Nobel Prize
winning author Doris Lessing’s career has spanned 5 decades, and numerous
genres. She has tackled issues relating
to race, colonialism, feminism, politics, and aging in her fiction. Her writing, whether in the genre of realism,
science fiction, or autobiography, remains distinctively hers. She was highly prolific, and continued to work
right up until her death in 2013.
Lessing
was born in Iran (then Persia) to British parents in 1919, and grew up in
Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Her parents
were unsuccessful farmers, and very much a part of the colonial apparatus (Shwartz). Lessing, however, rejected the racism of
colonial occupation from an early age. Her early fiction presents a unique perspective
that is both colonial and post-colonial; she saw herself as both English and
other. She married at age 19, partially
to escape the colonial way of life supported by her parents (Connolly).
The
marriage only lasted a few short years, but Lessing did have two children with
her first husband. She chose to leave
the children with him when they divorced, a decision for which she has long
been criticized in a way that a male author never would have been. She has been accused of, “denying maternity
in a way that seems to defy nature,” by choosing to privilege her career over
motherhood (Baird). Lessing explores
issues surrounding motherhood in her writing, most notably in The Fifth Child.
Lessing
left Rhodesia for London after another failed marriage, and a flirtation with
communism. She turned against communism
later in life, and her disillusionment can be seen in her novel The Good Terrorist. Her first novel, The Grass is Singing, was published in 1950; and explored themes
related to the British colonial occupation of Africa. The Children
of Violence series and her groundbreaking novel The Golden Notebook were published in the years after, cementing
her reputation as a serious novelist.
The Golden Notebook was—and has remained—hugely
influential for the generations of female writers who followed Lessing. Canadian novelist Margret Atwood (whose
career can be seen to parallel Lessing’s in some ways) writes about the
experience of reading the novel at a young age, asking, “Who knew we were
reading a book that was soon to become iconic?” (Atwood). The
Golden notebook explores themes of feminism, motherhood, communism, mental
health, and colonialism in a fragmented manner that owes a heavy debt to Virginia
Woolf.
Lessing
turned towards science fiction in the early 1980’s with the Canopus in Argos series, a bold move for
even an established author like Lessing.
She returned to the genre again with 1999’s Mara and Dann, and the 2005 sequel The Story of General Dann, Mara’s Daughter, Griot, and the Snow Dog. In addition to novels and short stories
Lessing also published non-fiction essays on a variety of topics (including
several on cats) and a two volume autobiography.
Lessing
won the Nobel Prize in 2007, famously muttering, “Oh, Christ” when she was told
the news by reporters (qtd. in Schwartz).
True to form, she used her acceptance speech as a platform to call
attention to issues she considered important.
She contrasted the abysmal state for schools in Africa to the luxuries
of those in England, asking the audience which set of student is likely to go
on to win such prestigious prizes (Lessing).
She did her part to remedy this disparity by bequeathing her personal
collection of 3,000 books to a public library in Zimbabwe (“Lessing Donates”).
The world lost a
unique and influential voice when Doris Lessing died. Her fiction has been praised in both popular
and literary circles, and there is no doubt she will be read by many future
generations. The issues Lessing tackled
in her writing are just as relevant today as they were 50 years ago, and her
texts still hold answers to many modern problems.
Works Cited
Atwood, Margaret. “Doris Lessing: a Model for Every Writer Coming
from the Back of
Beyond.” Guardian
18 Nov. 2013. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Baird, Julia. "Lowering The
Bar." Newsweek 155.20 (2010): 21. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Connolly, Ray. "`I married to get away from my mother';
A Childhood: Doris Lessing." The
Times (London, England) 17 Nov. 1990: Business Insights: Essentials. Web. 4
Mar.
2015.
Lessing, Doris. “On Not Winning the Nobel Prize.” Nobelprize.org. Nobel Media AB 2014.
Web.
4 Mar 2015
"Lessing Donates 3 000 Books
to City Library." Africa News
Service 26 Aug. 2014: Business
Insights: Essentials.
Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Scwartz, Alexandra. “On Saying and Not Saying Thank You.” The New
Yorker 20 Nov. 2013.
Web. 4 Mar. 2015
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