자연 유대감 측정 도구 Inclusion of Nature in Self(INS), Connectedness to Nature Scale(CNS), Nature Relatedness(NR)에 대한 비교 분석

김흥태,김현경,김혜진,서수진,황혜영 한국생물교육학회 2022 생물교육 Vol.50 No.4

The purpose of the study was to assess the nature connectedness of pre-service secondary school teachers using three scales including INS, CNS, and NR-6, and to investigate the relationships between their nature connectedness and pro-environmental variables including self- transcendence, ecological belief, ecological sensitivity, pro-nature behavior, and nature-related experiences. The results showed that INS was a little different from the other two scales and a close association between CNS and NR-6 were identified, but low variations between items and gender allowed NR-6 to be considered as a relatively more reliable scale for nature connectedness than INS and CNS. Moreover, the relationships between their nature connectedness and pro-environmental variables differed by gender, indicating that the moderating effects of gender could affect the relationships.

참과학과 자연 연결의 측면에서 자연기반학습의 의미 탐색을 위한 실행 연구

형시리,주은정 한국생물교육학회 2022 생물교육 Vol.50 No.2

The purpose of this study is to show how nature-based learning gives meaning to authentic science and nature connection. For the study, nature-based learning based on plant-related units was applied to 4th-grade students in elementary school. In the learning process, a qualitative analysis was conducted to find out how students learn science in terms of authentic science and how it is connected to nature. Student in nature was closely observed and students' behavior and conversations were collected through the teacher diary and students' activity sheets based on observations. And after nature-based learning, a questionnaire was prepared and interviewed students. The data were conceptualized by classifying the data into keywords according to the subject and classified according to the subject using typological analysis. In the results, while experiencing nature as a context of learning, students in nature were interested in science and were connected to active participation. In addition, the students focused on the learning topic and helped them understand and remember what they learned. Nature-based learning provided opportunities for communication and problem-solving and experienced authentic science based on the context in the real world as nature was connected to daily life. Through their experiences in nature, students experienced the enjoyment of nature and empathy and preciousness for creatures. This experience helped connect students with nature, and furthermore, students thought about the relationship between nature and themselves and expressed a sense of responsibility for life.

농요에 나타난 자연표상과 농민의 자연관

김월덕 한국민요학회 2008 한국민요학 Vol.24 No.-

The purpose of this paper is to look into the representation of nature in farming songs and consider them an indication of the relationship between nature and human beings. First, the representation of nature in farming songs has been related to the growth rhythm of grain and to order in nature. In addition, agricultural life is represented as a cognitive basis for traditional values such as filial piety and brotherliness. Second, the expression of nature in farming songs represents a repetitive cycle of birth, growth, aging and rebirth, and it has allowed farmers an optimistic perspective. Third, nature in farming songs is represented with time and space indicators. Farmers have changed the formula of the songs into words based on their own experiences, and these show the unity and interconnectedness of nature and human beings. Farming songs have farmers’ simple and sincere thoughts of nature because farmers are very close to nature. All the things farmers have seen and experienced in nature are reflected in their farming songs. I could discover the representation of nature, with the background of all agricultural life as a principle that controls the world in farming songs. Even though the musical words of farming songs are not unique for farmers, they were able to express their own view of nature changing the idiomatic expression into words that are related to their own experience. The belief that humans can be pleased when nature and human beings correspond with each other is an essential element in farming songs. Farming songs are a way for nature and human beings to harmonize with each other. Modern urbanites armed with scientific knowledge about the sympathetic relations between nature and human beings cannot be as scientific and pantheistic as the farming songs already are instinctively. We need to pay attention to these songs as an expression of relations with nature before modern industrialization. The purpose of this paper is to look into the representation of nature in farming songs and consider them an indication of the relationship between nature and human beings. First, the representation of nature in farming songs has been related to the growth rhythm of grain and to order in nature. In addition, agricultural life is represented as a cognitive basis for traditional values such as filial piety and brotherliness. Second, the expression of nature in farming songs represents a repetitive cycle of birth, growth, aging and rebirth, and it has allowed farmers an optimistic perspective. Third, nature in farming songs is represented with time and space indicators. Farmers have changed the formula of the songs into words based on their own experiences, and these show the unity and interconnectedness of nature and human beings. Farming songs have farmers’ simple and sincere thoughts of nature because farmers are very close to nature. All the things farmers have seen and experienced in nature are reflected in their farming songs. I could discover the representation of nature, with the background of all agricultural life as a principle that controls the world in farming songs. Even though the musical words of farming songs are not unique for farmers, they were able to express their own view of nature changing the idiomatic expression into words that are related to their own experience. The belief that humans can be pleased when nature and human beings correspond with each other is an essential element in farming songs. Farming songs are a way for nature and human beings to harmonize with each other. Modern urbanites armed with scientific knowledge about the sympathetic relations between nature and human beings cannot be as scientific and pantheistic as the farming songs already are instinctively. We need to pay attention to these songs as an expression of relations with nature before modern industrialization.

