Why doesn't Doris Lessing want to be called a feminist?

Pioneer of Women's Rights ":An Inevitable Title"

June 65438+1October1noon, GMT 1 1 or so, 88-year-old Doris? As usual, Lessing went shopping in the supermarket by car alone. Two hours later, she returned to her residence in north London with the big bags and small bags she bought from the supermarket. She was surprised to find that the small garden at the door was crowded with reporters. She was told that she had won this year's Nobel Prize in Literature. Grandma's screenwriter was relieved: "I thought you were shooting a series here!" " "So, she went into the house, put down her things, hurried out and sat on the steps at the door for an interview.

For literary lovers all over the world, Lessing is a familiar and unfamiliar name. She has made her mark in the English literary world and is recognized as the most outstanding female writer in the English world after Woolf. However, her creation belongs to the "realistic" generation, and her main works were completed in the 1960s and 1970s. Lessing has been out of date for too long for young readers.

When Lessing won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2007, the Swedish Academy gave such a verdict: "This poet who expressed female experience made a meticulous investigation of a divided civilization with his skeptical spirit, fiery enthusiasm and rich imagination."

They said nothing about Lessing's later sci-fi novels, but listed the Golden Notebook written 45 years ago, calling it "groundbreaking work" and "one of the few books that influenced the relationship between men and women in the 20th century".

The Nobel Prize was awarded to Lessing, the pioneer of feminism; But this is a great irony for Lessing. Because of The Golden Notebook, Lessing is indisputably the oldest feminist "spokesperson" in Britain. But since the book was published, Lessing has been trying to get rid of that annoying title.

In an interview with The New York Times, Lessing said, "Feminists want to find something from me that I don't actually have. These things actually come from religion ... They want me to say something like,' Hey, sisters, I support you. We fight together to meet a golden dawn, where there will be no more men. Their manifesto about men and women is boring, but that's what they want. I am very disappointed in them. "

Lessing, the product of the compromise of the Nobel Committee?

In fact, this is not the first time Lessing has appeared on the Nobel nomination list. 1962 Her most outstanding masterpiece The Golden Notebook was nominated by Nobel Prize in Literature. Over the past 40 years, she has repeatedly become a popular candidate for the Nobel Prize, but she has repeatedly missed it.

"You know, I have nominated this nomination for at least 30 years, but I haven't given me an award for 30 years, so I don't think about it anymore. This time, they probably thought: This man is old enough to die. If you don't give it to her, maybe there will be no chance in the future! " On the day of winning the prize, Lessing laughed at herself when talking with reporters.

Lessing's self-mockery is not entirely modest. At least in the western world, there are probably as many people who like her as those who hate her. In an interview before winning the prize, she also complained to reporters about her experience at a dinner party in Sweden. At that time, she attended the event with Swedish publishers, and a judge from Nobel Prize in Literature followed her. He proudly said to Lessing, "You will never win the Nobel Prize. We don't like you. "

Some influential scholars also believe that the Swedish Academy Literature Award may have made a wrong decision this time. Harold, a famous American literary critic? Bloom told the Associated Press, "Although Lessing has some admirable qualities in her early writing career, I think her works in the past fifteen years are unreadable and just fourth-rate science fiction."

Some people even speculated that the Nobel Prize candidates in those years lacked people as popular as Kutcher and Pamuk in previous years, and finally chose the successful Lessing, perhaps because of the compromise of the Nobel Prize jury after a heated debate.

However, the Swedish academic literary world does not recognize this statement. Geras, Permanent Secretary-General of Swedish Academy Literature? Endahl said that they have been discussing Lessing's works for a long time, and her award can be called "one of the most thoughtful decisions" in the history of Nobel Prize in Literature.

Feminism or anti-feminism

Different from many realistic writers, Lessing's novels win not by plot, but by inner portrayal and speculative color. Her works are usually 500-600 pages long, which makes many people think reading is an arduous task. However, quite a number of intellectuals and female readers call her a bosom friend, thinking that she shares the feelings of "free women" and the difficulty of maintaining independence, expressing women's voices.

