Subject
[NABOKOV-L] Nabokovian spoof and self-parody
From
Date
Body
On contrafactum and "self-parody", here is the quote I was looking for, from Strong Opinion, Vintage, page 95 ( interview with Herbert Gold, Sept.,1966):
Question: "Clarence Brown of Princeton has pointed out striking similarities in your work. He refers to you as "extremely repetitious" and that in wildly different ways you are in essence saying the same thing ....Are you consciously aware...that you strive for a conscious unity to your shelf of books? "
VN's answer: "I do not think I have seen Clarence Brown's essay, but he may have something there. Derivative writers seem versatile because they imitate many others, past and present. Artistic originality has only its own self to copy."
............................................
In the interim, I became suspicious that Ada's Mlle Ida Montparnasse doesn't primarily indicate Greek myths or the Parnassian poets, ellaborate metaphors through history alone. There are "ida" and "montparnasse" butterfly designations galore in SO. Our diamantine governess must represent a particular crossing, hybridization, marvel or monstrosity, which I leave to the entomologically inclined to point out.. Pale Fire's "Luna Moth" makes its appearance in a critical review of Audubon's Butterflies, Moths and Other Studies and the "lepidoptera they (Audubon's sketches) burlesque." (SO,Vintage, p.329) The papers on lepidoptera were included to the collection of interviews because Nabokov took into account their "sufficient literary interest." (SO,314) to harmonize with the "ridge" where art and science meet.
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/
Question: "Clarence Brown of Princeton has pointed out striking similarities in your work. He refers to you as "extremely repetitious" and that in wildly different ways you are in essence saying the same thing ....Are you consciously aware...that you strive for a conscious unity to your shelf of books? "
VN's answer: "I do not think I have seen Clarence Brown's essay, but he may have something there. Derivative writers seem versatile because they imitate many others, past and present. Artistic originality has only its own self to copy."
............................................
In the interim, I became suspicious that Ada's Mlle Ida Montparnasse doesn't primarily indicate Greek myths or the Parnassian poets, ellaborate metaphors through history alone. There are "ida" and "montparnasse" butterfly designations galore in SO. Our diamantine governess must represent a particular crossing, hybridization, marvel or monstrosity, which I leave to the entomologically inclined to point out.. Pale Fire's "Luna Moth" makes its appearance in a critical review of Audubon's Butterflies, Moths and Other Studies and the "lepidoptera they (Audubon's sketches) burlesque." (SO,Vintage, p.329) The papers on lepidoptera were included to the collection of interviews because Nabokov took into account their "sufficient literary interest." (SO,314) to harmonize with the "ridge" where art and science meet.
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/