Abstract Doris Lessing (1919—2013), the 2007 Nobel Prize winner for Literature, was acclaimed as a wonderful writer with a fascinating and original mind. One of her best-known works The Summer before the Dark is intellectually incisive and full of original insights, in which Lessing explores women mental crisis and stimulates the reader with her truthful storytelling of humanity in their naked faces. Scholars at home and abroad have mainly focused on feminism reflected in the text. The protagonist’s process to the integrated Jung’s self, however, is neglected. Therefore, this thesis attempts to interpret this novel from the perspective of Jung’s archetypal theory. Firstly, through the analysis of archetypes, it discloses the tensions between the main character and society. Struggled between the domestic roles and her unconscious, the protagonist Kate is well on her way to self-discovery. Secondly, the rich symbolic images on her journey to self-realization suggest the confusion Kate has encountered as well as the progress of inpiduation she finally achieves. The Jungian approach to the novel reveals the deep connotation of the life, marriage, family and self. Thus the archetypal reading enhances the novel’s readability and profundity, and helps to explain why this novel has stood out as a classic.56298
Key words: Doris Lessing; The Summer before the Dark; Jungian archetypal theory; inpiduation; archetypal images
摘要2007年诺贝尔文学奖获得者多丽丝·莱辛(1919–2013)被誉为是具有迷人新颖思想的伟大作家。她最著名的小说之一《天黑前的夏天》思想深邃,见解独到,在这部作品中,莱辛探索了女性的精神危机,讲述真实的故事直面人性,启迪读者。
国内外学者主要侧重于研究文本所体现的女权主义,却忽视了主人翁实现荣格式自我的过程。因此,本论文从荣格原型理论的视角分析《天黑前的夏天》这部小说。首先通过分析人格原型,揭示主人翁凯特的自性与社会角色之间的矛盾与冲突。凯特挣扎在传统的家庭角色和自我的无意识之间,最终走向自我实现。此外,在凯特自我发现的旅途中,具有丰富的象征意义的意象,不仅暗示主人翁凯特在追寻自我的旅途中的迷惘,也暗示她最终实现个性化的进程。荣格原型理论揭示了这部小说关于人生,婚姻,家庭及自我的深层内涵。因此原型解读增强了小说的可读性与深刻性,并且帮助我们理解之所以该小说成为经典的原因。
关键词:多丽丝·莱辛;《天黑前的夏天》;荣格原型理论;个性化;意象原型
Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Literature Review 2
3. Jung’s Archetypal Theory 3
4. The Archetypes in The Summer before the Dark 4
4.1 Persona: the Public Self of Kate 4
4.2 Shadow: the Private Self of Kate 6
4.3 Animus: Kate’s Lover and Her Husband 7
4.4 Self: Kate’s Journey to Inpiduation 8
5. The Archetypal Images in The Summer before the Dark 9
5.1 The Seal Dream 10
5.2 The Summer 11
5.3 The Darkness 11
5.4 The Bird 12
6. Conclusion 13
Works Cited 14
1. Introduction
Doris Lessing, “the greatest female writer after Virginia Woolf”, enjoys a high status in modernist literature. The Swedish Academy praised Lessing as “that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a pided civilization to scrutiny”. She figures many female images, and represents women’s emotions, circumstances, frustrations and desires in her novels. According to writer Arielle Emmett, Lessing “seemed absorbed in the conflicts and potential of women outside the ordinary realms men defined for them.” To Emmett, Lessing’s work was “ an eye opener”, even though she “couldn't absorb Lessing’s messages completely until much later in life”. As an important pioneer of feminism, Lessing’s ideas have exerted profound influence on her successors.