Abstract:
The present article explores Doris Lessing's novel The Cleft (2007) by means of conceptualizations of space and the body that highlight their instability and ever-changing qualities, resulting from their socially constructed nature. The Cleft revisits the myth of origin of humankind through the interpretation of ancient manuscripts that a Roman Senator carries out. In this alternative inauguration of humankind, the reproduction of the first people (women) is asexual. I explore here how women's and men's bodies are constructed through time, which spatial imaginations and organizations determine the construction of these bodies, and the effect of recreating a myth in which humanity's origin is female.
Keywords:
The Cleft; Myth of origin; Corporeal practices; Body; Space