NATURE AS EXTENDED-SELF: SACRED NATURE RELATIONSHIP AND IMPLICATIONS FOR RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION BEHAVIOR

Vimala Kunchamboo,Christina K. C. Lee,Jan Brace Govan 글로벌지식마케팅경영학회 2016 Global Marketing Conference Vol.2016 No.7

This article explores alternate ways to conceptualize self-nature relationship, that is, how nature in general, rather than specific nature places, become part of the extended self and how this influences responsible consumption. An ethnography, using participant observation, iterative in-depth interviews and photographs, was used to understand self-nature relationship and consumption behavior. The study was conducted in Malaysia using the English language as the medium of communication. The results suggest three levels of extended-self, reflecting the individual’s depth of relationship with nature; relational extended-self, encapsulated-self and assimilated-self. Nature as extended self, then, influences meanings attached to nature which results in different levels of attachment with nature; these are, functional, emotional, religious and spiritual attachment. When nature is perceived as separate from self, consumption behaviour is motivated by self-interest or self-preservation. As nature experiences are internalised, individuals begin to form emotional connections which initiates the process of self-extension whereby nature is progressively seen as part of the self. At the higher level, stronger affiliation with nature may result in religious or spiritual attachment, which motivates further assimilation of the self with nature and a sense of oneness with the broader universe promoting communal relationship and mutual gain. Our study contributes theoretically with the discovery of three dimensions of extended self and how extended self influences responsible consumption. Practically, these insights are valuable for public policy, social marketing and sustainability programs, for example, it highlights a possible solution to our unsustainable consumption behaviour which is, programs or activities which encourage our citizens to spend time with nature.

