| Other Abstract | Based on Derrida’s Deconstruction Theory, this thesis attempts to deconstruct four pairs of the binary oppositions implied in Mara and Dann: An Adventure, a novel by Doris Lessing. The four pairs of the binary oppositions are those between human beings and nature, male and female, innocence and experience, and western culture and non-western culture.
Firstly, with the analysis of human’s weakness in the nature, animals’ irresistible revenge on human beings, and the fatal disasters caused by modern civilization, the thesis tries to deconstruct “anthropocentrism”, which also shows Lessing’s attitude that human and nature should be in harmony.
Secondly, based on the careful investigation into female protagonist’s subversive image and her high status in “discourse”, this thesis deconstructs “phallocentrism”, which deduces Lessing’s standpoint of equality between male and female.
Thirdly, by comparing the two protagonists’ souls, the thesis points out the disadvantages both in innocence and experience, and attests that only the desirable complementation of both sides can lead to perfect soul. In the meanwhile, the thesis also reveals Lessing’s viewpoint of close compatibility between innocence and experience in human’s soul.
At last, from the perspective of “culture”, by virtue of checking into the shift of “western geographical center”, the fade of “white centrism” and “English language centrism”, and the characteristic of “multiple intertextualitis” both in western culture and non-western culture hinted in this novel, the thesis attempts to deconstruct the binary opposition between western culture and non-western culture, which also unfolds Lessing’s opinion of cultural diversity.
With the deconstructions of four pairs of the binary oppositions, the thesis exhibits Lessing’s “subversive thinking”, which also reveals the very responsible writer’s ideal or expectation to construct “the Garden of Eden” where men and women live harmoniously, human beings get on well with nature, people’s soul achieves the perfect fusion between innocence and experience, and different culture coexists equally. Furthermore, Lessing’s “subversive thinking”, in a large scale, is hoped to bring some enlightenment to human beings for the construction of the harmonious society. |
