Witnessing The Downfall Of Colonial Empire

Doris Lessing?1919-2013?,the winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize,is known as one of the most outstanding female novelists after Virginia Woolf.Most of her early works are based on her childhood experience in Africa,and The Grass is Singing,Lessing's maiden work,is praised as one of the first books to confront the apartheid issues.The novel attracts wide attention since its first publication in 1950.This novel,set in South Africa in the mid 20^th century,tells a tragedy about a white woman who falls in love with her black servant and is finally killed by him.In the novel,the author deftly applies body narration to reveal the living dilemma of the black and white female under British colonial governance and to express her attitude towards colonialism.As a humanist,Lessing always shows her deep concern on the future of South Africa as well as the fate of the marginalized people.Body,commonly considered as the carrier of power relations,is a significant vehicle for her to represent the social reality and express her political attitude.This thesis focuses on Lessing's body narration so as to discover the reversion of power relation between the white and the black reflected on the protagonists'bodies,revealing the cruel colonial oppression in South Africa and the imminent downfall of the colonial empire.This thesis consists of three parts:introduction,three body chapters and conclusion.The introduction part gives a literature review of The Grass is Singing and an introduction to body theory.Chapter One describes the oppressed body of the black and white female.The black is disciplined and the white female is objectified as the private possession of the white male so as to better serve the colonial domination.Their bodies represent the deterrence of colonial power and discourses.Chapter Two concentrates on the awakening consciousness of the black and the white female who begin to use their bodies as rebelling weapons to fight against the unjust treatment of the colonial ruler.Their bodily resistance includes counter-gaze,sexuality,fleeing,etc.Chapter Three reveals the downfall of the colonial empire.After a series of resistance,the body of the colonizer,which is considered as symbol of the colonial authority,becomes more and more feeble while the body of the colonized becomes stronger and more powerful.The black successfully subverts the colonial hegemony,constructs his discourse right and identity,and reverses the original power relations between the black and the white.Finally,Moses'revenge on Mary puts the colonial hegemony to an end,which indicates the absolute decline of the colonization.In the last part,through a brief summary of what has been discussed in the above three chapters,this thesis makes a conclusion that long-term inhuman colonial domination will definitely lead to the awakening and rebellion of the people in colony,and the downfall of the colonial empire is hence inevitable.Lessing discloses the evil of colonialism and foreshadows the imminent collapse of colonial system through body narration,aiming at giving the oppressed people hope for the future of South Africa and encouraging them to bravely participate in the battle against the colonial hegemony and to get equal rights like Moses.Besides,although the colonial empire has already fallen down,its impact still exists now.Thus,multiplicity and dialogues still need to be vigorously advocated today.