Subject
Re: VN on allegory?
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Date
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James Studdard[ to Leland] The "ignore allegory" was proposed in an interview, while "detest symbols, etc." was uttered in a thoughtful afterword to Lolita. Context might have every thing to do with the admonition. "
JM: I agree with JS, context is fundamental. So here comes another problem related to symbol and allegory.
In his lectures on James Joyce (Lectures on Literature, p. 287-88,Bowers) VN noted "All art is in a sense symbolic; but we say "stop, thief" to the critic who deliberately transforms an artist's subtle symbol into a pedant's stale allegory - a thousand and one nights into a convention of Shriners*.
I wonder if there are other full quotations that may help me understand what VN meant by "all art is in a sense symbolic".
Frances Assa [to Jansy: But what makes you so sure that Shades thoughts and beliefs are VN's own?]
JM:A good point. I cannot.
My confusion must have been prompted by the fact that these two sets of verses (from Canto II and IV on "plexed artistry" and "my universe ... iambic line") are just what I'd expect from VN but, never, from Shade - when judged by his IPH conjectures and his ambition to go a step further to Eliot's The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock. It was just a subjective reaction, a distorted view...
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*- From the Wikipedia (excerpts):The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870 is an appendant body to Freemasonry based in the United States[...] William J.Florence, a world-renowned actor, while on tour in Marseilles, was invited to a party given by an Arabian diplomat. The entertainment was something in the nature of an elaborately staged musical comedy. At its conclusion, the guests became members of a secret society [...]Dr. Walter M. Fleming took the ideas supplied by Florence and converted them into what would become the A.A.O.N.M.S.[...]Despite its (Middle-Eastern ) theme, the Shrine is in no way connected to Islam. It is a men's fraternity rather than a religion or religious group.
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JM: I agree with JS, context is fundamental. So here comes another problem related to symbol and allegory.
In his lectures on James Joyce (Lectures on Literature, p. 287-88,Bowers) VN noted "All art is in a sense symbolic; but we say "stop, thief" to the critic who deliberately transforms an artist's subtle symbol into a pedant's stale allegory - a thousand and one nights into a convention of Shriners*.
I wonder if there are other full quotations that may help me understand what VN meant by "all art is in a sense symbolic".
Frances Assa [to Jansy: But what makes you so sure that Shades thoughts and beliefs are VN's own?]
JM:A good point. I cannot.
My confusion must have been prompted by the fact that these two sets of verses (from Canto II and IV on "plexed artistry" and "my universe ... iambic line") are just what I'd expect from VN but, never, from Shade - when judged by his IPH conjectures and his ambition to go a step further to Eliot's The Love Song of Alfred Prufrock. It was just a subjective reaction, a distorted view...
..............................................................................................................................................................................
*- From the Wikipedia (excerpts):The Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine, commonly known as Shriners and abbreviated A.A.O.N.M.S., established in 1870 is an appendant body to Freemasonry based in the United States[...] William J.Florence, a world-renowned actor, while on tour in Marseilles, was invited to a party given by an Arabian diplomat. The entertainment was something in the nature of an elaborately staged musical comedy. At its conclusion, the guests became members of a secret society [...]Dr. Walter M. Fleming took the ideas supplied by Florence and converted them into what would become the A.A.O.N.M.S.[...]Despite its (Middle-Eastern ) theme, the Shrine is in no way connected to Islam. It is a men's fraternity rather than a religion or religious group.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/