On The Art Of Repetition In Mara And Dann:an Adventure

Doris May Lessing(1919.10.22-) is considered one of the most outstanding and accomplished British female writers after Virginia Woolf. A number of scholars have ever analyzed her Mara and Dann:An Adventure from an ecological perspective. Rather than adopting a substantial and systematic approach to the study of Mara and Dann:An Adventure artistic expression, most scholars lay emphasis on criticism of its simple narrative style and ponderous plot. With J. Hillis Miller’s theory of "repetition" as the guideline, this thesis tries to disclose the various types of "repetition" evident in Mara and Dann:An Adventure so as to contribute to the existing research into the work’s artistic expression.This thesis holds the view that Mara and Dann:An Adventure is a novel without a dilatory structure or a tedious plot. Under the covert of a simple narration, the work embodies an art of repetition deliberately crafted by Lessing. The delineation of repetitious imageries discloses man’s basic necessities for sustenance, such as clothes, food, shelter and transportation. Besides, the repetitious scenes depicting the drought and Mara’s sustainable struggle against it stand in stark contrast. Mara’s persistent spirit is displayed more substantially while she is confronting the drought. In addition, by means of a comparative analysis of repetitious themes or structures in other works by Lessing and other authors, the unique perspective in Mara and Dann:An Adventure is revealed and Lessing’s meticulous description mirrors her concerns for the basic requirements of human sustenance and her extolment of the spirit of self-reliance. Finally, the discussion of the Platonic forms of repetition and Nietzchean modes of repetition in Mara and Dann: An Adventure plays a fundamental role in apprehending the rationality of the classification of several types of repetition in the novel. In conclusion, the rhetoric art of repetition in Mara and Dann:An Adventure confirms the idea that Lessing is a master in both contents and form, in plots and writing skills, with her unique contributions in literature, and that her science fiction bears significant values for researches and studies as well.