“Born Out of My Ownself”: (Re)claiming the Self in Doris Lessing’s Under My Skin, Volume 1, 1919-1949

Abstract

This paper seeks to explore how self-identity is (re)constructed through the narrative act of autobiography in Doris Lessing’s Under My Skin, Volume 1, 1919-1949 (1995). The paper argues that the authentic self is born in the process of narrative writing and that the self coexists with other selves that are a result of socialisation. It also seeks to interrogate how this process of identity formation is realised through the prisms of memory, history, culture and social environment and the unconscious self. The fluid or provisional nature of identity, and the subjective nature of the above factors will be critically examined in an attempt to better understand the nature of life narratives in the broad scope of literary study.

Opsomming

Hierdie verhandeling poog om die (re)konstruksie van selfidentiteit deur die outobiografie as narratiewe handeling te ondersoek aan die hand van Under My Skin, Volume 1, 1919-1949 (1995). Daar word aangevoer dat die ware self uit die narratiewe skryfproses gebore word, en dat die self en die ander selwe wat uit sosialisering voortgespruit het, naas mekaar bestaan. Daar word ook ondersoek ingestel na die vorming van identiteit deur die prismas van geheue, geskiedenis, kultuur, sosiale omgewing en die onbewuste self. Die veranderlike of voorlopige aard van identiteit en die subjektiewe aard van die bogenoemde faktore word krities ondersoek om 'n beter begrip te vorm van die aard van lewensnarratiewe binne die groter bestek van literatuurstudie.