Jerry Friedman writes: Especially after reading Matt Roth's comments, I'd like to ask Anthony Stadlen and anyone else who might know: Was I right in suspecting that Kinbote's mentions of Botkin are "psychologically strange"? Or are people with such delusions known to refer to their original selves, not as overtly the same person, but revealing that they still know of some connection?
JM:In my opinion, we run the risk of deviating into another set of tracks when we plan to investigate psychological facts and "realities" following Nabokov's inventiveness and satirical turn of mind.
What could be the answer for what's "psychologically strange" in Kinbote's reference to Botkin, outside of the boundaries of Nabokov's novel? The Index entry that introduces Botkin and the text from CK's note n.247 ( am I mistaken to assume that Botkin has only made another appearance - extra-textually?) is necessary to the novelist himself. It serves him to add a fundamental information, but it leaves a mark that is similar to a navel, no longer functional but revelatory and non-deletable.
dp: I completely agree with Jansy that it is reductive to try to fit VN's creation into a single (controversial, at that) diagnosis of Multiple Personality Disorder. The novel must make sense, but it needn't make that particular kind of sense. I agree, too, that it is important not to lose sight of the satirical dimension of the novel. (Was it a flaw in Gulliver's Travels that Lilliputians don't really exist?)
Of course Kinbote/Botkin's character must maintain a certain kind of consistency, even if only to make the conceit successful. That said, isn't it clear that Botkin imagines he is Kinbote, and at the same believes that Botkin is the fake (his "beard," his disguise), created so that he won't be tracked down and assassinated? (Recall how only the president (or is it the dean?) knows his secret identity.) I don't see any contradiction in this at all. In fact, this sort of reversal of "reality" and "fantasy" seems quite typical for Nabokov, even as early as Mashen'ka, although Ganin is able to return from his soujourn into the remembered past. Luzhin, of course, is a classic example. Even HH's solipsism can be seen as another variation on this theme. Or perhaps I missed something in this thread that undermines such an interpretation?
Cheers,
David Powelstock
On Sat, Sep 4, 2010 at 5:23 PM, Nabokv-L
<nabokv-l@utk.edu> wrote:
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Subject:
Re: [NABOKV-L] THOUGHTS re: Botkin |
|
From:
Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us> |
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Date:
Sat, 4 Sep 2010 16:19:22 -0300 |
All private editorial communications, without
exception, are
read by both co-editors.
All private editorial communications, without
exception, are
read by both co-editors.