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Article

Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook: A Critique of Socialism or the Stalinisation of Socialism?

  1. ÇANAKKALE ONSEKİZ MART ÜNİVERSİTESİ

Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters, Volume 36, Issue 1 (2018) pp. 11–22

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Abstract

Even though it is a well-accepted fact that most socialists have been opposed to the one-man rule of the Stalinistregime, described as “a whole river of blood” by Trotsky (1937), the name of Stalin is deliberately manipulated andlinked with socialism in order to implicitly charge Marxism with inherent despotic inclinations. In this context, the aimof this study is to unearth the fossilised hierarchal structure of the Stalinist bureaucracy, to investigate the impacts ofthe ideological hegemony of the Stalinist dogma on the revolutionary practices of socialist activists and to reveal thatStalinism, above all, victimised and tyrannised socialist activists, through a close reading of Anna’s critical attitudetowards the Communist Party in Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook. This study will also focus on the role of theleft-wing writer in a mid-fifties communist milieu and examine the dogmatisation of Marxism and the widening gapbetween theory and practice in left-wing politics during the Stalin era. This will provide a framework to discuss whetherthe novel is actually intended or functions more as a critique of socialism or specifically of Stalinism. Over the courseof the study, some short excerpts from Lessing’s interviews and autobiographical work, Walking in The Shade: VolumeTwo of My Autobiography, 1949-1962, will be used.

Abstract (Turkish, translation)

Doris Lessing’in The Golden Notebook İsimli Eseri: Sosyalizmin mi Yoksa Sosyalizmin Stalinizasyonunun mu Eleştirisi?

Birçok Sosyalistin Stalin dönemindeki tek adam diktatörlüğüne – Trotsky (1937) bu durumu “kan deryası” olarakisimlendirir – karşı çıktığı bilinen bir gerçek olsa da Stalin figürü Marksist dünya görüşünün despotik eğilimleresahip olduğunu belirtmek amacıyla bilinçli olarak manipüle edilip Sosyalizm ile ilişkilendirilmektedir. Bu noktada,bu çalışmanın amacı, Stalinist bürokrasinin fosilleşmiş hiyerarşik yapısını, Stalinist dogmanın Sosyalist aktivistlerindevrimci pratikleri üzerindeki ideolojik hegemonyasını ve Stalinist dünya görüşünün, her şeyden önce Sosyalistlerezulmettiğini, Doris Lessing’in The Golden Notebook isimli eserinde Anna’nın Komünist Parti’ye olan eleştirelyaklaşımını göz önünde bulundurarak ortaya koymaktır. Bu çalışma, aynı zamanda, 1950’lerin ortasında komünistçevrelerdeki sol kökenli yazarların eğilimleri üzerine odaklanacak ve Stalin dönemindeki Marksist dünya görüşünündogmalaşmasını ve pratik ile teori arasındaki giderek büyüyen uçurumu inceleyecektir. Bu da romanın Sosyalizminmi yoksa Sosyalizmin Stalinizasyonunun mu eleştirisi olup olmadığını tartışmak için teorik bir zemin oluşturacaktır.Çalışmada, Lessing’in röportajlarını da içeren otobiyografik eseri Walking in The Shade: Volume Two of MyAutobiography, 1949-1962’den alıntılar da kullanacaktır.

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References

  1. Berlin, Isaiah. (2000). “The Arts in Russia under Stalin.” The New York Review of Books. October 19.
  2. Cederstrom, Lorelei. (1990). Fine-Tuning the Feminine Psyche: Jungian Patterns in the Novels of Doris Lessing. New York: Peter Lang.Derrida, J. (1976). Of Grammatology. Translated by Gayatri Spivak. Baltimore: John Hopkins UP.
  3. Draine, Betsy. (1980). “Nostalgia and Irony: The Postmodern Order of The Golden Notebook.” Modern Fiction Studies 26: 31-48.
  4. Goldman, Wendy Z. (2002). Women at the Gates: Gender and Industry in Stalin’s Russia. Cambridge: Cambridge UP.
  5. Hoggart, Richard, and Raymond Williams. (1960). “Working-Class Attitudes.” New Left Review 1: 26-30.
  6. Lessing, Doris. (1994). A Small Personal Voice: Essays, Reviews, Interviews. Edited by Paul Schlueter. London: Flamingo.---. (2014). The Golden Notebook. London: Fourth Estate.
  7. ---. (1998). Walking In The Shade: Volume Two of My Autobiography, 1949-1962. London: Flamingo.
  8. Libby, Marion V. (1974). “Sex and the New Woman in The Golden Notebook.” The Iowa Review 5: 106-120.
  9. Schweickart, Patrocinio P. (1985). “Reading a Wordless Statement: The Structure of Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook.” Modern Fiction Studies 21: 263-279.
  10. Sherry, Samantha. (2012). “Censorship in Translation in the Soviet Union in the Stalin and Khrushchev Eras.” PhD Dissertation, The University of Edinburg.
  11. Wallach, Amei. (1991). “Censorship in the Soviet Bloc.” Art Journal 50: 75-83.

