Into the Sublime Wilderness: Enlightenments of US Ecoliterature on Ecological Aesthetic and Ecotourism

Owing to the popularity of ecotourism in US, it is necessary to delve in some masterminds of wilderness in ecoliterature from the perspective of ecological aesthetics so as to get a clear picture of how the American mindset on wilderness has come into being and how ecological aesthetic in US ecoliterature has exerted profound impact and shaped US ecotourism in turn. This paper first compares the two aesthetics, scenic and ecological aesthetic, and traces the burgeoning of ecological aesthetic in US, the sublime in particular, to its frontier hypothesis. Then it probes the deepening of ecological aesthetic in US with the case study of several influential eco-writers on wilderness, among which are Henry Thoreau爷s making wilderness home, John Muir's founding of national parks, Aldo Leopold's Land Ethic, Edward Abbey's spatial beauty, and wilderness in a broader sense from other US eco-writers. Finally with regard to problems arising from Chinese ecotourism, the enlightenments of US ecoliterature on Chinese ecotourism is suggested.