Doris Lessing's Archives: Communism, Decolonisation and Literary Practice

本文旨在探讨多丽丝·莱辛的文学实践如何被大英帝国的衰落、共产主义的兴起以及随后的世纪女性劳动力的转型所塑造，以及她如何利用她的女性主人公来探索这些文化时刻及其对女性身份的影响。我将以东英吉利大学和哈里·兰森中心的档案为主要文本，在现有研究的基础上，从性别、劳动、文化历史和平等主义理论的透镜来探讨莱辛的小说和档案。在莱辛已发表的作品中，我将以她以共产主义和殖民主义为中心主题的小说为研究对象，特别是《暴力的孩子》系列（1952-69）和《金色笔记》（1962），通过平等主义理论的框架，我将采用解释主义的方法，质疑莱辛作品写作和出版的社会学范式。带着解释主义的思想仔细阅读我的文本，将使我能够询问莱辛在她的小说中所涉及的权力体系，以及那些创造她写作氛围的权力体系。我将在UEA和HRC多丽丝·莱辛档案馆进行档案研究，重点是与上述小说以及1950-1970年期间到南部非洲，以及她与共产党的关系莱辛与她同时代的人的通信-包括玛格丽特·德拉布尔，穆里尔·斯帕克，艾丽丝·默多克-将是理解作者的文学实践和她与政治文化的接触的富有成效的基础。我将分析莱辛的个人文件，这些文件先于我将关注的小说出版，并跨越她在津巴布韦（当时的南罗得西亚）的生活和早期参与共产主义的时期。例如，“怀特霍恩信件”将阐明她如何认同这些历史时刻，它们如何塑造她的写作以及她在这些影响下塑造女性主角的方式。我还将审查有关共产主义团体在英国的相关历史资料，以及那些总部设在南部非洲的大英帝国的统治下，调查性别在这一政治派别的作用。

The intention of my thesis is to examine how Doris Lessing's literary practice was shaped by the decline of the British Empire, the rise of communism, and the subsequent transformation of women's labour in the 20th century, and how she employs her women protagonists to explore these cultural moments and their effect on women's identity. I will use the archives at UEA and the Harry Ransom Centre as my primary texts.I aim to build on the existing research by approaching Lessing's novels and archives through the lens of gender, labour, cultural history, and egalitarian theory. Of Lessing's published works, I will base my research on her novels which engage with communism and colonialism as central themes, in particular The Children of Violence series (1952-69), and The Golden Notebook (1962).Through the frame of egalitarian theory, I will employ an interpretivist methodology, questioning the sociological paradigms within which Lessing's work was written and published. Making a close reading of my texts with interpretivism in mind will allow me to interrogate the systems of power that Lessing engages with in her fiction as well as those that created the climate of her writing.I will perform archival research in the UEA and HRC Doris Lessing archives, with a focus on manuscripts and correspondence relating to the aforementioned novels and to the period of 1950-1970, to southern Africa, and to her involvement with the Communist Party. Lessing's correspondence with her contemporaries - including Margaret Drabble, Muriel Spark, Iris Murdoch - will be fruitful ground for understanding the author's literary practice and her engagement with political culture. I will analyse Lessing's personal papers which precede the publication of the novels I will focus on and span the period of her living in Zimbabwe (then Southern Rhodesia) and early involvement with communism. For instance, 'The Whitehorn letters' will illuminate how she identified with these historical moments, how they shaped her writing and the way she built her women protagonists under these influences. I will also review relevant historical materials relating to communist groups in the UK, and those based in Southern Africa under the rule of the British Empire, to investigate the role of gender within this political faction.