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Nabokov and Irony
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The use of Nabokov specs may lead one onto new realms of inquiry. While reading "La cité perverse: liberalisme et pornographie" by Dany-Robert Dufour (2009, translated to Portuguese in 2013), I came across a loose quotation from Henri Bergson: Irony is when the ideal is presented as a reality.
I was already familiar with Nabokov's use of Bergsonian concepts of time (la durée),* but the introduction of the term "irony," in relation to "artistic creation" by the French philosopher, immediately transported me to Nabokov's "worlds" - and there I was stranded! (I even lost sight of the Bergsonian "ideal and reality" in VN's writings).
Nabokov's distinction between parody and satire is famous, but I cannot recollect any reference of his to "irony"** and it seems to me that Nabokov's novels might be profitably examined under the light of the modern critical acception of "irony. "
I found two interesting works online ( "The Ironic Temper and the Comic Imagination," by Morton Gurewitch; Richard Rorty's "Contingency,Irony, and Solidarity"(from which I'm only acquainted with "the barber of Kasbeam: Nabokov on cruelty" which, as I now see, has to be read in connection to his other articles and not independently).
I would be thankful to learn about other articles and authors focusing on Nabokov and irony.
...............................................................................................................
* - Bergsonism: An Intuitive, Reperceptualized Time
by Mattison, Laci http://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-323349412/nabokov-s-aesthetic-bergsonism-an-intuitive-reperceptualized
Neutral Evolution and Aesthetics: Vladimir Nabokov and Insect Mimicry by Victoria N Alexander
http://www.santafe.edu/media/workingpapers/01-10-057.pdf
** Q: Do you make a clear distinction between satire and parody? I ask this because you have so often said you do not wish to be taken as a "moral satirist, " and yet parody is so central to your vision. A: Satire is a lesson, parody is a game. (Nabokov's Interview 06, Wisconsin Studies -1967)
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I was already familiar with Nabokov's use of Bergsonian concepts of time (la durée),* but the introduction of the term "irony," in relation to "artistic creation" by the French philosopher, immediately transported me to Nabokov's "worlds" - and there I was stranded! (I even lost sight of the Bergsonian "ideal and reality" in VN's writings).
Nabokov's distinction between parody and satire is famous, but I cannot recollect any reference of his to "irony"** and it seems to me that Nabokov's novels might be profitably examined under the light of the modern critical acception of "irony. "
I found two interesting works online ( "The Ironic Temper and the Comic Imagination," by Morton Gurewitch; Richard Rorty's "Contingency,Irony, and Solidarity"(from which I'm only acquainted with "the barber of Kasbeam: Nabokov on cruelty" which, as I now see, has to be read in connection to his other articles and not independently).
I would be thankful to learn about other articles and authors focusing on Nabokov and irony.
...............................................................................................................
* - Bergsonism: An Intuitive, Reperceptualized Time
by Mattison, Laci http://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-323349412/nabokov-s-aesthetic-bergsonism-an-intuitive-reperceptualized
Neutral Evolution and Aesthetics: Vladimir Nabokov and Insect Mimicry by Victoria N Alexander
http://www.santafe.edu/media/workingpapers/01-10-057.pdf
** Q: Do you make a clear distinction between satire and parody? I ask this because you have so often said you do not wish to be taken as a "moral satirist, " and yet parody is so central to your vision. A: Satire is a lesson, parody is a game. (Nabokov's Interview 06, Wisconsin Studies -1967)
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/