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Re: FWD: TT-9 -- a foul wind (fwd)
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------------------ A schoolboy's insane desire and a romantic tumult never
felt previously. Armande Chamar. LA PARTICULE AURAIT JURE' AVEC LA
DERNI`ERE SYLLABE DO MON PRE'NOM
The virtually throw-away nature of the italicized insertion -- Le particule
aurait jure' avec la derni`ere syllabe de mon pre'nom. -- makes me a bit
suspicious, as does the combination of de with jurer. Lets remember the
otherworldliness wafting with italics here -- (When WE concentrate on a
material object; on the printed page the words "likely" and "actually"
should be italicized too, at least SLIGHTLY, to indicate a SLIGHT breath
of wind inclining those characters) -- more than French may be at stake
here. (A very interesting article dealing in part w. italics in PF by
James Ramey has just appeared in Comparative Literature Studies; I hope
the full citation can be posted soon). The notion of a noble particule
appears later in the text with direct reference to VN: on page 75
(ch.19), in the midst of a bawdy passage -- "He queried the middle word in
the name of an incidental character "Adam von Librikov" because the German
particle seemed to clash with the rest; or was the entire combination a
sly scramble?" It seems to me possible that "jurer" here is functioning
as a pun, i.e. "the particle would have clashed/sworn/cursed with the last
syllable of my first name". A riddling statement from the author? This
works better, of course, with the English pronunciation of the name than
with the French. A juron that goes back to its original meaning by
invoking the name of God? Vladi-merde! that would be indeed taking the
Lord's name in vain -- as well as reading with a schoolboy's in(s)ane
interpretive desire.
Eric
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
felt previously. Armande Chamar. LA PARTICULE AURAIT JURE' AVEC LA
DERNI`ERE SYLLABE DO MON PRE'NOM
The virtually throw-away nature of the italicized insertion -- Le particule
aurait jure' avec la derni`ere syllabe de mon pre'nom. -- makes me a bit
suspicious, as does the combination of de with jurer. Lets remember the
otherworldliness wafting with italics here -- (When WE concentrate on a
material object; on the printed page the words "likely" and "actually"
should be italicized too, at least SLIGHTLY, to indicate a SLIGHT breath
of wind inclining those characters) -- more than French may be at stake
here. (A very interesting article dealing in part w. italics in PF by
James Ramey has just appeared in Comparative Literature Studies; I hope
the full citation can be posted soon). The notion of a noble particule
appears later in the text with direct reference to VN: on page 75
(ch.19), in the midst of a bawdy passage -- "He queried the middle word in
the name of an incidental character "Adam von Librikov" because the German
particle seemed to clash with the rest; or was the entire combination a
sly scramble?" It seems to me possible that "jurer" here is functioning
as a pun, i.e. "the particle would have clashed/sworn/cursed with the last
syllable of my first name". A riddling statement from the author? This
works better, of course, with the English pronunciation of the name than
with the French. A juron that goes back to its original meaning by
invoking the name of God? Vladi-merde! that would be indeed taking the
Lord's name in vain -- as well as reading with a schoolboy's in(s)ane
interpretive desire.
Eric
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L