Subject
Re: MLA Abstracts: Schuman (fwd)
Date
Body
Quite. However, the difference between Nabokov's syntax and Gogol's, I
think, is that Gogol indulged in non sequiturs while N's sharp twists (with
his favorite Dickensonian serial listings - "the a..., and the b..., and
the c...") are all strictly consequential and thus demand reverse reading
for acknowledgement (his cardinal principle). The narrator is trying a new
technique of "integrating" a telephone conversation not merely by
"integrating" the pictures on the wall (in the hall, where the telephone
is) that Joan's roaming eyes absently scan and not only by flashing her
instantaneous associations and memories (she spent her childhood in Turkey)
but also by previewing and projecting these images and associations onto
the rest of the chapter where they will reverberate like the college bells
that open and close it.
The similarity btw. Gogol's method and N's therefore seems to be that of
appearance, not substance. But I agree that N probably cultivated this
superficial resemblance by design, as a double smoke-screen of sorts. GB
Gennady Barabtarlo
451 GCB University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
314-882-9454 Fax 314-882-3404
think, is that Gogol indulged in non sequiturs while N's sharp twists (with
his favorite Dickensonian serial listings - "the a..., and the b..., and
the c...") are all strictly consequential and thus demand reverse reading
for acknowledgement (his cardinal principle). The narrator is trying a new
technique of "integrating" a telephone conversation not merely by
"integrating" the pictures on the wall (in the hall, where the telephone
is) that Joan's roaming eyes absently scan and not only by flashing her
instantaneous associations and memories (she spent her childhood in Turkey)
but also by previewing and projecting these images and associations onto
the rest of the chapter where they will reverberate like the college bells
that open and close it.
The similarity btw. Gogol's method and N's therefore seems to be that of
appearance, not substance. But I agree that N probably cultivated this
superficial resemblance by design, as a double smoke-screen of sorts. GB
Gennady Barabtarlo
451 GCB University of Missouri
Columbia, MO 65211
314-882-9454 Fax 314-882-3404