After the publication of The Golden Notebook, it caused a polarized evaluation. Some critics compare it with the famous French feminist writer Simon? Beauvoir's The Second Sex is comparable, but some critics believe that the novel just shows Lessing's identity as an "anti-feminist writer".

In response to various interpretations, in the preface of the reprint of 197 1, Lessing himself responded: "Of course I support the topic of women's liberation ... (But) I don't think the women's liberation movement will achieve much, not because there is anything wrong with the purpose of this movement, but because the political turmoil we have heard and heard has combined the world into a new pattern. While we were waiting,

Since 1970s, Lessing has shown more and more courage to break away from convention. Her works cover everything from novels to poetry, drama and prose, and even she has created a series of science fiction novels named The City of Kennabes on the South Ship, expressing her worries about nuclear war, terrorism, environmental problems and human security. But in recent years, she gradually returned to the realistic tradition, especially the novel Love Again, written in 1995, which has been translated into Chinese. Her next work is Alfred and Emily, an anti-war novel dedicated to her parents.

Due to the complexity of creative themes, Lessing was labeled with various labels all her life, but she did not accept these labels herself. When talking to visiting reporters, Lessing, who is over eighty, stubbornly said, "I used to be a writer, then a producer, then a feminist, and then a mystic, because I wrote about racial issues." However, she stressed, "I am still the same, still the same."

"I don't like the words and deeds of women in the 1960s."

Lessing grew up in South Africa before 1949 came to England. His most famous work is still 1962' s The Golden Notebook. That novel tells the story of young women's experiences as lovers and mothers, and has been regarded as an independent teaching material for women by millions of people all over the world. Will this book become Gloria later? Gloria Stim and Germaine? A pioneer of the feminist movement supported by radical figures such as Jermaine Greer. However, after forty years of war between the sexes, after observing modern women, Lessing no longer believed in the revolution in the 1960s, which was a permanent and pure victory.

"The feminist movement in the 1960s spent too much energy discussing and organizing their groups." Lessing said. "I call it the' Look at my ass' movement." She thinks the feminist movement is too ideological and "wastes women's potential."

Lessing, who has been nominated for the Booker Prize three times, is dismissive of the girl power shown by many women today. She has great contempt for feminist culture. "Look how rude and arrogant they are to the men on TV. I was shocked to hear what women said about men's size. That's disgusting. I am opposed to all actions against men. "

Lessing published two volumes of memoirs, describing her life from childhood to the 1950s. People once thought that the book she took should be the third part of her memoir, which was written in the 1960s.

Instead, she described this life in the form of a novel and named it "The Sweetest Dream", which is scheduled to be published in September. In this book, she tells the story of Francis and her ex-husband Johnny, and discusses "how women turned in the wrong direction in the 1960s".

"I don't like the 1960s," Lessing said. "I don't like what women said and did at that time, such as bragging about how many men they had slept with."

She attributed women's liberation to technology rather than feminism. She believes that contraceptives and time-saving devices, such as dishwashers, play a greater role than ideology.

Now Lessing carefully denies that she ever considered herself a feminist. Nevertheless, many women still regard her as a female role model, even a feminist. The Golden Notebook was published by announcer and writer Joan last month. Joan Bakewell thinks this is "a very important book". I was deeply moved by it. It makes me feel that I can control my life. "

Bakewell agrees with Lessing about female aggression. She said, "I hate all those naked rudeness. Women are becoming more and more rude, although it is reasonable for them to strive for equal pay for equal work. I agree with Lessing that some women are too self-righteous today. "

Novelist Fay? Fay Weldon still calls herself a feminist. Her novel The Big Woman (1999) describes a woman publisher in the 1970s. She doesn't agree that "the movement in the 1960s took a wrong turn", but she also agrees with some of Lessing's statements. "The movement of 1960s is correct. Before that, men hated women extremely, "she said," but the change was too great. I am surprised at the way some women talk to men. "

David? David Thomas's Innocence was written to defend people today. He agrees with Lessing that "women are distracted by the feminist political agenda". He also agrees with her that women nowadays are too rude. "Today, women can say what men dare not say to women. Men should stop apologizing for being men. " He said.