초록보기
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relationship among race, nature, and ecological vision in Cooper’s The Pathfinder. In general, Cooper selects a landscape and natural wilderness of the frontier as a spatial background in his famous The Leatherstocking Tales. He discloses various racial conflicts such as white/white, white/Indian, and Indian/Indian deployed inside of a sublime natural scenery. He also reveals his environmental protection consciousness on nature in contrast to natural destructions by wars, exploitation, and development under the pretext of improvement and betterment of our life. In The Pathfinder, although he exposes inconsistency and impracticability in characterization of characters who have biased views against race and nature, Cooper raises awareness of conservation of the natural environment through the main character Natty Bumppo, ‘Pathfinder’, who lives in the frontier forest after abandonment of material and domestic values. Pathfinder is concerned about the destruction of nature and environment that can occur in the human war, development, urbanization, and civilization. Therefore, Cooper reveals his ecological vision that all kinds of species, including human beings, could live harmonious communal lives beyond the prejudice of race and nature. (Chungnam National University)