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Fwd: On Sympathy and Suffering in Lolita
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----- Forwarded message from jansy@aetern.us -----
Date: Sun, 17 Apr 2005 19:12:38 -0300
From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>
Reply-To: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>
Subject: On Sympathy and Suffering in Lolita
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
----- Forwarded message from gshiman@optonline.net -----
Date: Sat, 16 Apr 2005 23:16:56 -0400
From: George Shimanovich <gshiman@optonline.net>
Reply-To: George Shimanovich <gshiman@optonline.net>
Subject: RE: Fwd: RE: Dissertation Abstract: Sympathy & Suffering in LOLITA
Former postings:
...............................................................................
1. (Jansy): ... and this is not the same as practicing "doublespeak"...
2. (G.Shimanovich): No, it is, and here is why. I view 'demolition of the
stereotypes of "pervert" and "victim' as conscious attempt to blur reality of
the novel. There is nothing in common between Orwell and VN but Orwell allows
non-passionate (cursive mine) assessment of that kind of the criticism(...)
Some texts offer difficulty which makes it even more important to tame them.
So, in same way as passage from Declaration of Independence could be swallowed
in the single word crimethink, one may approach difficult Lolita with
pervertvictimlove. (I do it only to reply to Jancy and Mrs. Dawson - it has
absolutely nothing to do with VN) (...)
..............................................................
Continuing with the discussion:
Dear G.Shimanovich,
I´m afraid I didn´t fully understand your arguments.
In the first paragraph of your answer I found what I took to be your criticism
concerning Dr.Dawson´s dissertation, that it aimed at a 'demolition of the
stereotypes of "pervert" and "victim' as conscious attempt to blur reality of
the novel". And yet, a little further on you employed Orwell´s invention of
"doublespeak" to ironize what would have been as to " approach difficult Lolita
with pervertvictimlove".
I understand that Dr.Dawson was not trying to demolish the categories comprised
by the concepts "pervert" or "victim", but to study cultural stereotypes that
alter these concepts and turn society blind to all the other complexities that
come under these words.
I also don´t see how her dissertation could be understood as an approach to
Nabokov´s novel in order to reduce it to "pervertvictimlove".
Her scope seemed to me less ambitious than that since I could see no intention
to reduce VN´s entire novel to fit into that issue.
To give you an example of what I mean: Once I read a dissertation about the
meaning of "heaven´s spite" in Hamlet. The author illustrated how that word
had radically changed from Elizabethan days to ours because the religious view
that lay behind its use had altered. His argument was that it was important to
understand more about Elizabethan customs and practices to realize what the
poet was saying by "spite" and obviously was not reducing Hamlet to a "spite"
issue but on how to read Shakespeare correctly.
And that´s how I also understood Dr.Dawson´s project ( but I haven´t read her
full work to be sure, of course )
Jansy
----- End forwarded message -----