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Fwd: RE: mythmaking
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----- Forwarded message from gshiman@optonline.net -----
Date: Sun, 11 Sep 2005 22:41:53 -0400
From: George Shimanovich <gshiman@optonline.net>
Reply-To: George Shimanovich <gshiman@optonline.net>
Subject: RE: mythmaking
To: 'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'
> Public sphere (scholarship) presupposes responsibility, whereas popular
sphere does not. A subtle distinction.
And it is only appropriate to use popular terms to describe such
contributions and contributors from popular sphere: how about spam and
spam-meisters?
- George Shimanovich
-----Original Message-----
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] On Behalf
Of Donald B. Johnson
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2005 10:12 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Fwd: mythmaking
Dear All,
I think people professionally engaged in the humanities tend to make works
of art relevant to what they perceive as the cultural demands of the now and
here. They depend upon their personal perceptions in doing so, but their
professional status guarantees that their perceptions are adequate to the
public notions of those cultural demands. In other words, scholarship is
part of the public sphere, and a scholar's work is always connected to, and
is nourished by, his or her culture.
I'd suggest that Alexander Dolinin's work is very important in the context
of contemporary Russian culture in that it forms the basis of a 'Russian'
understanding of VN's work (which does not prevent it from being interesting
to non-Slavists). There is, if you will, a cultural meaning to Dolinin's
work.
By the same token, I fail to see any meaning in Joanne Morgan's work. Ms
Morgan's (and Mr Centerwall's) theory reminds me of the determined efforts
of a certain person on the Shakespeare list to prove that Shakespeare was a
crypto-Jew. Both theories exist on the fringe of scholarship; the proponents
of both theories build their argument not on positive evidence, but rather
on a lack of contrary evidence (no matter Shakespeare never said he was not
a Jew, it was because he was afraid of the consequences; no matter VN never
said he was a pedophile, it was because he feared the consequences); and
both theories are founded on dementedly complicated codes supposedly cracked
by the authors. Perhaps, it would have never happened if Shakespeare were
not the best known literary name in the world, and LOLITA were not one of
the most popular novels of the last century. Public sphere (scholarship)
presupposes responsibility, whereas popular sphere does not. A subtle
distinction.
Best,
Sergey
----- End forwarded message -----