한의학에서 바라본 자연과 인간

안상우(Sang woo AHN) 한국외국어대학교 철학문화연구소 2013 철학과 문화 Vol.27 No.-

Korean medicine is a traditional medicine wherein mental and physical disorders and diseases prevalent in human society have been diagnosed and treated based on observations on nature and humans for a long time. In the procedures of treatment, natural products including herbal roots and tree bark are used in raw state or minimally processed; the pharmacological mechanism for their efficacy is the application of the law of life and changes acquired from nature. Awareness of how humans view nature can be reasoned inductively to the perception of the existence of human being in the great nature surrounding humans and is further linked to concrete action plans on how to assimilate or communicate with nature to maintain the healthy life of human beings. Unlike western medicine that considers the human body as an object of disorganization and analysis, Korean people have been believed that the human body resembles the shape of the universe, and that the principles of universal changes are the same as the principles that determine the life and death of humans. Here, the perception on nature and human was studied with emphasis on the contents of 『EuibangYoochui 醫方類聚』(Classified Collection of Medical Formulas)』 based on medical theories including the relationship between nature and human(天人相應觀) featured in Korean medicine literature such as 『DonguiBogam 東醫寶鑑』 as well as influences of natural orders and rules such as day-night, four seasons, and five movements and six energies on the physiological changes in humans. Moreover, the relationship between pathological conditions and diseases is observed when disharmony and imbalance among these factors develop. The results of such discussion are summarized below. The idea that man is a microcosm of the universe (人身小宇宙) means that man not only resembles the universe in the morphological aspect but also communes with or identifies closely with the great nature through respiration (鼻-肺) and food ingestion (口-脾). It has changed to the perception of 'oneness with heaven and earth (同天地)' in 『Donguibogam』, which is closer than the relation between nature and human through 『EuibangYoochui』. Therefore, the perception is changed that human being forms part of nature and gets coordinated by the same rules and laws. The most significant comment among articles on nature or heaven-earth in 『EuibangYoochui』 is that men can change the surrounding environment[heaven, earth, and nature] at will. The argument that "Nature can be changed by man's faith" assumes the correspondence between the variability of human's faith and environmental changes and suggests that emotional changes can induce the abnormality of sensory organs and cause diseases in a small sense, induce abnormal phenomena in nature, and bring a dangerous condition to the country in a big sense. The view that the will of heaven and earth can be changed by humans' faith concludes that all changes come from humans on the premise that heaven and earth can be changed by humans' faith, and that humans should continuously try to be more in touch with heaven's will. In the view of four great elements creates feature (四大成形說) from 『EuibangYoochui』, the birth of a human being is a temporary shape formation of 4 factors: earth (地) ㆍ water (水) ㆍ fire (火) ㆍ wind (風). Death is the disappearance of these 4 factors; thus, there is no substantiality. In other words, the harmony of these 4 factors makes the human body comfortable and active; if one factor is not in harmony with others, a person can cause a disease and lose his/her life. In addition, diagnosis and treatment in Korean medicine are closely related to the course of nature. Likewise, the rules and phenomena of nature are applied in the principles of herbal prescription and preventive care, e.g., the therapeutic rules of difference on various environment and the principle of addition-subtraction on the four seasons. In Korean medicine, natu 한의학은 역사적으로 오랜 기간에 걸쳐 자연과 인간을 관찰한 결과를 토대로 인간 사회에 만연하는 심신의 장애와 질병을 진단하고 치료해 온 전통의학이다. 그 치료과정에 있어서도 초근목피(草根木皮)를 위주로 자연의 산물을 生用하거나 약간의 가공을 거쳐 사용하며, 이것들이 효과를 발휘하는 약리기전 역시 철저히 자연에서 지득한 생명과 변화의 법칙을 응용한 것이다. 인간이 자연을 어떻게 바라보는가하는 문제의식은 결국 인간을 둘러싼 대자연 속에서 인간의 존재는 무엇인가라는 인식으로 귀납될 수 있으며, 나아가 인간의 건강한 삶을 유지하기 위해 자연과 어떻게 동화 혹은 상호 교감해야 하는지에 대한 구체적 실천방안으로 연계할 수 있다. 인체를 해체하고 분석의 대상으로 여겨온 서양의학과 달리 한의학에서는 인간이 우주의 형상을 닮아 있고 우주변화의 원리가 인간의 생사를 결정짓는 이치와 동일하다고 여긴다. 여기서는 『의방유취』를 중심으로 『동의보감』 등 한의학서에 등장하는 천지상응관(天地相應觀)을 비롯한 의론(醫論)을 토대로 자연과 인간에 대한 인식을 살펴보고 주야(晝夜), 사시(四時), 오운육기(五運六氣) 등 자연계의 질서와 규율이 인체의 생리와 변화에 미치는 영향을 살펴보고자 하였다. 또 이들 요소간에 부조화와 균형이 깨트려졌을 때, 발생하는 병리현상과 질병의 상호관계에 대해 파악하고자 하였다. 고찰 결과는 다음과 같이 요약할 수 있다. 인간이 우주를 닮아 있는 축소판(人身小宇宙)이라는 생각은 형태적인 측면에서 닮아있을 뿐만 아니라 호흡(鼻-肺)과 음식섭취(口-脾)를 통해 대자연과의 교감 혹은 동질감을 갖게 되며, 『의방유취』를 거쳐 『동의보감』에서 천인상응관보다 더 밀접한 '同天地'라는 인식으로 전환되었다. 이로써 인간은 자연의 일부가 되어 동일한 규율과 법칙에 의해 조율되어야 하는 천인동조론(天人同調論)의 입장으로 변화되었다. 『의방유취』에 나타난 천지 즉 자연에 관한 논설 가운데 가장 획기적인 언급은 사람이 마음먹기에 따라서 주변 환경[천지자연]을 바꿀 수 있다는 주장이다. "자연도 사람 마음먹기에 따라 달라진다."는 이 주장은 인간 심지의 가변성과 환경의 변화가 대응하고 있음을 전제하고 작게는 감정의 변화가 감각기관의 이상을 불러 질병을 초래하고 크게는 자연에 이상 현상을 야기시켜 나라가 위태로워질 수도 있다 말한다. 천지수인관은 천지가 사람에 따라 바뀔 수 있다는 전제에서 모든 변화의 요인이 인간으로부터 비롯된다는 사실에 귀착하고 있으며, 인간은 끊임없이 天心에 가까이 다가가야 한다는 결론에 도달하게 된다. 『의방유취』에서 비롯된 사대성형설(四大成形說)에서 인간의 탄생은 지(地), 수(水), 화(火), 풍(風)이라는 4가지 요소가 일시적으로 형상을 이루는 것이며, 죽음도 역시 이 4가지가 없어지는 것일 뿐이니 본래 실체가 없기 때문이라고 설명한다. 때문에 4가지 요소가 잘 화합해져 있으면 일신(一身)이 편안하고 왕성하며 그 중 한 가지라도 화합하지 못하면 모두가 병을 일으키고 생명을 잃게 되는 것이다. 아울러 한의학에서 질병을 진단하고 치료하는 것도 자연의 흐름과 밀접한 관련성을 갖고 있다. 또한 용약과 양생의 원칙에 있어서도 역시 자연의 현상과 규율성이 적용되었는데 그 대표적인 사례로 남북치법과 사시가감법 등을 들 수 있다. 한의학에서 자연은 초극하고 정복해야할 대상이나 객체가 아니라 인간과 끊임없이 교감하고 인간의 삶 속에서 유기적 관계를 형성하고 생성, 변화, 소장을 함께 하며 동조해야할 관계로 바라보고 있다.

