NABOKV-L discussion

The primal scene is defined by Laplanche and Pontalis (1967) as follows: “Scene of sexual intercourse between the parents which the child observes, or infers on the basis of certain indications, and phantasises. It is generally interpreted by the child as an act of violence on the part of the father.”

In the opening pages of Tropic of Capricorn (1939):

“I was corrupt, in other words, corrupt from the start. It’s as though my mother fed me a poison, and though I was weaned young the poison never left my system” (p. 10).

And in the opening pages of Lolita (1955):

“We loved each other with a premature love, marked by a fierceness that so often destroys adult lives. I was a strong lad and survived; but the poison was in the wound, and the wound remained ever open” (p. 18).

Both published by the same bloodline...father and son.

In a miraculous survival, I think there is an obvious reference to Milka (the ubiquitous German chocolate brand) in The Eye:

I paused and looked up at a milk chocolate advertisement with lilac alps.  This was my last chance to  renounce penetrating into the secret of Smurov's immortality. What did I care if this letter would indeed travel across a remote mountain pass into the next century, whose very designation - a two and three zeros - is so fantastic as to seem absurd?

In case someone missed it: our own Robert Michael Pyle is featured prominently in a tantalizing Washington Post article about the Xerces butterfly ("This Butterfly Went Extinct. That's Not the End of Story"). Sorry if this link here takes you to a paywall; it should be available in full via the Apple News app even without a subscription ~ St.Sh. 

Psychanalist:

On page 73 of PALE FIRE Nabokov apparently purposefully writes the word “psychanalists” instead of the usual “psychoanalysts.”

Line 57: The phantom of my little daughter's swing

After this Shade crossed out lightly the following lines in the draft:

I was just re-reading the English translation of  Nadzieja Kortus’ “Masonic Code in the Works of Vladimir Nabokov” which I mentioned in a previous post (https://thenabokovian.org/node/53688#comment-form). I translated the Russian from google/translate for interested English speakers, so I am uploading a pdf here.

Her conclusion is one I fully endorse, as it is also my conclusion for Pale Fire:

Dear Friends:

I write with a bit of speculation about an influence on Pale Fire and a request for corroboration, falsification, and theorizing. 

Not being an academic, I don’t know whether this has been noted before: I do not have access to an academic library. If, as is likely, I am not the first to make these connections, any directions to the relevant literature would be greatly appreciated.

Hudibras and Freemasonry

Line 629: The fate of beasts 

Above this the poet wrote and struck out: 

The madman's fate

I am not sure this trivial variant has been worth commenting; indeed, the whole passage about the activities of the IPH would be quite Hudibrastic had its pedestrian verse been one foot shorter.  

Pale Fire, p. 181

I previously posted a list of personages alluded to in Pale Fire who had mystical, spiritist, or occult interests (https://thenabokovian.org/node/52032). I have upgraded that list here.

Masons present their teachings through symbols and rituals, which they feel presents more of an overall gestaltische absorption than mere words. The symbols are visual illustrations of the basic precepts, called “emblamata.” From several online sources I have deduced the 33 main symbols. Twenty-seven of these may be found in Pale Fire. What are the chances of that?!

 (Not found are: Keystone, Acacia sprig, Trestle Board, Anchor, Ark, Pavement, gavel, 24” Gauge, Tyler’s Sword)