The Journey to Dialogic Self in Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook and The Diary of a Good Neighbour

Year 2023, Volume: 17 Issue: 1, 80 - 94, 30.06.2023

Başak Çün

https://doi.org/10.47777/cankujhss.1239037

Abstract

The Golden Notebook (1962) and The Diary of a Good Neighbour (1983) by Doris Lessing are two novels providing insight into the perceptions of their protagonists, Anna and Janna, regarding life and self. When approached from the dialogic standpoint of Russian linguist and literary theorist Mikhail M. Bakhtin, both novels are notable with respect to the conflicts they issue between the self as a monologic outcome of life experiences, and the necessity felt for moving towards a dialogic conceptualization of self, and hence, of life. While addressing the one-sided observation an individual performs in the way she understands her self and surroundings, the novels carry a scrutinizing aspect to the psychological and social impacts of this monologic demeanor. This paper reveals how, in Lessing’s two novels, Bakhtin’s dialogic principle, and based on this, a concept of dialogic self is applicable. Analyzing the protagonists’ relations with their selves, it argues that their monologic interactions with the self and the world evolve into living, dialogic ones fed by their new perceptions.

Keywords

Doris Lessing, Mikhail M. Bakhtin, dialogic principle, self

Doris Lessing’in The Golden Notebook ve The Diary of a Good Neigbour Adlı Romanlarında Diyalojik Benliğe Yolculuk

Abstract

Doris Lessing’in The Golden Notebook (1962) ve The Diary of a Good Neighbour (1983) isimli romanları, ana karakterleri Anna ve Janna’nın hayata ve benliğe yönelik algılarına ışık tutarlar. Rus dilbilimci ve edebi kuramcı Mikhail M. Bakhtin’in diyalojik bakış açısından bakıldığı zaman, her iki roman da hayat deneyimlerinin monolojik bir sonucu olarak gelişen benlik ile, diyalojik olarak oluşturulan bir benliğe, dolayısıyla da hayata geçiş için duyulan ihtiyaç arasındaki çatışmalara değinmeleri bakımından dikkat çeker. Romanlar, bireyin benliğini ve çevresini anlama yöntemindeki tek taraflı gözleme değinirken, bu monolojik tutumun psikolojik ve sosyal sonuçlarını eleştiren bir yöne de sahiptirler. Bu çalışma, Lessing’in bu iki romanında, Bakhtin’in diyalojik prensibine dayanan diyalojik benlik kavramının nasıl mümkün olduğunu ortaya koymaktadır. Ana karakterlerin kendi benlikleriyle ilişkilerini analiz ederken, benlikle ve dünyayla kurmuş oldukları monolojik etkileşimin, yeni algılarından beslenerek, yaşayan, diyalojik bir türe dönüştüğünü savunmaktadır.

Keywords

Doris Lessing, Mikhail M. Bakhtin, dialogic principle, self

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