한국 자연시에 나타난 은유 연구

김현자(Kim Hyun-ja) 한국시학회 2007 한국시학연구 Vol.- No.20

Nature in Korean poetry from traditional poems to Modern ones is the most important subject for poets to speculate on. In traditional poems, Nature is the place where to live in seclusion and to train oneself mentally and morally, and also is shown as realization of its 'naturalness' standing above life and death. In Modern period, it represents the image of home, and as a cure for the violence of industrialization and urbanization, it reveals itself as various theses that are romantic, erotic, and even of anti-civilization. Notably, the poets from Chungnokpa (Chungnok school) to recent ecological poetry explore the questions about human existence, such as the limitation of human being, the feeling of emptiness, life and death, which are all compared with the eternity of Nature or Universe in poems. To these poets, Nature is a multi-faceted being, on one hand, to conform to the circulation of time, and on the other, to regenerate itself constantly. This kind of circular view of Nature is deeply related to the traditional, eastern way of thinking, and even to the poetic tradition that regards Nature as a sort of framework to investigate inner states of mind upon, as well as an ideal, spiritual space. Attaining the stage of poetic prominence, based on the traditional eastern viewpoint of Nature, Park, Mok-wol and Park, Yong-rae are poets from whose poems we can define some features of the Korean way of poetic awareness of Nature. To Park, Mok-wol, Nature is an object of speculation and the source of understanding. He contemplates Nature from a distance, which leads him to turn his thought inward and to long for "over-there" as a lonely observer. "Over-there" orientation is an attitude to show respect for Nature, although the poet does not converge with Nature nor intend to be identified with it, differently from the traditional Nature poets. Confronting "over-there" Nature in solitude, poetic-self dwells on the law of Nature, accepting it as an essence of life and transforming himself into a part of Nature. It is the role of metaphor that at this moment is played to connect the discontinuity of the natural world and the human world, to mediate heterogeneous semantic categories, mapping them newly constructed semantic domains. In other words, Mokwol's "following the law of Nature" lies in metamorphosing oneself freely, and it is the metaphor of transforming which enables poetic-self to step into a novel semantic world. Among other things, 'water' is the main image to transform itself and to make a journey following the law of Nature. Meanwhile, Park, Yong-rae composes poems about positive and joyful sentiments living in Nature, and intends to absorb himself into Nature, achieving the total identification with it. He uses some idiosyncratic words to picture a humble and simple life where people and Nature are in harmony. The comfort and composure which are brought by the harmony shows his positive way of life. It is also his positive attitude toward human life and Nature that brings the individuals to experience the process of decay or dissolution, to overcome their loneliness, and finally to advance into the unification with Nature. In his poems, there appear a lot of lonely and desolate places, which are later transformed into the beautiful and fantastic ones by his typical ritual of dissolution and by its basis, the metaphor of dreaming. And light and flowers are the central imagery motivating the metaphor. In sum, the attitudes of the two poets toward Nature are contrasting: 'confrontation in solitude' of Mo-kwol and 'positive dissolution' of Yong-rae. However, both of them are incessantly interested in Nature, ultimately aiming at making a compromise between the human solitary existence and the ideal nature. In this respect, their efforts can be regarded to be profoundly linked with the traditional view of Nature which seeks to the unification of human and Nature. Pursuing the expansions in quantity b

