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Re: : Re: Aisenberg's thoughts on PF]]
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JM [ to JF on "Much as I appreciated the comparison to "referential mania", I can't agree that PF is a trap for those who search for the otherworldly. As Brian Boyd points out in his book, Nabokov undoubtedly put a ghost in it" I now set in relation to JA's observation that "I always thought he was just making up models for the possible. Pale Fire, to me seems especially un-otherworldly" and "I was merrely throwing in my two cents about what I took to be the book's essentially comic themes."]
I wish we would quote different scholars to widen our discussion about Pale Fire's "domestic ghosts" but, in fact, this idea seems to be mainly Boydian who, apparently, does not consider the comic dimension present in PF in the same way as JA sees it.
I agree with JA, this novel is wonderfully "tragicomic".
VN's use of "hereafter" instead of "otherworld" (potustoronnost) emphasizes its "thisourworldliness" of its "meta"physical ideas and the delightful quotidian fleshyness of its characters.
BB pointed out the insertion of a ghost [As Brian Boyd points out in his book, Nabokov....] And so what ( in the light of our more general discussion)?
If we contradict the idea of domestic ghosts, are we necessarily criticizing Boyd or merely opposing a metaphysical dimension added to such pathetic domestic ghosts?
JM [ to MR on "I only brought him up because I surmised that JA's original comments about the Otherworld were aimed at Boyd's theory in particular"].
I may be mistaken but I understood that JA was not aiming at Boyd's theory but at how it has been explored. Besides, I see a great difference bt. "the Otherworld" and the choice of writing on a "Hereafter".
MR agrees that if ' "false vistas" are placed there by the author, then we had better go ahead and explore them.They may not take us where wewanted to go, but they are still a worthwhile destination.' At present there is no agreement on how to distinguish "false vistas" and "true revelations" ( of whatever kind) MR adds that "VN's novels are different because they so often take the form of puzzles. And what is the fun of a puzzle if we have no regard for the intentions of the designer." Nabokov was a Designer intermingled with the corpus of the novel ( this interfering playful Designer must be heeded!) while at the same time, he remained Authorially external to it ( not to mention his unconscious to add a bit to that "externality").
In relation to MR's answer to LH [ "I agree with you that there is plenty of evidence in the text to support the notion "that some sort of parellel, some sort of identity between Shade and Kinbote is showing through, however hard Shade tries to erase it." I do not, however,dismiss so easily the notion the Shade and Kinbote share a body." ] I hope we can return to LH poetic suggestion that Shade and Kinbote were presented stylistically as in a mirror ( if I understood his point correctly) .
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I wish we would quote different scholars to widen our discussion about Pale Fire's "domestic ghosts" but, in fact, this idea seems to be mainly Boydian who, apparently, does not consider the comic dimension present in PF in the same way as JA sees it.
I agree with JA, this novel is wonderfully "tragicomic".
VN's use of "hereafter" instead of "otherworld" (potustoronnost) emphasizes its "thisourworldliness" of its "meta"physical ideas and the delightful quotidian fleshyness of its characters.
BB pointed out the insertion of a ghost [As Brian Boyd points out in his book, Nabokov....] And so what ( in the light of our more general discussion)?
If we contradict the idea of domestic ghosts, are we necessarily criticizing Boyd or merely opposing a metaphysical dimension added to such pathetic domestic ghosts?
JM [ to MR on "I only brought him up because I surmised that JA's original comments about the Otherworld were aimed at Boyd's theory in particular"].
I may be mistaken but I understood that JA was not aiming at Boyd's theory but at how it has been explored. Besides, I see a great difference bt. "the Otherworld" and the choice of writing on a "Hereafter".
MR agrees that if ' "false vistas" are placed there by the author, then we had better go ahead and explore them.They may not take us where wewanted to go, but they are still a worthwhile destination.' At present there is no agreement on how to distinguish "false vistas" and "true revelations" ( of whatever kind) MR adds that "VN's novels are different because they so often take the form of puzzles. And what is the fun of a puzzle if we have no regard for the intentions of the designer." Nabokov was a Designer intermingled with the corpus of the novel ( this interfering playful Designer must be heeded!) while at the same time, he remained Authorially external to it ( not to mention his unconscious to add a bit to that "externality").
In relation to MR's answer to LH [ "I agree with you that there is plenty of evidence in the text to support the notion "that some sort of parellel, some sort of identity between Shade and Kinbote is showing through, however hard Shade tries to erase it." I do not, however,dismiss so easily the notion the Shade and Kinbote share a body." ] I hope we can return to LH poetic suggestion that Shade and Kinbote were presented stylistically as in a mirror ( if I understood his point correctly) .
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/