Cite this publication

APA 7

Baglama, S. H. (2018). Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook: A Critique of Socialism or the Stalinisation of Socialism? Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters, 36(1), 11–22. https://doi.org/10.32600/huefd.434191

BibTeX

@article{baglama2018doris,
  author = {Baglama, Sercan Hamza},
  title = {{Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook: A Critique of Socialism or the Stalinisation of Socialism?}},
  journal = {Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters},
  volume = {36},
  number = {1},
  pages = {11--22},
  publisher = {Hacettepe {\"U}niversitesi},
  year = {2018},
  month = {6},
  issn = {1301-5737},
  doi = {10.32600/huefd.434191},
  url = {https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/doris-lessings-the-golden-notebook-a-critique-of-socialism-or-the-stalinisation-of-socialism},
  language = {en},
  keywords = {Doris Lessing, The Golden Notebook, Marxism, Socialism, Stalin},
  abstract = {Even though it is a well-accepted fact that most socialists have been opposed to the one-man rule of the Stalinistregime, described as ``a whole river of blood'' by Trotsky (1937), the name of Stalin is deliberately manipulated andlinked with socialism in order to implicitly charge Marxism with inherent despotic inclinations. In this context, the aimof this study is to unearth the fossilised hierarchal structure of the Stalinist bureaucracy, to investigate the impacts ofthe ideological hegemony of the Stalinist dogma on the revolutionary practices of socialist activists and to reveal thatStalinism, above all, victimised and tyrannised socialist activists, through a close reading of Anna's critical attitudetowards the Communist Party in Doris Lessing's The Golden Notebook. This study will also focus on the role of theleft-wing writer in a mid-fifties communist milieu and examine the dogmatisation of Marxism and the widening gapbetween theory and practice in left-wing politics during the Stalin era. This will provide a framework to discuss whetherthe novel is actually intended or functions more as a critique of socialism or specifically of Stalinism. Over the courseof the study, some short excerpts from Lessing's interviews and autobiographical work, Walking in The Shade: VolumeTwo of My Autobiography, 1949-1962, will be used.},
  affiliation = {{\c{C}}ANAKKALE ONSEK{\.I}Z MART {\"U}N{\.I}VERS{\.I}TES{\.I}}
}
.bib

RIS

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Baglama, Sercan Hamza
TI  - Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook: A Critique of Socialism or the Stalinisation of Socialism?
T2  - Hacettepe University Journal of the Faculty of Letters
VL  - 36
IS  - 1
PY  - 2018
DA  - 2018/06/15/
SP  - 11
EP  - 22
PB  - Hacettepe Üniversitesi
SN  - 1301-5737
DO  - 10.32600/huefd.434191
UR  - https://hacettepe.hbtech.com.tr/en/publication/doris-lessings-the-golden-notebook-a-critique-of-socialism-or-the-stalinisation-of-socialism
AB  - Even though it is a well-accepted fact that most socialists have been opposed to the one-man rule of the Stalinistregime, described as “a whole river of blood” by Trotsky (1937), the name of Stalin is deliberately manipulated andlinked with socialism in order to implicitly charge Marxism with inherent despotic inclinations. In this context, the aimof this study is to unearth the fossilised hierarchal structure of the Stalinist bureaucracy, to investigate the impacts ofthe ideological hegemony of the Stalinist dogma on the revolutionary practices of socialist activists and to reveal thatStalinism, above all, victimised and tyrannised socialist activists, through a close reading of Anna’s critical attitudetowards the Communist Party in Doris Lessing’s The Golden Notebook. This study will also focus on the role of theleft-wing writer in a mid-fifties communist milieu and examine the dogmatisation of Marxism and the widening gapbetween theory and practice in left-wing politics during the Stalin era. This will provide a framework to discuss whetherthe novel is actually intended or functions more as a critique of socialism or specifically of Stalinism. Over the courseof the study, some short excerpts from Lessing’s interviews and autobiographical work, Walking in The Shade: VolumeTwo of My Autobiography, 1949-1962, will be used.
KW  - Doris Lessing
KW  - The Golden Notebook
KW  - Marxism
KW  - Socialism
KW  - Stalin
LA  - en
AD  - ÇANAKKALE ONSEKİZ MART ÜNİVERSİTESİ
ER  -
.ris