I have been reading the Nabokov-l exchange on Lorrie
Moore’s "Referential." I wonder about the ethics and
legality (copyright) about scanning and posting the whole story.
Reasonable people can debate the merits of Moore’s story: I’ve read
it twice and reread “Signs and Symbols.” Moore is obviously
indebted to “Signs and Symbols,” but “Referential” is
much more than a crude take-off; it is its own story. That prompts a
suggestion: it might be worth an MLA panel, not probably on just these two
stories but on the poetics of indebtedness, inspiration, homage, maybe
“take-off,” in both directions: what Nabokov got from his
predecessors and what later writers get from him. APOLOGY and DISCLAIMER:
I probably can’t chair such a session myself because MLA occurs the week
before our semester classes begin. I am interim department chair and hope
to be replaced by then, but attending MLA at all, much less presiding over a
session, is problematic because of pre-semester meetings and administrative
duties. There are probably quite a few International Vladimir Nabokov
Society members more qualified anyway.
Eric Hyman
Professor
of English
Interim
Chair
Department
of English
Butler
123
Fayetteville
State University
1200
Murchison Road
Fayetteville,
NC 28301-4252
(910)
672-1416