Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0021829, Wed, 20 Jul 2011 13:22:39 -0300

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Re: [NABOKOV-L] k chertyam sobach'im
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Re: [NABOKV-L] [NABOKOV-L] k chertyam sobach'imStan Kelly-Bootle [to JM: "...Wikipedia on "Latin Profanity" brought me various surprises. For example, "mentula" (little mind) and variations on the origins of Ada's wordplay with "on the verge."] There should be no prolonged surprises over grammatical and biological gender. Confusion arises with the very word gender which means both genre/category and sexual orientation. Sadly, we are stuck with grammatical labels such as masc./fem./neut. Often lacking any biological correlations. Likewise, masc. and fem. rhymes....Another challenge for the translators? Speaking of which, Jansy may not know that Russian krasny (red) is also used colloquially and poetically to mean beautiful.

JM: That's the rub. Nabokov's musicality allowed him to play with caliphonous and, equally, with cacophonous wordings. Note Cicero's elegance when warning agains the latter: "cum autem nobis non dicitur, sed nobiscum?"* I had no idea that Russian krasny could mean red and beautiful. Perhaps this is why after leaving Soviet Russia Nabokov seemed (= I'm not sure) to favor beautiful substitutes for "krasny" - as in "ruby" or "raspberry" ? (an idea for a future investigation: to find out when and how did VN employ the words red and "krasny," and how often red indicated something weak or disgusting (blacks are overcharged with hellish connotations, too).

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* Perhaps one could also refer to Stan's talents as "Cunning autem Linguist non dicitur, sed Linguista Cunning"


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