Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0015098, Thu, 5 Apr 2007 18:29:47 -0400

Subject
Re: THOUGHTS: Folk Stories in VN (European or Slavic?)
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Dear List:

Chekhov (and Capek) please!!
'Tschekov' is worse than 'Nabakov'.

Victor Fet

***
Jansy Mello writes:

Victor Fet ( off list) : " --it is Capek, not Kapek (Czech name, pronounced "Chapek", with sound "ch" like in "child")! ...and, please, -- Chekhov or Chehov [sound "h", like in "home"] but not Chekov or Tchekov!"
S.Soloviev: " ...references to Gogol, Tchekov, Karel Kapek (I know the spelling Capek or Tchapek) seem to confirm what I say - that the folklore referred to by VN was all "filtered" through professional writings...I think it is in accord with the negative attitude of VN towards "spontaneous",and "simple" in litterature."

JM: Litterature? Litter? Stone? Literature?
[ I hope fellow List-Members forgive me for my regular spelling and grammar mistakes, to have them registered correctly in the List's archives. Thank you. Usually the books about folklore that I read to my grandchildren are in Portuguese and author's names suffer the most interesting variations when transposed into another language.]

Sergei, I still cannot grasp your point about folklore when you say that it appears in VN " filtered through professional writings" ...
Most folktales, if not all, were mainly spread by oral tradition. When they gain a written form they are always, necessarily, filtered through more or less professional writings. What is your question, then?

***

John A. Rea writes:

Several years ago in a formal lecture the late Hugh Jansen
(one of the "wheels" of the American Folklore Association;
I'm winging the name from what's left of my memory), allowed
as how the only true "folklore" still alive consisted of
"Dirty Jokes" all other examples being no longer true folklore.
The title of his speech was, "The Anatomy of the Dirty Joke"
His well composed and delightfully presented talk was likewise
nicely illustrated with examples. 'Twas both learned and witty.
dulce et decorum.

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