Spatial Criticism Of The Story Of General Dann,Mara’s Daughter,Griot,and Snow Dog

Doris Lessing(1919-2013)is a prominent representative of contemporary English literature.The Story of General Dann,Mara’s daughter,Griot,and Snow Dog is a sequel to Mara and Dann: An Adventure,which continues to describe the protagonist Dann’s adventure in different space under the future ice age.Lessing’s rich life experiences in Iran,Africa,and England in the early years make her novels distinct spatial characteristics.In light of Henry Lefebvre’s space theory,this thesis mainly analyzes the dilemma and the repression confronted by Dann in different space,as well as his rebellious actions,revealing Lessing’s deep concern for human development and also pointing out the direction for the construction of modern social space.The thesis is divided into three parts.First of all,it discusses the dilemma that Dann suffers in physical space,mental space,and social space.In physical space,Dann’s dilemma is primarily reflected in three aspects.Firstly,the enclosed environment cuts him off from the outside world.Secondly,the production relations of the Farm causes Dann’s identity crisis.Thirdly,the enclosed Centre puts him in the existential crisis.Dann’s repression in mental space makes him fall into self-confusion,namely the emotional confusion between Mara and him,the confusion of his identity,and the confusion of whether to leave.In social space,Dann’s dilemma is manifested in the restriction,which is chiefly divided into three aspects,including emotional restriction,the restriction of discourse and surveillance by Griot.From Dann’s dilemma,it can be seen that the enclosed space threatens the survival and development of human beings.Then,the thesis focuses on Dann’s resistance in space.Dann’s resistance in physical space is to displace the space twice,that is,from the Centre to the Bottom Sea,and then from the Bottom Sea to the Centre.In mental space,Dann’s resistance is in the way of self-exploration,that is,to explore the social self and the real self.In social space,Dann fights for the freedom of discourse and emotion.Through Dann’s resistance,it is revealed that the open and comfortable living space also has fatal drawbacks,that is,ignoring nature and forgetting history.Finally,the thesis reveals Dann’s pursuit in space.As the Centre is destroyed by environmental degradation and attacks from outside forces,Dann leads people to move to a new living space,the Tundra.In physical space,Dann encourage people to value nature and make rational use of it for production.In mental space,Dann strives to establish identity,thus realizing self-recognition.Dann’s pursuit in social space is to emphasize the importance of knowledge and history through the construction of knowledge academy,so that people can effectively avoid the repetition of disasters and then achieve a harmonious society.In conclusion,this thesis probes into Dann’s spatial experience from three dimensions of physical space,mental space,and social space,so as to make him find that these three kinds of space are interwoven,thus triggering him to question whether an enclosed,knowledge-neglecting,and history-forgetting space can survive forever,and whether the operation mode of these kinds of space is reasonable.Lessing’s spatial description in the text closely follows the pulse of the current era and reflects the complex spatial dynamics.It alludes to the internal contradictions of modern social space to a certain extent,thus causing people to pay more attention to the space problems they face.