자연의 유물론과 생태 민주주의-칼 맑스(K.Marx) 『경제학-철학 초고』와 코로나 이후 새로운 삶의 양식을 중심으로-

이회진,김현 범한철학회 2020 汎韓哲學 Vol.98 No.3

The purpose of this article is to establish ecological democracy as a new mode of life in the post-corona age, based on the theses that “naturalism is humanism” and “realized humanism is naturalism” as appeared in Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 by Karl Marx. Not only is man still entrapped by the instrumental view of nature from the late modern period, but he is also buried in the myth that all relationships come down to the equalization of capitalist exchange value. Faced with the corona pandemic, man creates a hierarchy based on the use-value of all living creatures that are unable to create capitalist relations of production, or in other words, exchange value. And it is according to this relative capacity to generate exchange value that he decides which life should be saved first. Man now find himself at a crossroads, as to whether to return to the old capitalism prior to the pandemic or to establish a new mode of life. Contemplating on a possible new mode of life for the post-corona period amidst the continuing pandemic is essentially equivalent to seeking new possibilities for a life after capitalism within the bounds of capitalism. But reflecting on a post-Corona age in the midst of the Corona age requires more than the historical anticipation of the advent of communism after the demise of capitalism. One should rather completely re-examine the relationship between nature and man and also that between men, which had been neglected in favor of a myth from the enlightenment era regarding the linear progression of history. To this end it will be attempted to reinterpret Marx’s “realized naturalism of man, humanism realized by nature”, that is, a complete unity of man with nature and a true resurrection of nature, employing the ideology of ecological democracy. This concept dictates that nature as man’s inorganic body and man as organic nature do not anymore serve the function of supporting the instrumental view of nature. Both are instead ideologies that regulate post-capitalist modes of life. Ecological democracy, which aims to restore the relationship between man and nature, is a constructive method of rejecting the view of nature from the late modern period, which reduces the earth - including nature in terms of its use-value, individuals, and states - to its mere exchange value. In this sense, ecological democracy is an alternative to restore the inter-relationship among all living beings on earth, recognizing the intrinsically distinct use-value in all of them. 이 글의 목적은 칼 맑스 『경제학-철학 초고』에 나타난 완성된 자연주의=인간주의, 완성된 인간주의=자연주의라는 테제를 중심으로 생태 민주주의를 탈코로나 이후의 새로운 삶의양식으로 정립하는 것이다. 코로나 시대의 인류는 여전히 근대적인 도구적 자연관에 사로잡혀 있을 뿐만 아니라, 모든 관계를 오로지 자본주의적 교환가치의 평등화라는 신화에 매몰돼 있다. 특히 코로나바이러스 앞에서 인류는 자본주의적 생산 관계, 즉 상품의 교환가치를생산하지 못하는 모든 생명체의 사용가치를 위계 질서화한 후, 교환가치의 생산 가능성의 정도에 따라 생명의 구원 순서를 정한다. 이 과정에서 인류는 코로나 이전의 자본주의로 회귀할 것인지 아니면 새로운 삶의 양식을 정립해야 하는지의 갈림길에 서 있다. 코로나 시대에 탈코로나 이후의 삶의 양식을 사유하는 것은 자본주의에서 자본주의 이후의 가능성을 모색하는 것과 같다. 그러나 코로나 시대에 탈코로나 시대를 사유하는 것은 자본주의 종말 이후에 공산주의가 도래할 것이라는 역사적 전망만으로는 충분하지 않다. 오히려 일직선적인 역사적 진보에 대한 계몽주의적 신화에 사로잡혀서 지금까지 소홀히 논의해왔던 자연과 인간, 인간과 인간의 관계를 전면적으로 재검토하는 것이 필요하다. 이를 위해 이 글은 칼 맑스의 “인간의 성취된 자연주의, 자연의 성취된 인간주의”, 즉 인간과 자연의 완전한 통일, 자연의 진정한 부활을 생태 민주주의 이념으로 재해석할 것을 제안한다. 이에 따르면 인간의 비유기적 몸으로서 자연과 유기적 자연으로서 인간은 더이상 인간의 도구적 자연관을 뒷받침하는 기능적 역할을 담당하지 않는다. 오히려 이 양자는 탈자본주의적 삶의 양식을 규제하는 이념이다. 특히 이 양자의 관계성 회복을 지향하는 생태민주주의는 사용가치로서 자연, 개별 인간, 국가를 포함한 지구의 가치를 교환가치로만 환원하는 근대적 자연관을 지양하는 구성적 방법이다. 따라서 생태 민주주의는 지구 내의 모든 생명체가 각각의 독특한 사용가치의 담지자라는 상호 관계성을 회복하는 대안이다.

