Subject
VN & Tennis
From
Date
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A funny twist on the theme of VN and Tennis. In today's NYTimes, Maureen
Dowd, in a column interestingly called "Nymphet at the Net," labels Anna
Kournikova "The Lolita of tennis." It's quite unclear as to why,
though. Kournikova is nineteen -- which, I suspect, makes her by far not
one of the youngest on the tennis circuit. She is also, according to Dowd's
description, a "vamp," a "blond knockout," who "burns up the pages of the
new issue of Sports Illustrated with bronze legs... and smoldering
look" -- but that does not make her a good candidate for a Lolita
either. Neither does the fact that she is Russian -- even though so was
Lolita's creator. Unless Dowd knows something I don't know, this is
probably a total misuse of the term, based not directly on the columnist's
awareness of the book but obtained through numerous filters and
distortions of the common cultural usage.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^ Galya Diment ^
^ Professor and Graduate Advisor ^
^ Slavic Languages and Literatures ^
^ University of Washington ^
^ Box 353580 ^
^ Seattle, WA 98195-3580 ^
^ Ph. 206-543-7344/206-543-6848 ^
^ Fax: 206-543-6009/206-522-1959 ^
^ ^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Dowd, in a column interestingly called "Nymphet at the Net," labels Anna
Kournikova "The Lolita of tennis." It's quite unclear as to why,
though. Kournikova is nineteen -- which, I suspect, makes her by far not
one of the youngest on the tennis circuit. She is also, according to Dowd's
description, a "vamp," a "blond knockout," who "burns up the pages of the
new issue of Sports Illustrated with bronze legs... and smoldering
look" -- but that does not make her a good candidate for a Lolita
either. Neither does the fact that she is Russian -- even though so was
Lolita's creator. Unless Dowd knows something I don't know, this is
probably a total misuse of the term, based not directly on the columnist's
awareness of the book but obtained through numerous filters and
distortions of the common cultural usage.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
^ Galya Diment ^
^ Professor and Graduate Advisor ^
^ Slavic Languages and Literatures ^
^ University of Washington ^
^ Box 353580 ^
^ Seattle, WA 98195-3580 ^
^ Ph. 206-543-7344/206-543-6848 ^
^ Fax: 206-543-6009/206-522-1959 ^
^ ^
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^