Screen LibraryNabokov's otherworld /
A major reexamination of the novelist Vladimir Nabokov as "literary gamesman," this book systematically shows that behind his ironic manipulation of narrative and his puzzle-like treatment of detail there lies an aesthetic rooted in his intuition of a transcendent realm and in his conseque...
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| Published: |
Princeton University Press,
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| Publisher Address: | Princeton, N.J. : |
| Publication Dates: |
[1991] ©1991 |
| Literature type: | eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/9781400861712 http://www.degruyter.com/doc/cover/9781400861712.jpg |
| Summary: |
A major reexamination of the novelist Vladimir Nabokov as "literary gamesman," this book systematically shows that behind his ironic manipulation of narrative and his puzzle-like treatment of detail there lies an aesthetic rooted in his intuition of a transcendent realm and in his consequent redefinition of "nature" and "artifice" as synonyms. Beginning with Nabokov's discursive writings, Vladimir Alexandrov finds his world view centered on the experience of epiphany--characterized by a sudden fusion of varied sensory data and memories, a feeling of timelessness, and an intuition of immortality--which grants the true artist intimations of an "otherworld." Readings of The Defense, Invitation to a Beheading, The Gift, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Lolita, and Pale Fire reveal the epiphanic experience to be a touchstone for the characters' metaphysical insightfulness, moral makeup, and aesthetic sensibility, and to be a structural model for how the narratives themselves are fashioned and for the nature of the reader's involvement with the text. In his conclusion, Alexandrov outlines several of Nabokov's possible intellectual and artistic debts to the brilliant and variegated culture that flourished in Russia on the eve of the Revolution. Nabokov emerges as less alienated from Russian culture than most of his emigre readers believed, and as less "modernist" than many of his Western readers still imagine. "Alexandrov's work is distinctive in that it applies an `otherworld' hypothesis as a consistent context to Nabokov's novels. The approach is obviously a fruitful one. Alexandrov is innovative in rooting Nabokov's ethics and aesthetics in the otherwordly and contributes greatly to Nabokov studies by examining certain key terms such as `commonsense,' `nature,' and `artifice.' In general Alexandrov's study leads to a much clearer understanding of Nabokov's metaphysics."--D. Barton Johnson, University of California, Santa BarbaraOriginally published in 1991.The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905. |
| Carrier Form: | 1 online resource (288 pages) : illustrations |
| ISBN: | 9781400861712 |
| Index Number: | PG3476 |
| CLC: | I712.065 |
| Contents: |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Note on Transliteration -- INTRODUCTION: Nabokov's Metaphysics, Ethics, and Aesthetics -- CHAPTER ONE: Speak, Memory and Other Discursive Writings -- CHAPTER TWO: The Defense -- CHAPTER THREE: Invitation to a Beheading -- CHAPTER FOUR: The Gift -- CHAPTER FIVE: The Real Life of Sebastian Knight -- CHAPTER SIX: Lolita -- CHAPTER SEVEN: Pale Fire -- CONCLUSION: Nabokov and the Silver Age of Russian Culture -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index. |