유아교사의 유아 본성에 대한 이미지 분석

조준오,노시연,황초희,황수진,장인수 한국영유아교원교육학회 2023 유아교육학논집 Vol.27 No.4

This study explored image types of various natures and examined their meaning through image analysis of infant nature by early childhood teachers. To this end, the research subjects were sampled randomly and 250 early childhood teachers were selected. The researcher collected materials after making a questionnaire available for writing up the early childhood teachers’ image on the nature of young children and the explanation of an image. In analyzing the major research results, the images concerning the nature of young children by early childhood teachers appeared to be in the order of the evolutionary nature, the creative nature, the exploratory nature, the instinctive nature, the unknown nature, and the ambivalent nature. The evolutionary nature made abundant use of image of seeds and sprouts; drawing paper and blank for creative nature; an infant and question for the exploratory nature; love and the stars for the instinctive nature; rainbows and water for the unknown nature; and angels and demons and double-sided colored paper for the ambivalent nature. Through the results of this study, after examining the meaning of infant nature by each type of image’s characteristics based on early childhood education, implications were derived for specific practical measures.

Nature in Captivity: Understanding Zoos as Hybridized Space of Nature and Culture

Heesun Chung 국토지리학회 2008 국토지리학회지 Vol.42 No.2

This paper explores the history of evolution of zoos and characteristics of their landscapes in order to demonstrate how the relationship between nature and culture have changed in the context of the modern thinking. Zoos are a tangible record of relationship between nature and human beings. This study takes the example of Seoul Grand Park to analyze its landscapes to fathom the meaning of zoos as cultural landscape. While human beings intended to recreate wild nature by establishing zoos, they represent man? interpretation of nature. Natural landscapes of zoos, in essence, are cultural, while in zoos which are constructed with artificial nature, the image of wild nature is sold and consumed. Contemporary zoological parks were established based on the idea of reason and the view of nature in the modern era, and the meanings of zoos have evolved with changing time characterized by progress in science and technology as well as environmental degradation. In the world of spectacles offered by theme parks, zoos present artificial mimicry of nature, a coveted object of human desire to observe and recreate nature. Understanding the relationship between nature and culture through zoos offers insights on the role and meaning of nature in the cultural aspect of human life. This research on zoos provides a chance to reflect on man-nature relationship or more accurately, ethical relationship between humanity and animals as this kind of self-reflection is vital to restoration of natural environment and ecosystems.

『나의 안토니아』의 자연과 노동 그리고 생태비평: 목가적 자연의 한계와 본질적 노동의 가능성

이준영 ( Jun Young Lee ) 미국소설학회 2012 미국소설 Vol.19 No.1

One of the unique features in Willa Cather`s My Antonia lies in its frequent dramatic portrayals and descriptions of nature, such as pastoral landscapes, changes of season, and agricultural scenery. Therefore, nature itself as the surrounding material and physical world has been regarded as one of the main characters including Antonia Shimerdas and Jim Burden in the novel. The dramatic representation of nature is mainly delivered from the eyes of Jim Burden, the sole narrator of the novel. However, it seems that the critical appraisal of rampant descriptions and portrayals of nature in My Antonia should be bound to beget dissatisfaction because Jim`s portrayals and descriptions of nature are contradictorily fragmented and dissociative without directionality and intrinsic interconnection presiding over themselves. In this article, the principal culprit of Jim`s problematic representation of nature is to be attributed to his pastoral recognition of nature rooted in the traditional dualism of nature and human beings. After the brief discussion about ecocritical evaluation of Cather`s works and ecocriticism itself as well, this paper attempts to analyse the portrayals and descriptions of nature in My Antonia. Thus the main objective of this article has a twofold nature: to criticize Jim`s dualism in his observative and separative attitude toward nature and to suggest a constructive way of overcoming the dualism. Unlike Jim, Antonia is an excellent worker who has performed intrinsic labor, which, as life activity, interconnects Antonia to nature dynamically. Therefore, this article concludes with an assertion that the intrinsic labor should be appreciated as a potential way of realizing man in nature and vice versa.