts

  • Received Date: 2023-07-03
    Available Online: 2024-03-25
  • Publish Date: 2024-02-25
  • Henry David Thoreau, an American writer, philosopher, and transcsendentalist in the 19th century, is famous for his masterpiece Walden. However, it is less well-known that Thoreau dedicated himself to educational practice briefly and kept lifelong attention on educational issues. This article made an analysis of Thoreau's educational thoughts by teasing out his life and works: As a school teacher, Thoreau advocated that a relatively equal teacher-student relationship should be established and that nature and real life could be seen as a teacher. As a lyceum lecturer, he thought that, adults as well as children, should receive education to avoid being ignorant. And as a self-culture practitioner, Thoreau pointed out that people should seek themselves in nature and live a simple life free from the burden of material possessions. The interpretation of Thoreau's educational thoughts, on one hand, is conducive to understanding Thoreau and broadening the spectrum and dimensions of making sense of his thoughts and transcendentalism; On the other hand, it helps further to dig out the educational meanings in Thoreau's opinions on the relationship freedom, self and nature which are still not out of date till today, to expect to provide enlightenment for today's educators and the educated.

     

  • loading
  • [1]
    [美]劳拉·达索·沃尔斯. 梭罗传: 完整的一生[M]. 钱佳楠, 译. 郑州: 河南文艺出版社, 2021.
    [2]
    BICKMAN M. Minding American education: reclaiming the tradition of active learning[M]. New York: Teachers College Press, 2003: 61-74.
    [3]
    TORREY B, ALLEN F H. The journal of Henry D. Thoreau(vol. Ⅱ)[M]. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1949: 83.
    [4]
    THOREAU H D. Walden; or, Life in the woods[M]. Boston: TICKNOR AND FIELDS, 1854.
    [5]
    JARVIS E. Traditions and reminiscences of Concord, Massachusetts, 1779-1878[M]. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993: 109-118.
    [6]
    O'CONNER D. Thoreau in the town school, 1837[J]. The concord saunterer, 1996, 4: 162-172.
    [7]
    MARBLE R A. Thoreau: his home, friends and books[M]. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., 1902: 98.
    [8]
    THOREAU H D. Early essays and miscellanies[M]. Princeton, New York: Princeton University Press, 1975: 31-32.
    [9]
    HUDSPETH N R. The writings of Henry D. Thoreau: the correspondence 1834-1848(vol. 1)[M]. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2013: 30.
    [10]
    HARDING W. Henry D. Thoreau, instructor[J]. The educational forum, 1964, 29(1): 89-97. doi: 10.1080/00131726409339321
    [11]
    HARDING W R. The days of Henry Thoreau[M]. New York: Knopf, 1965: 80.
    [12]
    HOAR F G. Autobiography of seventy years (Vol Ⅰ)[M]. New York: Charles Scribners'Sons, 1903: 70.
    [13]
    THOREAU H D, DEAN B. Wild fruits: Thoreau's rediscovered last manuscript[M]. New York: W. W. Norton, 2000: 238.
    [14]
    TORREY B, ALLEN F H (eds. ). The journal of Henry D. Thoreau(vol. XIV)[M]. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, 1949: 210.
    [15]
    [美] 罗德里克·弗雷泽·纳什. 荒野与美国思想[M]. 侯文蕙, 侯钧, 译. 北京: 中国环境科学出版社, 2012: 80.
    [16]
    WHICHER S E, SPILLER R E, WILLIAMS W E (eds. ). The early lectures of Ralph Waldo Emerson(vol. Ⅱ)[M]. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1964: 215-216.
    [17]
    SANBORN F B. The life of Henry David Thoreau[M]. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1917: 205-206.
    [18]
    罗伯特·D. 理查德森. 梭罗传: 瓦尔登湖畔的心灵人生[M]. 刘洋, 译. 杭州: 浙江文艺出版社. 2020.
    [19]
    SEWALL E Q. Journal No. 4, March 28-May 16, 1840[Z/OL]. [2022-07-10]. https://www.americanantiquarian.org/sewall-vol4#1.
    [20]
    BLANDING T. Edmund Quincy Sewall, Jr., Henry Thoreau's "pure uncompromising spirit"[J]. The concord saunterer, 1984, 17(3): 1–3.
    [21]
