Subject
Gender distribution among Nabokov admirers
Date
Body
EDITOR's COMMENT. I hadn't given gender among VN admirers any thought. My
general (but possibly mistaken) impression is that there is no particular
gender division among VN scholars. A quick glance at my shelf of
VN-critical monographs shows a dozen women authors. And I don't recall
any marked gender disparity in my VN classes over a twenty-year period.
---------------------------------------------------------------
From: ValSyl@aol.com
Thanks to Alphonse Vinh for posting the Chicago Tribune story about Lyne's
LO. Just last night around the postprandial board the subject came up:
could or would LO be published today? The Trib's reporter presents a
helpful overview for the general reader.
One otherwise very well-read friend was surprised to find that there are
female Nabokovians. "I didn't think any women read his books," she
commented. In light of the comments by Susan Brownmiller reproduced in the
Trib, I'm wondering if other distaff members of the Forum have encountered
attitudes along these lines, ranging from well-meaning ignorance like my
friend's to closed-minded hostility like Ms. Brownmiller's, and what kinds of
responses are effective or appropriate. I just started babbling about
waxwings and starlings and Pat and Patricia and the solitary russet echo, and
I don't think I convinced my friends of anything beyond the need for more
booze.
Sylvia
Sylvia Weiser Wendel
general (but possibly mistaken) impression is that there is no particular
gender division among VN scholars. A quick glance at my shelf of
VN-critical monographs shows a dozen women authors. And I don't recall
any marked gender disparity in my VN classes over a twenty-year period.
---------------------------------------------------------------
From: ValSyl@aol.com
Thanks to Alphonse Vinh for posting the Chicago Tribune story about Lyne's
LO. Just last night around the postprandial board the subject came up:
could or would LO be published today? The Trib's reporter presents a
helpful overview for the general reader.
One otherwise very well-read friend was surprised to find that there are
female Nabokovians. "I didn't think any women read his books," she
commented. In light of the comments by Susan Brownmiller reproduced in the
Trib, I'm wondering if other distaff members of the Forum have encountered
attitudes along these lines, ranging from well-meaning ignorance like my
friend's to closed-minded hostility like Ms. Brownmiller's, and what kinds of
responses are effective or appropriate. I just started babbling about
waxwings and starlings and Pat and Patricia and the solitary russet echo, and
I don't think I convinced my friends of anything beyond the need for more
booze.
Sylvia
Sylvia Weiser Wendel