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Re: Fwd: Re: David Bowie and Nabokov
From
Date
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Fascinating interview with David Bowie on art (I suspect there may be lots
more like this), could be interesting to discuss in relation to VN's views.
https://www.facebook.com/FACTmagazine/videos/10153819928364687/?video_source=pages_finch_main_video&theater
Barrie
Barrie Karp PhD
On Tue, Jan 12, 2016 at 2:31 PM, Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@utk.edu> wrote:
> EDNote: I'm reposting this message because, coming from a Yahoo account,
> it is rejected by many spam filters. Those of you who use Yahoo or AOL are
> encouraged to consider changing your Nabokv-L subscriptions to a different
> mail provider: UCSB refuses to make the patch that would solve this
> problem. -SB
>
>
> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: David Bowie and Nabokov Date:
> Tue, 12 Jan 2016 04:05:45 +0000 From: Joseph Schlegel
> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> Reply-To: Joseph
> Schlegel <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> To: Vladimir
> Nabokov Forum <nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu> <nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu>
>
> A silly mistake in my previous post [see below, the two posts have been
> combined--SB]: of course Nabokov wouldn't have known of the specific homage
> in Bowie's song, which was released after Nabokov's death. I meant to
> phrase that as whether Nabokov was aware of Bowie at all -- I was hoping to
> spark some discussion on that point.
>
> Joseph Schlegel
> PhD Candidate
> Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
> University of Toronto
>
>
> On Monday, January 11, 2016 8:56 PM, Joseph Schlegel
> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> With David Bowie's passing
> <http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35278872>, I want to reflect
> on his reflections of Nabokov for a moment. Bowie's song "I'd Rather Be
> High" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JuagF-Eq2A> immortalized the
> 'Naa-bah-kahv' pronunciation in its opening lines:
>
> Nabokov is sun-licked now
> Upon the beach at Grunewald
> Brilliant and naked just
> The way that authors look
>
> In a scene towards the end of Nabokov's novel *The Gift*, the main
> character, Fyodor, goes bathing in the nude in a Grunewald forest: “The sun
> bore down. The sun licked me all over with its big smooth tongue.” Bowie's
> application of Nabokov's imagery demonstrates an interest in Nabokov that
> extends beyond a mere reading of *Lolita*. In fact, the line that
> emphasizes "the way that authors look" reveals a possible attentive reading
> of the *The Gift*, since Nabokov's text implies the nude bather Fyodor's
> self-authorship.
>
> However, it is more likely, as Chris O'Leary points out
> <https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/id-rather-be-high/>, that he
> never read *The Gift*, but rather knew the description from Otto
> Friedrich's *Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s*. This
> book, which quotes Nabokov's scene, is included in Bowie's list of
> "must-read books"
> <https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/10/03/david-bowie-reading-list/>,
> which also includes Nabokov's *Lolita* and other books that show an
> interest in Russian culture more generally (Orlando Figes's *A People's
> Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1890-1924*, Peter Sadecky's *Octobriana
> and the Russian Underground*, Mikhail Bulgakov's *The Master and
> Margarita*, and Anthony Burgess's *A Clockwork Orange*)
>
> I'm uncertain whether Nabokov was aware of Bowie's homage or not.
>
> Joseph Schlegel
> PhD Candidate
> University of Toronto
> Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
>
>
> Google Search
> <http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&hl=en%0A>
> the archive
> <http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&hl=en%0A>
> Contact <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu>
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> NOJ
> <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Zembla
> <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> Nabokv-L
> <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm>
> Policies <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm> Subscription options
> <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NABOKV-L> AdaOnline
> <http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/> NSJ Ada Annotations
> <http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> L-Soft Search the archive
> <https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L> VN Bibliography
> Blog <http://vnbiblio.com/>
>
> All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
>
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
Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
AdaOnline: "http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/
The Nabokov Society of Japan's Annotations to Ada: http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html
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Manage subscription options :http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NABOKV-L
more like this), could be interesting to discuss in relation to VN's views.
