Subject
Fw: Alex Sklyarenko on Brian Boyd on "Chose" in ADA
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Jerry Friedman" <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Friday, November 01, 2002 2:21 PM
Subject: Re: Alex Sklyarenko on Brian Boyd on "Chose" in ADA
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (70
lines) ------------------
> You might find some support for your theory in Baudelaire's
> poem "Correspondances", which contains not only "parfums"
> and "choses" in association, but also "echos", which is an
> anagram for "chose" (except for the accent aigu on the e).
>
> If I knew Russian, I'd be thinking about words that look
> like CHOSE. But probably people have tried that already.
>
> I'm going to try asking on Usenet.
>
> I have to say that no suggestion is going to seem right to
> me without some connection to Cambridge or Van. But then I
> find a lot of VN's wordplay unsatisfying.
>
> Jerry Friedman
>
> --- Donald Johnson <chtodel@cox.net> wrote:
> > EDNOTE. Alex Sklyarenko has done an (as yet) unpublished Russian
translation of
> > ADA. Also, see his charming essay on the Nabokov family fencing and
> > boxing coach (w/ photos of his skeleton) on ZEMBLA.
> >
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: Re: [Fwd: RE: Brian Boyd on "Chose" in ADA]
> > Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 17:46:56 +0300
> > From: "alex" <sklyarenko@users.mns.ru>
> > To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > References: <3DC1886B.2010205@cox.net>
> >
> >
> >
> > Although my badly formulated hypothesis about Chose/Fleurs du Mal was
> > found to be "most unlikely" and is indeed most probably wrong (despite
> > all evidence that speaks against it, it is not easy for me to give up so
> > soon, but I don't feel my English good enough to prove my precarious
> > point any longer), I'm delighted in all responses and in the possibility
> > to learn so many new things concerning this subject. Of course, I knew
> > that chose is the French common word for "thing", but I also recently
> > learned that "kel'k shoz" (back transliteration from Russian) was rather
> > popular among Russian writers (mainly humorists, from Chekhov to
> > Averchenko), who used it (in a character's speech) for veshchitsa (a
> > little thing), a word which in certain situations might have sexual
> > connotations (contrary to a simple veshch'). Otherwise, "shoz" or
> > "kel'k" alone are impossible in Russian. That made me think of another
> > possible "nabokovian" transposition of words:
> > qelque chose lost its first component to the name of a talc powder
> > (Quelques Fleurs) and the second component became the name of the
> > University and the University town (Chose). In the process, both words
> > are capitalized and the adjective becomes plural.
> > Chose as University + town is described in expressions borrowed from
> > Baudelaire's poem from his book Fleurs du Mal. Fleurs goes to the powder
> > name. And in the poem there is the word choses in plural that would have
> > necessitated an adjective also in plural. That adjective (Quelques) goes
> > to the talc powder name, substituting (as if it were euphemistically)
> > the second component of the book's title (du Mal). Thus, from the French
> > book title Fleurs du Mal and the French phrase quelque chose we have the
> > English University name Chose and the not necessarily French talc powder
> > name Quelques Fleurs (the existence of the real perfume of that name is
> > a happy - rather for Nabokov than for Nabokovians - coincedence). Oof,
> > not easy!
> >
> > I have the impression that I'm right this time. Am I wrong? My previous
> > message should be, please, deleted (I hope it is deleted already).
> ...
>
> Jerry Friedman
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now
> http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/
From: "Jerry Friedman" <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Friday, November 01, 2002 2:21 PM
Subject: Re: Alex Sklyarenko on Brian Boyd on "Chose" in ADA
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (70
lines) ------------------
> You might find some support for your theory in Baudelaire's
> poem "Correspondances", which contains not only "parfums"
> and "choses" in association, but also "echos", which is an
> anagram for "chose" (except for the accent aigu on the e).
>
> If I knew Russian, I'd be thinking about words that look
> like CHOSE. But probably people have tried that already.
>
> I'm going to try asking on Usenet.
>
> I have to say that no suggestion is going to seem right to
> me without some connection to Cambridge or Van. But then I
> find a lot of VN's wordplay unsatisfying.
>
> Jerry Friedman
>
> --- Donald Johnson <chtodel@cox.net> wrote:
> > EDNOTE. Alex Sklyarenko has done an (as yet) unpublished Russian
translation of
> > ADA. Also, see his charming essay on the Nabokov family fencing and
> > boxing coach (w/ photos of his skeleton) on ZEMBLA.
> >
> > -------- Original Message --------
> > Subject: Re: [Fwd: RE: Brian Boyd on "Chose" in ADA]
> > Date: Fri, 1 Nov 2002 17:46:56 +0300
> > From: "alex" <sklyarenko@users.mns.ru>
> > To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > References: <3DC1886B.2010205@cox.net>
> >
> >
> >
> > Although my badly formulated hypothesis about Chose/Fleurs du Mal was
> > found to be "most unlikely" and is indeed most probably wrong (despite
> > all evidence that speaks against it, it is not easy for me to give up so
> > soon, but I don't feel my English good enough to prove my precarious
> > point any longer), I'm delighted in all responses and in the possibility
> > to learn so many new things concerning this subject. Of course, I knew
> > that chose is the French common word for "thing", but I also recently
> > learned that "kel'k shoz" (back transliteration from Russian) was rather
> > popular among Russian writers (mainly humorists, from Chekhov to
> > Averchenko), who used it (in a character's speech) for veshchitsa (a
> > little thing), a word which in certain situations might have sexual
> > connotations (contrary to a simple veshch'). Otherwise, "shoz" or
> > "kel'k" alone are impossible in Russian. That made me think of another
> > possible "nabokovian" transposition of words:
> > qelque chose lost its first component to the name of a talc powder
> > (Quelques Fleurs) and the second component became the name of the
> > University and the University town (Chose). In the process, both words
> > are capitalized and the adjective becomes plural.
> > Chose as University + town is described in expressions borrowed from
> > Baudelaire's poem from his book Fleurs du Mal. Fleurs goes to the powder
> > name. And in the poem there is the word choses in plural that would have
> > necessitated an adjective also in plural. That adjective (Quelques) goes
> > to the talc powder name, substituting (as if it were euphemistically)
> > the second component of the book's title (du Mal). Thus, from the French
> > book title Fleurs du Mal and the French phrase quelque chose we have the
> > English University name Chose and the not necessarily French talc powder
> > name Quelques Fleurs (the existence of the real perfume of that name is
> > a happy - rather for Nabokov than for Nabokovians - coincedence). Oof,
> > not easy!
> >
> > I have the impression that I'm right this time. Am I wrong? My previous
> > message should be, please, deleted (I hope it is deleted already).
> ...
>
> Jerry Friedman
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> HotJobs - Search new jobs daily now
> http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/