Subject
Harlequin Jaloux
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Date
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The hero and narrator of Look at the Harlequins!, Vadim Vadimovich Blonsky feels that his life is "the non-identical twin, a parody, an inferior variant of another man's life, somewhere on this or another earth." (LATH, 2.3)
In his poem Svoemu dvoyniku (Leonidu Ledyanomu), To my Double (Leonid Ledyanoy), 1917, Andrey Bely calls his own double "Harlequin Jaloux":
Не публицист и не философ,
А просто Harlequin Jaloux,
Вы – погрузили ряд вопросов
В казуистическую мглу...
Leonid Ledyanoy ("Mr. Isaac Icecold") is the hero of Bely's autobiographical tale Zapiski chudaka ("An Eccentric's Notes", 1922). According to the author, his tale is сатира на самого себя, на пережитое лично (a sitire on myself, on my personal experience).
Bely's tale was fiercely criticized by Osip Mandelshtam: Танцующая проза «Записок чудака» — высшая школа литературной самовлюбленности. Рассказать о себе, вывернуть себя наизнанку, показать себя в четвёртом, пятом, шестом измерении... «Записки чудака» свидетельствуют о культурной отсталости и запущенности берлинской провинции и художественном одичании даже лучших её представителей. All the same, Mandelshtam does not forget that Bely is the author of Petersburg: А над Белым смеяться не хочется и грех: он написал «Петербург».
"Vadim Vadimovich" sounds almost like "Vladimir Vladimirovich" in slovenly ponunciation, but this name and patronymic also reminds one of Apollon Apollonovich Ableukhov, a character in Bely's Petersburg. Ableukhov's prototype, the Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod K. P. Pobedonostsev (1827-1907), is mentioned by Blok in his verse epic Vozmezdie ("Retribution," 1910-21): Pobedonostev nad Rossiey / Prostyor sovinye kryla (Pobedonostsev over Russia / Has spread his owlish wings).
Btw., Bely's Petersburg was published by "Sirin" in 1913-14. In Chapter Five of LATH Vadim Vadimovich describes his visit to Leningrad (St. Petersburg's name in 1924-91). Ninel (a friend of Vadim's second wife Annette Blagovo) is Lenin backwards.
Alexey Sklyarenko
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In his poem Svoemu dvoyniku (Leonidu Ledyanomu), To my Double (Leonid Ledyanoy), 1917, Andrey Bely calls his own double "Harlequin Jaloux":
Не публицист и не философ,
А просто Harlequin Jaloux,
Вы – погрузили ряд вопросов
В казуистическую мглу...
Leonid Ledyanoy ("Mr. Isaac Icecold") is the hero of Bely's autobiographical tale Zapiski chudaka ("An Eccentric's Notes", 1922). According to the author, his tale is сатира на самого себя, на пережитое лично (a sitire on myself, on my personal experience).
Bely's tale was fiercely criticized by Osip Mandelshtam: Танцующая проза «Записок чудака» — высшая школа литературной самовлюбленности. Рассказать о себе, вывернуть себя наизнанку, показать себя в четвёртом, пятом, шестом измерении... «Записки чудака» свидетельствуют о культурной отсталости и запущенности берлинской провинции и художественном одичании даже лучших её представителей. All the same, Mandelshtam does not forget that Bely is the author of Petersburg: А над Белым смеяться не хочется и грех: он написал «Петербург».
"Vadim Vadimovich" sounds almost like "Vladimir Vladimirovich" in slovenly ponunciation, but this name and patronymic also reminds one of Apollon Apollonovich Ableukhov, a character in Bely's Petersburg. Ableukhov's prototype, the Ober-Procurator of the Holy Synod K. P. Pobedonostsev (1827-1907), is mentioned by Blok in his verse epic Vozmezdie ("Retribution," 1910-21): Pobedonostev nad Rossiey / Prostyor sovinye kryla (Pobedonostsev over Russia / Has spread his owlish wings).
Btw., Bely's Petersburg was published by "Sirin" in 1913-14. In Chapter Five of LATH Vadim Vadimovich describes his visit to Leningrad (St. Petersburg's name in 1924-91). Ninel (a friend of Vadim's second wife Annette Blagovo) is Lenin backwards.
Alexey Sklyarenko
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/