The Divided Self and Fragmented Narrative: The Dilemma of the “Free Woman” in Anna of “The Golden Notebook” from the Perspective of Trauma Theory

Abstract

Doris Lessing is a literary giant in the UK, and her “The Golden Notebook” is a milestone in feminist literature. This paper, from the perspective of trauma theory, analyzes the political belief collapse, gender predicament and emotional trauma that the protagonist Anna Wulf encounters in her pursuit of the identity of a “free woman” in the novel. Anna, from classifying various notebooks to integrating them into the golden notebook, confronts fragments, accepts contradictions, and reconstructs a complex and true self in the narrative. Thus, “The Golden Notebook” becomes a witness and medium of healing for trauma, revealing the paradox of the “free woman” ideal in a specific historical and structural context, and pointing out a possible path for post-war intellectual women to traverse trauma and reshape themselves.