    EMERSON W E. Thoreau as remembered by a young friend[M]. Boston & New York, 1917: 22-23.
    [22]
    TORREY B, ALLEN F H (eds. ). The journal of Henry David Thoreau (vol. XⅢ)[M]. Boston & : Houghton Mifflin Company, 1949: 67.
    [23]
    FELTON C C. An address, pronounced on the anniversary of the concord lyceum[Z]//RUSELL W. American journal of education, 1830(1): 133.
    [24]
    SANBORN F B. American man of letters[M]. Boston & New York: Houghton Mufflin Company, 1882: 48.
    [25]
    TORREY B, ALLEN F H. The journal of Henry David Thoreau(vol. I)[M]. Boston: Houghton Mufflin Company, 1949.
    [26]
    THOREAU H D. A week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers[M]. Boston and Cambridge: James Munroe and Company, 1849.
    [27]
    THOREAU H D. Reform papers[M]. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1973.
    [28]
    ROSENBLUM A L. 梭罗政治著作选[M]. 北京: 中国政法大学出版社, 2003.
    [29]
    BOWMAN J J. Imagination and environmental political thought: the aftermath of Thoreau[M]. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books, 2018: 75.
    [30]
    BRUFORD W H. German tradition of self-cultivation: 'bildung' from Humboldt to Thomas Mann[M]. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1974: vii.
    [31]
    KATHRYN H W. Self-Culture and the private value of humanities[J]. College literature, 2018, 45(4): 587-595. doi: 10.1353/lit.2018.0033
    [32]
    CHANNING W E. Self-Culture[M]//CHANNING W E. The works of William E. Channing, D. D(vol. Ⅱ). Boston: James Munroe and Company, 1845: 354.
    [33]
    [美] 爱默生. 爱默生随笔[M]. 蒲隆, 译. 上海: 上海译文出版社, 2010: 75.
    [34]
    [美] 吉欧·波尔泰编. 爱默生集: 论文与讲演录[M]. 赵一凡, 等译. 上海: 生活·读书·新知三联书店, 1993: 66.
    [35]
    TORREY B, ALLEN F H (eds. ). The journal of Henry David Thoreau(vol. XⅡ)[M]. Boston: Houghton Mufflin Company, 1949: 389-390.
    [36]
    RAILTON S. Thoreau's 'resurrection of virtue'[J]. American quarterly, 1972, 24(2): 218.
    [37]
    THOREAU H D (ed). Excursions[M]. Boston: TICKNOR AND FIELDS, 1863: 56-57.
    [38]
    THOREAU H D (ed). The essays of Henry D. Thoreau[M]. New York: North Point Press, 2002.
    [39]
    TORREY B, ALLEN F H (eds. ). The journal of Henry David Thoreau(vol. VI)[M]. Boston: Houghton Mufflin Company, 1949: 206.
    [40]
    [美] 亨利·戴维·梭罗. 瓦尔登湖的反光: 梭罗日记[M]. 朱子仪, 译. 北京: 金城出版社, 2014: 54.
    [41]
    SAYRE R F. Thoreau and the American Indians[M]. Princeton N J: Princeton University Press, 1977: X.
    [42]
    TORREY B, ALLEN F H(eds. ). The journal of Henry D. Thoreau(vol. X)[M]. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1949: 313.
    [43]
    FLECK R F. Henry Thoreau and John Muir among the native Americans[M]. Portland, OR: Westwinds Press, 2015: 20.
    [44]
    毛亮. "疏离"与"参与": 梭罗与《公民的不服从》[J]. 外国文学评论, 2013 (2): 29. https://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTOTAL-WGWX201302002.htm
    [45]
    KRUTCH J W. Henry David Thoreau[M]. London: Methuen, 1900: 84.
    [46]
    [美] 彼得·N. 斯特恩斯. 世界历史上的消费主义[M]. 邓超, 译. 北京: 商务印书馆, 2015: 46-53.
    [47]
    王树生, 李松花. 梭罗的美好生活探索及其当代价值——缓解自然、个体与社会张力的生活实践[J]. 哈尔滨工业大学学报(社会科学版), 2018, 20(1): 51-60. https://www.cnki.com.cn/Article/CJFDTOTAL-HRBG201801010.htm
    [48]
    BICKMAN M. Uncommon learning: Thoreau on education[M]. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1999: xv.
    [49]
    STEEL J. The representation of the self in the American Renaissance[M]. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press Collection, 1987: 41.
    [50]
    EMERSON R W. Thoreau[J]. The atlantic monthly, 1862, 10(58): 239-249.
    [51]
    COLE T. Essays on American scenery[J]. The american monthly, 1836: 1-12.
  • 加载中

Catalog

    通讯作者: 陈斌, bchen63@163.com
    • 1. 

      沈阳化工大学材料科学与工程学院 沈阳 110142

    1. 本站搜索
    2. 百度学术搜索
    3. 万方数据库搜索
    4. CNKI搜索

    Article Metrics

    Article views (336) PDF downloads(113) Cited by()
    Proportional views
    Related

    /

    DownLoad:  Full-Size Img  PowerPoint
    Return
    Return