Subject
Re: VN & Robbe-Grillet's _Project for a Revolution_ (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Christopher Link <chrlink@bu.edu>
I am a fourth-year graduate student at Boston University in the early
stages of piecing together my doctoral dissertation. In reply to the
editor's note that "Matthew Morris' suggestion [for a comparative study
of VN and R-G] might be worth pursuing," I must add that I heartily
agree: I am working on just such a project, with special reference to
phenomenology and "the post-modern figure of the demonic" as sketched by
these authors.
[It seems proper to mention that my degree is in the interdisciplinary
study of religion and literature; however, I also detest (with VN) the
imposition of exterior, societal "moralities" upon a work of art. Any
comments and criticisms concerning this extremely foreshortened series
of issues are very welcome.]
More to the point, perhaps, in answer to Mr. Morris' question concerning
critical materials currently available on VN and R-G (excepting the
passing references to their famous lunch which occur in various studies
on N), I have looked and have found no substantial books, essays, or
articles which consider the two together. If I have been premature in
drawing this conclusion, I very much hope that someone will correct my
error.
I would furthermore like to add that TT -- certainly not the only book
by VN worth a comparison to R-G -- also has much in common (thematically
and otherwise) with R-G's earlier (less horribly under-read?) novels,
especially *Jealousy* (conspicuously collected with *In the Labyrinth*
by Grove Press as *Two Novels by Robbe-Grillet*) and even *The Voyeur*.
I hope that others interested in critical connections between Nabokov
and Robbe-Grillet will cheerfully step forward.
Christopher Link
Boston, Massachusetts
I am a fourth-year graduate student at Boston University in the early
stages of piecing together my doctoral dissertation. In reply to the
editor's note that "Matthew Morris' suggestion [for a comparative study
of VN and R-G] might be worth pursuing," I must add that I heartily
agree: I am working on just such a project, with special reference to
phenomenology and "the post-modern figure of the demonic" as sketched by
these authors.
[It seems proper to mention that my degree is in the interdisciplinary
study of religion and literature; however, I also detest (with VN) the
imposition of exterior, societal "moralities" upon a work of art. Any
comments and criticisms concerning this extremely foreshortened series
of issues are very welcome.]
More to the point, perhaps, in answer to Mr. Morris' question concerning
critical materials currently available on VN and R-G (excepting the
passing references to their famous lunch which occur in various studies
on N), I have looked and have found no substantial books, essays, or
articles which consider the two together. If I have been premature in
drawing this conclusion, I very much hope that someone will correct my
error.
I would furthermore like to add that TT -- certainly not the only book
by VN worth a comparison to R-G -- also has much in common (thematically
and otherwise) with R-G's earlier (less horribly under-read?) novels,
especially *Jealousy* (conspicuously collected with *In the Labyrinth*
by Grove Press as *Two Novels by Robbe-Grillet*) and even *The Voyeur*.
I hope that others interested in critical connections between Nabokov
and Robbe-Grillet will cheerfully step forward.
Christopher Link
Boston, Massachusetts