On Culture Identity In Doris Lessing’s Space Fictions

Doris Lessing (1919-2013), the Nobel Prize winner in Literature in2007, is the most outstanding female writer in UK after World War II. She has the spirit of her time, subjecting a divided civilization in the20th century to scrutiny with skepticism, fire and visionary power. Lessing’s unique cultural background and the marginal female experience made her search for her cultural identity all her life and pay attention to the survival of human beings (especially of marginal groups in society). There are a wide range of subjects in her works, including racial conflicts, social politics, gender relationships, women’s life, mental confusion, the future of mankind, as well as many other topics. Lessing’s works reflect history and reality of the turbulent society in the20th century.“Cultural identity quest” is an important theme in Lessing’s works.The five space fictions of Canopus in Argos: Archives (1979-1983) are not only the representative works of Lessing’s science fictions but also an important part of her works. The space fictions depict various terrible disasters and living conditions such as cultural identity of the painful space inhabitants (especially the marginal social groups) in the cosmic evolution period. The five works reflect the realistic contents in the form of science fictions, disclosing human beings’ survival predicament of the present age and revealing the author’s concern over civilization and the future fate of mankind; thus Canopus in Argos: Archives are a highly integrated series of thoughts and artistry. The academic circles attach great importance to Lessing because she is a famous contemporary woman writer; however, they paid a little attention to her space fictions, of which Lessing thinks highly. Generally, Lessing’s space fictions have been studied mainly from the perspectives of overall review, philosophy and psychology, themes and forms and so on. But few scholars explore cultural identity; therefore, these works need much more attention.In the postcolonial criticism perspective, this dissertation attempts not only to investigate cultural identity of the marginal Other in space as well as power discourse revealed and social reality reflected from the point of cultural identity but also to probe into reasons and significance of the author’s exploring cultural identity in Canopus in Argos: Archives, showing Lessing’s humanistic care for disadvantaged groups and the survival of mankind as well as her concerns about the future of human beings. Thus it can promote domestic understanding and acceptance of the five space fictions so that more people will pay more attention to these works, to probe into its profound connotation and potential values. Cultural identity and Other are key contents of postcolonial criticism and cultural studies. Cultural identity can be influenced by history, culture, and power, subjecting to nationality, race, class, gender, religion and other factors. Cultural Identity varies with the changes of history and the environment. The colonized, women, and Diasporas in Lessing’s space fictions are all Other in the margin of society, who continue to seek for their identities though they are in survival plight and identity crisis. This dissertation studies Lessing’s space fictions in the following three aspects, which are interpreting problems of cultural identities of social disadvantaged groups such as the colonial Other, the female Other, and the diasporic Other, analyzing main reasons and exploring significance of Lessing’s seeking cultural identity in these works.Cultural identity troubles of the colonial Other are mainly embodied in their representation of “otherization” and deficiency of subjectivity, in their absence of space affairs and deprivation of discourse, in loss of the self under discipline and submission, and their identity anxieties under the living predicament. The female Other include women of “the subaltern” in Canopus Empire and women of “the subaltern of subalterns” on the colonized planets such as Shikasta. The latter’s living situations and identity crisis are much more serious than those of the former. Whether they are speechless groups or silent individuals, women in space, who are living without traces or voices nor history, are Other of patriarchy society. In the process of pursuit of identification under the harsh environment, the female Other in space undergo identity perplexity and loss with interactions of factors such as class, gender, emotion, and so on. Identity troubles of Diasporas in space are mainly manifested in The Marriage Between Zones Three, Four, and Five and The Sirian Experiments. Drifting in the foreign land, the dispersed people suffer a lot from identity troubles and crisis such as conflicts caused by both “hybrid” cultural identities and identification in different culture, double alienation from culture of both their ancestral homeland and the resettlement place as well as identity displacement, and self puzzlement because of rootless exile after losing home. Diasporas in space are very lonely, anxious, and lost.The pursuit for cultural identity in Lessing’s space fictions is deeply influenced by her family background, her personal experiences, the Leftism of her age，and the development of science and technology as well as science fictions. The marginal, indifferent, and traumatic family endowed Lessing with cultural temperament of marginalized female Other. She witnessed the colonial Other’s difficult situations in Africa, paying close attention to the living conditions and identity crisis of Other in society. Lessing’s life in Africa made her suffer from Diaspora. An exile both actually and metaphorically compelled Lessing to undergo culture conflicts among heterogeneous culture and double alienation from British culture and African culture, which resulted into her identification trouble. Lessing’s experience of Diaspora and Other in Africa led her to be “a marginalized person” and “an exile”, facilitating her to observe the world with double perspectives of both “an insider” and “an outsider”. Lessing’s special experience drove her to depict identity troubles and spiritual crisis of Diaspora from empires in Canopus in Argos: Archives and other works. Lessing came into contact with Marxism of her age in Africa, which not only broadened her horizon and improved her ability to analyze situations but also cultivated her ability to discriminate the justice from the evil and critical thinking way, contributing to her humanitarian spirit. Lessing criticizes colonialism, racism, wars, and some other social phenomena, expresses her anger over power, focuses on disadvantaged groups and the survival of human beings, and concerns for the future of mankind, which show her critical thinking and humanitarianism. The development of science and technology in modern times, especially the three revolutions in science and technology, promotes the emergence, development and prosperity of science fictions. Lessing, who paid close attention to science and technology and who was influenced deeply by popular science fictions of her age, turned to write science fictions in1970s, and she wrote Canopus in Argos: Archives which tell the stories in space, describing residents’ living conditions and cultural identity troubles.It is very significant for Lessing to seek cultural identity in space fictions in literary history, in aesthetics, and in understanding the world. When succeeding the themes of human survival and evolution in both science fictions and realistic works, Lessing develops the traditional themes by exploring human spiritual pursuit and cultural exchange in her space fictions. Lessing’s special perception of Sufism will lead us into the abundant, actual and mysterious aesthetical world. By using narrative skills such as collage and montage, Lessing creats a unique chaotic narrative structure which portrays the dystopia in space. And the dystopia reflects the horrible survival plight in the20th century, which is helpful for us to understand our society deeply, to examine crisis of mankind dialectically, and to warn us against possible disasters in the future. By studying the description of imaginative marginalized Other in the Galaxy in space, we can keep to the subject of the five novels and realize the troubles and anxieties of individuals and groups in the process of identity pursuit, understanding the author’s pondering over human survival and worrying over development of human beings in the future.In her space fictions, Lessing describes the evolution of the planets in the Galaxy in science fictions’ forms, but the works read like an epic, reflecting the20th century in politics, military, culture, history, and other fields in reality, illustrating the traces of power operation in the world, predicting human development in the future, warning us against the disastrous end of the earth. The five fictions show us Lessing’s critical spirit in criticizing imperialism, colonialism, wars and turbulence, abuse of science and technology, and ecological destruction, and her close attention to human survival and her concerns about the future of the world reveal her humanitarianism.