Spiritual Exploration in the Works of Doris Lessing

(Hardback)

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Though Doris Lessing never explicitly refers to spirituality in her This book examines the prominence of spirituality in her writings. The volume provides both close readings of individual works and sweeping surveys of her nearly 50 years career. The contributors employ a variety of theoretical perspectives such as systems theory, feminist studies of the body and of androgyny, postcolonial theories, mythic prophecy and intersubjective psychology. The contributors reveal that Lessing's presentation of spirituality is neither rigid nor orthodox, neither the product of the split between the body and the soul nor anchored in formal systems of the past or present. The volume is divided into three sections. The first, on spirituality manifested in everyday life, examines individual works in which ordinary experiences such as growing old or struggling to adapt to the difficulties of married life comment on spiritual concerns. Included are chapters on "The Diaries of Jane Somers" and "The Marriages Between Zones Three, Four and Five". The second section contains chapters on the formation and dissolution of individual identity for characters at different stages of the life cycle and the parallel changes within societies at different stages of cultural collapse. The third part presents chapters on the larger patterns that inform many of Lessing's works, with attention either to individual texts or to clusters of her writings works, she nonetheless explores spiritual issues throughout her texts.

Reviews

[T]his is an illuminating collection that will be of interest to anyone wishing to better understand Lessing's complex and challenging work.-Utopian Studies
A book of obvious interest to Lessing students, other readers familiar with Lessing, and graduate library collections.-SFRA Review
"This is an illuminating collection that will be of interest to anyone wishing to better understand Lessing's complex and challenging work."-Utopian Studies
"A book of obvious interest to Lessing students, other readers familiar with Lessing, and graduate library collections."-SFRA Review
"[T]his is an illuminating collection that will be of interest to anyone wishing to better understand Lessing's complex and challenging work."-Utopian Studies

Author Bio

PHYLLIS STERNBERG PERRAKIS is a part-time Professor of English at the University of Ottawa and is president of the Doris Lessing Society.