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Re: VNBibliography: Rudolf Sardi. An approa ch to VN's "Ötherworld"
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Re: [NABOKV-L] VNBibliography: Rudolf Sardi. An approa ch to VN's "Öth erworld"SKB: Finally, Sárdi cites one of VN's most inspired jokes: "Gnostical turpitude." VN would certainly know of the miraculous discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices
If Stan had consulted Priglashenie na kazn' (the novel written in 1935, ten years before the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices), he would have known that the phrase rendered in Invitation to a Beheading as "gnostical turpitude" is gnoseologicheskaya gnusnost' (Cincinnatus C. is accused of this most appalling of crimes) in the original (chapter VI). Its presence in the Russian text is justified by the wonderful, if not very pleasant, alliteration. Note that gnoseologicheskiy ("pertaining to gnosiology, the theory of knowledge") and gnosticheskiy ("pertaining to gnostics or gnosticism") mean different things in Russian.
I haven't read Sárdi's article, but I do not agree with him that we should avoid an over-preoccupation with VN's allusional and word-play exploits. How can one study the worlds created by an artist and ignore allusions and word-play that the artist uses as a means to make his fictional worlds seem real (or, at least, plausible)?
Alexey Sklyarenko
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If Stan had consulted Priglashenie na kazn' (the novel written in 1935, ten years before the discovery of the Nag Hammadi codices), he would have known that the phrase rendered in Invitation to a Beheading as "gnostical turpitude" is gnoseologicheskaya gnusnost' (Cincinnatus C. is accused of this most appalling of crimes) in the original (chapter VI). Its presence in the Russian text is justified by the wonderful, if not very pleasant, alliteration. Note that gnoseologicheskiy ("pertaining to gnosiology, the theory of knowledge") and gnosticheskiy ("pertaining to gnostics or gnosticism") mean different things in Russian.
I haven't read Sárdi's article, but I do not agree with him that we should avoid an over-preoccupation with VN's allusional and word-play exploits. How can one study the worlds created by an artist and ignore allusions and word-play that the artist uses as a means to make his fictional worlds seem real (or, at least, plausible)?
Alexey Sklyarenko
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/