An Ensemble In Dilemma:On Polyphonic Features Of The Grass Is Singing

Doris Lessing,one of the most outstanding contemporary English writers,enjoys great prestige in the world for her brilliant literary achievements.She is considered to be one of the most outstanding modern female writers after Virginia Woolf in contemporary British literature.The Grass is Singing is Doris Lessing's first novel.It receives world-wide attention after its publication in 1950 for its vivid and overall description of cruel social situation and colonial life in South Africa when it was under the Britain colonial rule in the mid-twentieth century.This thesis applies Mikhail Mikhailovich Bakntin's polyphonic theory to explore the polyphonic features of The Grass is Singing,focusing on the polyphonic narrative technique,the dialogism of character's relationships and consciousnesses,and the plurality of themes.Through analyzing the "great dialogue" in the text and the "microdialogue" in character's conflicting internal consciousnesses,this thesis tries to explore the tragic fates of the main characters who struggle in dilemma under the oppression of patriarchy and colonialism in South Africa.Doris Lessing depicts different independent consciousnesses with equal status in the novel and the endless sharp inner conflicts of characters who suffer from living crisis due to the brutal oppression of colonial society.Besides,the discussion of plural themes in this thesis based on the unfinalizability of consciousness leads to the deep understanding and thinking of the novel The Grass is Singing.Through analyzing the novel from the perspective of Bakhtin's polyphonic theory,this thesis displays the polyphonic features of The Grass is Singing as well as its special literary aesthetic value,and tries to provide a different theoretical perspective to further study on Doris Lessing and her works.