Spatial Construction in Doris Lessing’s The Memoirs of a Survivor

The Memoirs of a Survivor constructs a chaotic but orderly doomsday world. The spatial system of this paradoxical world is constructed by three forms: spatial opposition, spatial transformation and textual spatialization, mirroring Lessing’s thoughts on spatial discrepancy, transformation and contradictory relations. The “I” in this novel observes Emily in the space on both sides of the wall, witnessing her hard experience of self-construction. In this process, the hierarchy of space and transformation of geographical space represent the imbalanced power and gender relations, while the spatialization of the text becomes the embodiment of Lessing’s diaspora identity.