Subject
Re: JM on democracy v. populism
From
Date
Body
One British intellectual suggested that the calculatedly ³difficult² idiom
of 20thC English literary modernism was an anti-egalitarian conspiracy to
keep the common reader out. Lovely Joyce and lovely Beckett, both
arch-Europeans, are elitist; VN is democratic and even populist in
comparison to them.
If the British intellectual is correct, then the arch-European Joyce-Beckett
gang have failed miserably. The only readers I know are common, and since we
were in our late teens we all read Beckett, then Joyce, then Nabokov, as
well as Kafka. Djuna Barnes was another favorite. Now we read Martin Amis.
I don¹t see Joyce and Beckett putting their heads together and conniving to
concoct a ³calculatedly² ³difficult² idiom for any reason other than for
art. The idea of a ³common reader² is not merely anti-egalitarian, it¹s
erroneous and naïve. Offensive, too. When I was reading Malcolm Lowry¹s
Under the Volcano I discussed it daily with a well-read and intelligent
friend at work who knew much more about Lowry than I did. When this man left
the company, he gave me as a parting gift all of Lowry¹s published work.
These were battered paperback editions that all seemed to have come from
different publishers. They were all he could afford, but he had studied them
thoroughly. This was a 24-year-old janitor and handy man who had been in
and out of jail for five or six years. His formal education had ended when
he was fourteen.
Andrew Brown
On 1/11/07 2:23 PM, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
>
>
> Subject:
> Re: [NABOKV-L] SK on Theory
> From:
> "jansymello" <jansy@aetern.us> <mailto:jansy@aetern.us>
> Date:
> Thu, 11 Jan 2007 07:58:21 -0200
> To:
> "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> <mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> C.Kunin : "Something here disturbs me - - most likely the cult worship of the
> true artist, that whiff of Ayn Rand, if you'll allow me. You seem to be
> describing her more than the VN I know. His was an aristocracy that didn't
> condescend to democracy, but embraced it wholeheartedly. Who after all was the
> "true artist" - - Lolita? or Humbert? I often think VN doesn't think very
> highly of artists as a class of humanity."
> JM: Who is Ayn Rand? What kind of "cult worship of the true artist" do you
> mean?
>
> Sergey K:"In reply to Charles¹s post about VN¹s elitism. One British
> intellectual suggested that the calculatedly ³difficult² idiom of 20thC
> English literary modernism was an anti-egalitarian conspiracy to keep the
> common reader out. Lovely Joyce and lovely Beckett, both arch-Europeans, are
> elitist; VN is democratic and even populist in comparison to them. To be more
> accurate, VN draws on both European elitism and American populism at will, and
> combines them to produce the necessary artistic result"
> JM: Shouldn't we write of "Demagogism' or populism, instead of "Democracy",
> when bringing up a contrast to "Elitism"? The sentence "VN draws on both both
> European elitism and American populism"' similarly doesn't make sense to me.
> "European populism" exists, also "American elitism". VN never drew on
> "populism" except when in jest, but he was always very clear about his
> embracing democracy "wholeheartedly".
> Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB
> <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html>
> Contact the Editors <mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
> Visit Zembla <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm>
> View Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm>
>
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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
of 20thC English literary modernism was an anti-egalitarian conspiracy to
keep the common reader out. Lovely Joyce and lovely Beckett, both
arch-Europeans, are elitist; VN is democratic and even populist in
comparison to them.
If the British intellectual is correct, then the arch-European Joyce-Beckett
gang have failed miserably. The only readers I know are common, and since we
were in our late teens we all read Beckett, then Joyce, then Nabokov, as
well as Kafka. Djuna Barnes was another favorite. Now we read Martin Amis.
I don¹t see Joyce and Beckett putting their heads together and conniving to
concoct a ³calculatedly² ³difficult² idiom for any reason other than for
art. The idea of a ³common reader² is not merely anti-egalitarian, it¹s
erroneous and naïve. Offensive, too. When I was reading Malcolm Lowry¹s
Under the Volcano I discussed it daily with a well-read and intelligent
friend at work who knew much more about Lowry than I did. When this man left
the company, he gave me as a parting gift all of Lowry¹s published work.
These were battered paperback editions that all seemed to have come from
different publishers. They were all he could afford, but he had studied them
thoroughly. This was a 24-year-old janitor and handy man who had been in
and out of jail for five or six years. His formal education had ended when
he was fourteen.
Andrew Brown
On 1/11/07 2:23 PM, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
>
>
> Subject:
> Re: [NABOKV-L] SK on Theory
> From:
> "jansymello" <jansy@aetern.us> <mailto:jansy@aetern.us>
> Date:
> Thu, 11 Jan 2007 07:58:21 -0200
> To:
> "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> <mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> C.Kunin : "Something here disturbs me - - most likely the cult worship of the
> true artist, that whiff of Ayn Rand, if you'll allow me. You seem to be
> describing her more than the VN I know. His was an aristocracy that didn't
> condescend to democracy, but embraced it wholeheartedly. Who after all was the
> "true artist" - - Lolita? or Humbert? I often think VN doesn't think very
> highly of artists as a class of humanity."
> JM: Who is Ayn Rand? What kind of "cult worship of the true artist" do you
> mean?
>
> Sergey K:"In reply to Charles¹s post about VN¹s elitism. One British
> intellectual suggested that the calculatedly ³difficult² idiom of 20thC
> English literary modernism was an anti-egalitarian conspiracy to keep the
> common reader out. Lovely Joyce and lovely Beckett, both arch-Europeans, are
> elitist; VN is democratic and even populist in comparison to them. To be more
> accurate, VN draws on both European elitism and American populism at will, and
> combines them to produce the necessary artistic result"
> JM: Shouldn't we write of "Demagogism' or populism, instead of "Democracy",
> when bringing up a contrast to "Elitism"? The sentence "VN draws on both both
> European elitism and American populism"' similarly doesn't make sense to me.
> "European populism" exists, also "American elitism". VN never drew on
> "populism" except when in jest, but he was always very clear about his
> embracing democracy "wholeheartedly".
> Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB
> <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html>
> Contact the Editors <mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
> Visit Zembla <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm>
> View Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm>
>
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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