Subject
Re: GLORY: Moon's homosexuality (fwd)
Date
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EDITOR's NOTE. Two thoughts: 1) It might be interesting look at Kinbote as
the Moon character "writ (very) large." 2) I call everyone's attention to
Olga Skonechnaya's article "People of the Moonlight: Silver Age PArodies
in Nabokov's EYE & THE GIFT" in the new (1996) NABOKOV STUDIES. Dr.
Skonechnaya, author of the first Russian doctoral dissertation on VN
offers an extremely well-informed discussion of VN & the subject of
homosexuality.
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From: "Peter A. Kartsev" <petr@glas.apc.org>
What I wanted to suggest was that for a "straight" young man of 20 it may
be acutely embarrassing to find himself in the company of an old
homosexual who even made a pass at him. It is rather Vadim who finds Moon
ridiculous and repulsive, while Martin, I think, is simply embarrassed. I
wouldn't call this attitude stereotypical, I'd say it was true to the
inner logic of the character. And since the novel is focused on Martin,
after he stops seeing his tutor, the tutor naturally disappears from
reader's view (it's a matter of regret for me, too, by the way).
Of course, Nabokov could refrain from making Moon a homosexual, had he
wanted to keep him longer. But maybe, if one wants to see it that way,
this sexual polarity parallels precisely their contrasting attitudes
towards Russia. Moon's Russia is an artifact, and his love for it can be
interpreted as sterile "homosexual" love, while Martin's final romantic
"podvig" is the closest he can come to a creative act. (Martin is a
character with the author's own sensibility but not his talent. Nabokov
makes it clear in the foreword, I think, but I haven't got the English
text at hand right now). So maybe Nabokov did make a comment on the theme
of their superficial similarity and deeper-lying contrast...
Peter A. Kartsev
Moscow, Russia
the Moon character "writ (very) large." 2) I call everyone's attention to
Olga Skonechnaya's article "People of the Moonlight: Silver Age PArodies
in Nabokov's EYE & THE GIFT" in the new (1996) NABOKOV STUDIES. Dr.
Skonechnaya, author of the first Russian doctoral dissertation on VN
offers an extremely well-informed discussion of VN & the subject of
homosexuality.
------------------------------------------------
From: "Peter A. Kartsev" <petr@glas.apc.org>
What I wanted to suggest was that for a "straight" young man of 20 it may
be acutely embarrassing to find himself in the company of an old
homosexual who even made a pass at him. It is rather Vadim who finds Moon
ridiculous and repulsive, while Martin, I think, is simply embarrassed. I
wouldn't call this attitude stereotypical, I'd say it was true to the
inner logic of the character. And since the novel is focused on Martin,
after he stops seeing his tutor, the tutor naturally disappears from
reader's view (it's a matter of regret for me, too, by the way).
Of course, Nabokov could refrain from making Moon a homosexual, had he
wanted to keep him longer. But maybe, if one wants to see it that way,
this sexual polarity parallels precisely their contrasting attitudes
towards Russia. Moon's Russia is an artifact, and his love for it can be
interpreted as sterile "homosexual" love, while Martin's final romantic
"podvig" is the closest he can come to a creative act. (Martin is a
character with the author's own sensibility but not his talent. Nabokov
makes it clear in the foreword, I think, but I haven't got the English
text at hand right now). So maybe Nabokov did make a comment on the theme
of their superficial similarity and deeper-lying contrast...
Peter A. Kartsev
Moscow, Russia