Subject
Re: Nabokov?Freud?Jung (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITOR'S NOTE.In addition to Phyllis Roth's work on VN & psychology, there
is also Geoffrey Green's book _Nabokov & Freud_ and Jennifer Shute's
dissertation and articles.
------------------
From: phyllis roth <paroth@skidmore.EDU>
Years ago, I had the same questions about Nabokov and Freud. These
questions influenced my dissertation on the doppelgangers in Nabokov's
fiction (1972 -- I said it was years ago!) and were central to my
essay, "Toward the Man Behind the Mystification," which Rivers and
Nicol were kind enough to publish in NABOKOV'S FIFTH ARC. You might
take a look at that. Several other folks have worried this bone since
then.
Phyllis Roth
Skidmore College
> From: Scott Michael Craig <scraig@gvi.net>
>
> I have been reading the posts to the VN-Music for the past few days with
> great interest, and would like to post a question to the list that is in
> the same vein.
>
> I have always taken at face value Nabokov's dislike of Freud, whether you
> take his view from interviews and essays ("I don't want an elderly
> gentleman from Vienna inflicting his dreams upon me.") or the fictional
> accounts such as Kinbote and Shade rolling in the grass laughing at
> Freud. I have always been more curious at the underlying reasons for his
> vehemence against Freud, especially since he wrote so brilliantly about
> neurosis and the human pysche. I say this because he did not just ignore
> Freud, but attacked him on a number of occasions. I have hypothesized
> that he disliked Freud and Freudian analysis because so many of his
> characters (and to Freud, therefore, himself) are so open to a rather
> shallow, sexual interpretation. And I would assume that many on this list
> would agree that a Freudian analysis of Humbert Humbert or Kinbote would
> ineluctably be shallow and misguided.
>
> So I have two questions. First, does anyone have any other
> interpretations for Nabokov's dislike for Freud? Second, did Nabokov ever
> mention Jung? I have never read any account of Nabokov even discussing
> Jung, negative or positive. And did Nabokov have any interest in
> archetypes in general? So much of his fiction is so deep in dreams, that
> one must wonder if he was at all influenced by pyschoanalysis and the
> avenues that dream analysis opened up.
>
> I apologize for the length of this post, but I hope that everyone will
> join in.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Scott Michael Craig
> scraig@gvi.net
>
> **************************************************************
> Scott Michael Craig
>
> scraig@gvi.net
> **************************************************************
> Twice I approached the cold-hearted altar of Windows.
> And twice, I was frustrated. Then, a fellow seeker reached
> out to me and said, "This is Mac. It is the light and the way.
> It is the one good interface."
> --David Plotnikoff
> **************************************************************
>
-------------------
End of network mail
is also Geoffrey Green's book _Nabokov & Freud_ and Jennifer Shute's
dissertation and articles.
------------------
From: phyllis roth <paroth@skidmore.EDU>
Years ago, I had the same questions about Nabokov and Freud. These
questions influenced my dissertation on the doppelgangers in Nabokov's
fiction (1972 -- I said it was years ago!) and were central to my
essay, "Toward the Man Behind the Mystification," which Rivers and
Nicol were kind enough to publish in NABOKOV'S FIFTH ARC. You might
take a look at that. Several other folks have worried this bone since
then.
Phyllis Roth
Skidmore College
> From: Scott Michael Craig <scraig@gvi.net>
>
> I have been reading the posts to the VN-Music for the past few days with
> great interest, and would like to post a question to the list that is in
> the same vein.
>
> I have always taken at face value Nabokov's dislike of Freud, whether you
> take his view from interviews and essays ("I don't want an elderly
> gentleman from Vienna inflicting his dreams upon me.") or the fictional
> accounts such as Kinbote and Shade rolling in the grass laughing at
> Freud. I have always been more curious at the underlying reasons for his
> vehemence against Freud, especially since he wrote so brilliantly about
> neurosis and the human pysche. I say this because he did not just ignore
> Freud, but attacked him on a number of occasions. I have hypothesized
> that he disliked Freud and Freudian analysis because so many of his
> characters (and to Freud, therefore, himself) are so open to a rather
> shallow, sexual interpretation. And I would assume that many on this list
> would agree that a Freudian analysis of Humbert Humbert or Kinbote would
> ineluctably be shallow and misguided.
>
> So I have two questions. First, does anyone have any other
> interpretations for Nabokov's dislike for Freud? Second, did Nabokov ever
> mention Jung? I have never read any account of Nabokov even discussing
> Jung, negative or positive. And did Nabokov have any interest in
> archetypes in general? So much of his fiction is so deep in dreams, that
> one must wonder if he was at all influenced by pyschoanalysis and the
> avenues that dream analysis opened up.
>
> I apologize for the length of this post, but I hope that everyone will
> join in.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Scott Michael Craig
> scraig@gvi.net
>
> **************************************************************
> Scott Michael Craig
>
> scraig@gvi.net
> **************************************************************
> Twice I approached the cold-hearted altar of Windows.
> And twice, I was frustrated. Then, a fellow seeker reached
> out to me and said, "This is Mac. It is the light and the way.
> It is the one good interface."
> --David Plotnikoff
> **************************************************************
>
-------------------
End of network mail