Subject
Nabokov and Pedophilia (fwd)
From
Date
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From: Juan M Martinez <jmm80625@pegasus.cc.ucf.edu>
"Is it possible that, in writing LOLITA, VN actually identified, at least
partly, with the molested child (Lolita), and not only with the molestor
(Humbert), as is usually assumed? What about the depiction of little
David's sadistic torture and murder in BEND SINISTER, in this context?"
I'm not sure if "identify" is the right term. Nabokov's disdain for the
human interest angle is well known, but that's besides the point.
In talking about another charming-yet-morally-suspect character, Van Veen,
Nabokov admits to certain autobiographical loans (memories of Russian
gardens and such), so to assume other possible autobiographical bits
making their way into VN's fiction is not off the wall---although Nabokov
follows this comment with a thorough thrashing of Veen, in which author
and authored stand at opposite ends of a ten-foot stick.
The author has in fact admitted his sympathies for all of his downtrodden
characters---Pnin, Ada's sister, Lolita, and certainly David. That Veen
and H.H. might sound a little more "Nabokovian" (both are not only
characters but also narrators, or co-narrators) doesn't imply that they
are, in fact, Naboclones or even characters that their creator might like,
let alone be like.
To suggest that the nightmarish Krug-driven torture in _Bend Sinister_
arises out of VN's experience seems a bit reductive, I think, as is the VN
as Lolita possibility. Both theories are at least less offensive than the
"Dirty Old Man" myths circulating out there, where Humbert Humbert
reflects his creator's base desires or deeds (speaking of which: Hunter
S. Thompson, in the middle of an interview by PJ O'Rourke, or maybe the
other way around (they sound the same) says that Nabokov did, in fact,
have a thing for little girls, with a salacious, and obviously fabricated,
eyewitness account thrown in---this from my roommate's _Rolling Stone_
magazine from a few months back).
Cheers,
Juan
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Speak softly,
drive a Sherman tank.
Laugh hard,
it's a long way to the bank."
They Might Be Giants, _Rhythm Section Want Ad_
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
---visit Strobe at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~jmm80625
On Tue, 17 Mar 1998, Galya Diment wrote:
> *** Here is the description Beth is referring to if you do not have SM
> handy: "When I was eight or nine, he would invariably take me upon his
> knee after lunch and (while two young footmen were clearing the table in
> the empty dining room) fondle me, with crooning sounds and fancy
> endearments, and I felt embarrassed for my uncle by the presence of the
> servants and relieved when my father called him from the veranda: 'Basile,
> on vous attend.'" GD***
>
>
> From:Susan Sweeney <sweeney@HOLYCROSS.EDU>
>
> I have often been struck (like Phyllis Roth and others) by the discomfort
> with which VN describes in SPEAK, MEMORY being fondled, as a child,
> by his Uncle Ruka. Is it possible that, in writing LOLITA, VN actually
> identified, at least partly, with the molested child (Lolita), and not
> only with the molestor (Humbert), as is usually assumed? What about the
> depiction of little David's sadistic torture and murder in BEND SINISTER,
> in this context?
>
>
>
> Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
> Associate Professor of English
> Holy Cross College
> Worcester, MA 01610
>
> Telephone (508) 793-2690
>
"Is it possible that, in writing LOLITA, VN actually identified, at least
partly, with the molested child (Lolita), and not only with the molestor
(Humbert), as is usually assumed? What about the depiction of little
David's sadistic torture and murder in BEND SINISTER, in this context?"
I'm not sure if "identify" is the right term. Nabokov's disdain for the
human interest angle is well known, but that's besides the point.
In talking about another charming-yet-morally-suspect character, Van Veen,
Nabokov admits to certain autobiographical loans (memories of Russian
gardens and such), so to assume other possible autobiographical bits
making their way into VN's fiction is not off the wall---although Nabokov
follows this comment with a thorough thrashing of Veen, in which author
and authored stand at opposite ends of a ten-foot stick.
The author has in fact admitted his sympathies for all of his downtrodden
characters---Pnin, Ada's sister, Lolita, and certainly David. That Veen
and H.H. might sound a little more "Nabokovian" (both are not only
characters but also narrators, or co-narrators) doesn't imply that they
are, in fact, Naboclones or even characters that their creator might like,
let alone be like.
To suggest that the nightmarish Krug-driven torture in _Bend Sinister_
arises out of VN's experience seems a bit reductive, I think, as is the VN
as Lolita possibility. Both theories are at least less offensive than the
"Dirty Old Man" myths circulating out there, where Humbert Humbert
reflects his creator's base desires or deeds (speaking of which: Hunter
S. Thompson, in the middle of an interview by PJ O'Rourke, or maybe the
other way around (they sound the same) says that Nabokov did, in fact,
have a thing for little girls, with a salacious, and obviously fabricated,
eyewitness account thrown in---this from my roommate's _Rolling Stone_
magazine from a few months back).
Cheers,
Juan
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/
"Speak softly,
drive a Sherman tank.
Laugh hard,
it's a long way to the bank."
They Might Be Giants, _Rhythm Section Want Ad_
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
---visit Strobe at http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~jmm80625
On Tue, 17 Mar 1998, Galya Diment wrote:
> *** Here is the description Beth is referring to if you do not have SM
> handy: "When I was eight or nine, he would invariably take me upon his
> knee after lunch and (while two young footmen were clearing the table in
> the empty dining room) fondle me, with crooning sounds and fancy
> endearments, and I felt embarrassed for my uncle by the presence of the
> servants and relieved when my father called him from the veranda: 'Basile,
> on vous attend.'" GD***
>
>
> From:Susan Sweeney <sweeney@HOLYCROSS.EDU>
>
> I have often been struck (like Phyllis Roth and others) by the discomfort
> with which VN describes in SPEAK, MEMORY being fondled, as a child,
> by his Uncle Ruka. Is it possible that, in writing LOLITA, VN actually
> identified, at least partly, with the molested child (Lolita), and not
> only with the molestor (Humbert), as is usually assumed? What about the
> depiction of little David's sadistic torture and murder in BEND SINISTER,
> in this context?
>
>
>
> Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
> Associate Professor of English
> Holy Cross College
> Worcester, MA 01610
>
> Telephone (508) 793-2690
>