Subject
Re: bathroom talk (fwd)
From
Date
Body
From: "Peter A. Kartsev" <petr@glas.apc.org>
Indeed, neither Dal' nor later dictionaries that I've consulted
list such a euphemism. I'm pretty sure that "uedinenie" (seclusion,
privacy) is just Luzhin's manner of speaking, which ranges from
awkward to absurd all the time. "Samaya malen'kaya komnata" (the
smallest room), on the other hand, seems like a child's way of
putting it. That's appropriate, since Luzhin, in a way, never grew
up.
--
Peter A. Kartsev
Moscow, Russia
Phone: (095) 471-5457
E-mail: petr@glas.apc.org
En cada instante puede revelarte su amor Helena de Troya. -- JLB
>
> >From Eric Naiman <naiman@violet.berkeley.edu>:
>
> > I am curious about a remark made by Luzhin when he and his wife move into
> > their new apartment. He says to her: "Gde uedinenie? -- shepnul Luzhin.
> > -- Gde samaia malen'kaia komnata?" "V vannoi, vse v vannoi". This is
> > obviously a significant moment, since it will be through that uedinenie
> > that Luzhin will exit both novel and life. My question is whether this
> > was a standard euphemism at the time (and thus, whether Nabokov is subtly
> > punning), or whether the line should jump out at the reader as markedly
> > strange. In the English this line is dropped, Luzhin just says: "Where's
> > the little place." (Native speakers whom I have questioned have never
> > heard of the term, and I don't find it in Dal'.)
Indeed, neither Dal' nor later dictionaries that I've consulted
list such a euphemism. I'm pretty sure that "uedinenie" (seclusion,
privacy) is just Luzhin's manner of speaking, which ranges from
awkward to absurd all the time. "Samaya malen'kaya komnata" (the
smallest room), on the other hand, seems like a child's way of
putting it. That's appropriate, since Luzhin, in a way, never grew
up.
--
Peter A. Kartsev
Moscow, Russia
Phone: (095) 471-5457
E-mail: petr@glas.apc.org
En cada instante puede revelarte su amor Helena de Troya. -- JLB
>
> >From Eric Naiman <naiman@violet.berkeley.edu>:
>
> > I am curious about a remark made by Luzhin when he and his wife move into
> > their new apartment. He says to her: "Gde uedinenie? -- shepnul Luzhin.
> > -- Gde samaia malen'kaia komnata?" "V vannoi, vse v vannoi". This is
> > obviously a significant moment, since it will be through that uedinenie
> > that Luzhin will exit both novel and life. My question is whether this
> > was a standard euphemism at the time (and thus, whether Nabokov is subtly
> > punning), or whether the line should jump out at the reader as markedly
> > strange. In the English this line is dropped, Luzhin just says: "Where's
> > the little place." (Native speakers whom I have questioned have never
> > heard of the term, and I don't find it in Dal'.)