The Golden Notebook: A Study From The Perspective Of Postmodernism

Both the content and form of Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook have been known for their touching on complexity and this novel has therefore caused a great deal of understanding divergence in critics, ordinary readers and even Lessing herself. Although certain people have willfully misused the novel for their own interests, the reputation of The Golden Notebook hasn't been affected; on the contrary, the meaning of novel has been growing in depth and width with the company of various interpretations.Thus, both The Golden Notebook itself and the its various interpretations would be twisted together to constitute the research object of this thesis which is meant for a more appropriate understanding of this complex novel in the light of postmodernism.Due to the broad coverage and inherent ambiguity of postmodernism, this thesis only selected three major traits of it to lay the theoretical foundation of this thesis: its skeptical attitude, its breaking tendency and its openness.This thesis falls into five parts: the beginning part is an introduction of Doris Lessing and the research findings over The Golden Notebook. Chapter one reveals the postmodern sense in the novel through detailed discussion of Lessing's doubts towards nostalgia, writing and science. Chapter two attempts to unearth the breakings in the novel: the breaking of obsession for certainty and that of the thinking mode of preference for unity. Chapter three approaches the postmodernity in the novel through making a study on the openness in the novel, including the openness for the other and the new. And in the final part the conclusion of this thesis has been demonstrated: The Golden Notebook is full of postmodern spirit.