https://www.facebook.com/FACTmagazine/videos/10153819928364687/?video_source=pages_finch_main_video&theater
Barrie
Barrie Karp PhD
On Tue, Jan 12, 2016 at 2:31 PM, Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@utk.edu> wrote:
> EDNote: I'm reposting this message because, coming from a Yahoo account,
> it is rejected by many spam filters. Those of you who use Yahoo or AOL are
> encouraged to consider changing your Nabokv-L subscriptions to a different
> mail provider: UCSB refuses to make the patch that would solve this
> problem. -SB
>
>
> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: David Bowie and Nabokov Date:
> Tue, 12 Jan 2016 04:05:45 +0000 From: Joseph Schlegel
> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> Reply-To: Joseph
> Schlegel <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> To: Vladimir
> Nabokov Forum <nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu> <nabokv-l@listserv.ucsb.edu>
>
> A silly mistake in my previous post [see below, the two posts have been
> combined--SB]: of course Nabokov wouldn't have known of the specific homage
> in Bowie's song, which was released after Nabokov's death. I meant to
> phrase that as whether Nabokov was aware of Bowie at all -- I was hoping to
> spark some discussion on that point.
>
> Joseph Schlegel
> PhD Candidate
> Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
> University of Toronto
>
>
> On Monday, January 11, 2016 8:56 PM, Joseph Schlegel
> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> <josephschlegel@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> With David Bowie's passing
> <http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-35278872>, I want to reflect
> on his reflections of Nabokov for a moment. Bowie's song "I'd Rather Be
> High" <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JuagF-Eq2A> immortalized the
> 'Naa-bah-kahv' pronunciation in its opening lines:
>
> Nabokov is sun-licked now
> Upon the beach at Grunewald
> Brilliant and naked just
> The way that authors look
>
> In a scene towards the end of Nabokov's novel *The Gift*, the main
> character, Fyodor, goes bathing in the nude in a Grunewald forest: “The sun
> bore down. The sun licked me all over with its big smooth tongue.” Bowie's
> application of Nabokov's imagery demonstrates an interest in Nabokov that
> extends beyond a mere reading of *Lolita*. In fact, the line that
> emphasizes "the way that authors look" reveals a possible attentive reading
> of the *The Gift*, since Nabokov's text implies the nude bather Fyodor's
> self-authorship.
>
> However, it is more likely, as Chris O'Leary points out
> <https://bowiesongs.wordpress.com/2015/09/10/id-rather-be-high/>, that he
> never read *The Gift*, but rather knew the description from Otto
> Friedrich's *Before the Deluge: A Portrait of Berlin in the 1920s*. This
> book, which quotes Nabokov's scene, is included in Bowie's list of
> "must-read books"
> <https://www.brainpickings.org/2013/10/03/david-bowie-reading-list/>,
> which also includes Nabokov's *Lolita* and other books that show an
> interest in Russian culture more generally (Orlando Figes's *A People's
> Tragedy: The Russian Revolution, 1890-1924*, Peter Sadecky's *Octobriana
> and the Russian Underground*, Mikhail Bulgakov's *The Master and
> Margarita*, and Anthony Burgess's *A Clockwork Orange*)
>
> I'm uncertain whether Nabokov was aware of Bowie's homage or not.
>
> Joseph Schlegel
> PhD Candidate
> University of Toronto
> Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures
>
>
> Google Search
> <http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&hl=en%0A>
> the archive
> <http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&hl=en%0A>
> Contact <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu>
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> NOJ
> <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Zembla
> <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> Nabokv-L
> <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm>
> Policies <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm> Subscription options
> <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NABOKV-L> AdaOnline
> <http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/> NSJ Ada Annotations
> <http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> L-Soft Search the archive
> <https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L> VN Bibliography
> Blog <http://vnbiblio.com/>
>
> All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
>
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
Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
AdaOnline: "http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/
The Nabokov Society of Japan's Annotations to Ada: http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html
The VN Bibliography Blog: http://vnbiblio.com/
Search the archive with L-Soft: https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L
Manage subscription options :http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NABOKV-L