Subject
Fw: flat
From
Date
Body
Dear Eds,
The subject is falling flat and becoming rather too extensive but, for the sake of record-keeping, I suggest that the following gets posted. At your discretion! I´d rather we returned to Penny´s contribution...
A link with Nabokoviana: the first time I was made aware of VN´s playful reference to "farts" was while reading Brian Boyd´s book on Ada, where he called attention to the term of endearment Ada directed to Lucette: " my pet", which he linked to the verb and word "péter/pet" in French. Although I´m uncertain if I follow his arguments from head to tail, he made his point. There are characters ( already mentioned in the VN-List), like Ben Wright and Fartukov whose farts are often mentioned in ADA by a complaining Lucette. The vapours and winds in flatulence are, in a way, a contrary expression of the breath of inspiration, of the soul, psyché or butterfly.
From the Wikipedia on-line I learned that "fart dates back to the Old Engliglish word feortan of Germanic and Proto-Indo-European origin. It is widely speculated that the word is onomatopoeic in origin. ..when used literally it refers to the bodily function of flatulence. The word is generally considered to be mildly offensive and unsuitable for formal settings by modern English speakers, though more conservative locales may consider the word to be vulgar. Flatulence has had a role in literature for centuries. In Rabelais´ 16th century Gargantua cycle, the word pet (fart) appears several times...In the translated version of Penguin's 1001 Arabian NightsTales, a story titled "The Historic Fart" tells of a man that flees his country from the sheer embarrassment of farting at his wedding. In Dante´s Divine Comedy the last line of Inferno Chapter XXI reads: ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta ("and he used his buttocks as a trumpet"), in the last example the use of this natural body function underlined a demoniac condition. It is also present in Chaucer´s "Miller´s Tale" ( one of the Canterbury Tales ). In James Joyce´s Ulysses, the main character, Leopold Bloom breaks wind in the "Sirens" chapter of the book. In the "Penelope" chapter, Leopold´s wife, Molly Bloom, breaks wind. In Emile Zola´s La Terre (the 15th volume of the series Les Rougon Macquart ), the eldest Fouan son can flatulate at will and keeps winning free drinks by betting on his skill."
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
The subject is falling flat and becoming rather too extensive but, for the sake of record-keeping, I suggest that the following gets posted. At your discretion! I´d rather we returned to Penny´s contribution...
A link with Nabokoviana: the first time I was made aware of VN´s playful reference to "farts" was while reading Brian Boyd´s book on Ada, where he called attention to the term of endearment Ada directed to Lucette: " my pet", which he linked to the verb and word "péter/pet" in French. Although I´m uncertain if I follow his arguments from head to tail, he made his point. There are characters ( already mentioned in the VN-List), like Ben Wright and Fartukov whose farts are often mentioned in ADA by a complaining Lucette. The vapours and winds in flatulence are, in a way, a contrary expression of the breath of inspiration, of the soul, psyché or butterfly.
From the Wikipedia on-line I learned that "fart dates back to the Old Engliglish word feortan of Germanic and Proto-Indo-European origin. It is widely speculated that the word is onomatopoeic in origin. ..when used literally it refers to the bodily function of flatulence. The word is generally considered to be mildly offensive and unsuitable for formal settings by modern English speakers, though more conservative locales may consider the word to be vulgar. Flatulence has had a role in literature for centuries. In Rabelais´ 16th century Gargantua cycle, the word pet (fart) appears several times...In the translated version of Penguin's 1001 Arabian NightsTales, a story titled "The Historic Fart" tells of a man that flees his country from the sheer embarrassment of farting at his wedding. In Dante´s Divine Comedy the last line of Inferno Chapter XXI reads: ed elli avea del cul fatto trombetta ("and he used his buttocks as a trumpet"), in the last example the use of this natural body function underlined a demoniac condition. It is also present in Chaucer´s "Miller´s Tale" ( one of the Canterbury Tales ). In James Joyce´s Ulysses, the main character, Leopold Bloom breaks wind in the "Sirens" chapter of the book. In the "Penelope" chapter, Leopold´s wife, Molly Bloom, breaks wind. In Emile Zola´s La Terre (the 15th volume of the series Les Rougon Macquart ), the eldest Fouan son can flatulate at will and keeps winning free drinks by betting on his skill."
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