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[NABOKOV-L] Rabbits, Haze and Hase - and Rab'lais
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R.S Gwynn mentioned, yesterday, in relation to rhyme and stresses, how Nabokov would have pronounced the name "Rabelais".
His conjecture makes sense, for Nabokov's French was fluent (B.Boyd,perhaps in RY, mentioned that for a time VN even hesitated if his shift would lead him into becoming an English or a French writer).
However, it is impossible to be certain about how a word resounds internally or subconsciously under certain circumstances.
In "Strong Opinions" (Vintage,pg.25) Nabokov wrote: "Dolores also provided her with another, plainer, more familiar and infantil diminutive: Dolly, which went nicely with the surname 'Haze,' where Irsih mists blend with a German bunny - I mean, a small German hare." ( "Hazel" would be even more adequate, associatively, for it carries with it the affectionate diminutive for the "Hase," the proliferation of which is also found elsewhere ( Cf. Alexey Sklyarenko's explanation that Krolik means "rabbit" in Russian and his forthcoming article, 'The Leporine Family of Doctors in Ada,' .." ).
Nabokov's association of "Haze" with "Hase" is very surprising.
The German word sounds very unlike the misty Irish one. VN's particular synesthesia - related either to shapes and shades - must have been a determining factor for this approximation - which, for anyone else, must remain unfathomable.
btw: when Sklyarenko wrote about Gumilov in one of his last postings, I also remembered a word in German that stands for "eraser" and that important substance (mentioned in VN's verbal rainbow in relation to the letter G, I think) which has been insistently referred to in KQK ("gutta-percha") ...but I digress.
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His conjecture makes sense, for Nabokov's French was fluent (B.Boyd,perhaps in RY, mentioned that for a time VN even hesitated if his shift would lead him into becoming an English or a French writer).
However, it is impossible to be certain about how a word resounds internally or subconsciously under certain circumstances.
In "Strong Opinions" (Vintage,pg.25) Nabokov wrote: "Dolores also provided her with another, plainer, more familiar and infantil diminutive: Dolly, which went nicely with the surname 'Haze,' where Irsih mists blend with a German bunny - I mean, a small German hare." ( "Hazel" would be even more adequate, associatively, for it carries with it the affectionate diminutive for the "Hase," the proliferation of which is also found elsewhere ( Cf. Alexey Sklyarenko's explanation that Krolik means "rabbit" in Russian and his forthcoming article, 'The Leporine Family of Doctors in Ada,' .." ).
Nabokov's association of "Haze" with "Hase" is very surprising.
The German word sounds very unlike the misty Irish one. VN's particular synesthesia - related either to shapes and shades - must have been a determining factor for this approximation - which, for anyone else, must remain unfathomable.
btw: when Sklyarenko wrote about Gumilov in one of his last postings, I also remembered a word in German that stands for "eraser" and that important substance (mentioned in VN's verbal rainbow in relation to the letter G, I think) which has been insistently referred to in KQK ("gutta-percha") ...but I digress.
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/