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VN Bibliography: Pale Fire and Boswell's Life of Johnson
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From: Matthew Morris <mmorris@netunlimited.net>
MORRIS, MATTHEW CHARLES EVANS, Ph.D. Parody in PALE FIRE: A Re-Reading of
Boswell's Life of Johnson (1996). Directed by Dr. James Evans.
This study explores Vladimir Nabokov's parody, in his 1962 novel PALE FIRE,
of Boswell's LIFE OF JOHNSON. I attempt to show that Nabokov's numerous
parodic references to Boswell's work perform two significant functions. As
with all of the parodies in Nabokov's novels, the Boswell allusions help
give Nabokov's own book a sense of definition or identity; by placing his
own work in the context of another, earlier work, Nabokov's individual
artistic concerns come into focus. His highly allusive novels, composed
largely of pastiches of parody, help Nabokov to combat what Harold Bloom
called the anxiety impulse, the fear that any modern artist must somehow
surmount when faced with the legions of dead strong poets and thinkers who
came before him.
Parody also sends Nabokov's readers back to the original sources, helping
them to re-read older texts, in new ways. Through the prism of parody,
Nabokov revives moribund genres, books and plays for his readers, providing
insights into them that might not be possible in the context of a strictly
scholarly exercise. The close reader of PALE FIRE will, in addition to
feeling the force of the authorial identity Nabokov has established for
himself in his own book, also develop an intricate understanding of the
controversies surrounding highly subjective bookss such as THE LIFE OF
JOHNSON, and come to look at the works parodied in Nabokov's novel in a
different light. Newer novels can thus inform readings of older texts,
helping the reader to re-read the older works in important, new ways.
MORRIS, MATTHEW CHARLES EVANS, Ph.D. Parody in PALE FIRE: A Re-Reading of
Boswell's Life of Johnson (1996). Directed by Dr. James Evans.
This study explores Vladimir Nabokov's parody, in his 1962 novel PALE FIRE,
of Boswell's LIFE OF JOHNSON. I attempt to show that Nabokov's numerous
parodic references to Boswell's work perform two significant functions. As
with all of the parodies in Nabokov's novels, the Boswell allusions help
give Nabokov's own book a sense of definition or identity; by placing his
own work in the context of another, earlier work, Nabokov's individual
artistic concerns come into focus. His highly allusive novels, composed
largely of pastiches of parody, help Nabokov to combat what Harold Bloom
called the anxiety impulse, the fear that any modern artist must somehow
surmount when faced with the legions of dead strong poets and thinkers who
came before him.
Parody also sends Nabokov's readers back to the original sources, helping
them to re-read older texts, in new ways. Through the prism of parody,
Nabokov revives moribund genres, books and plays for his readers, providing
insights into them that might not be possible in the context of a strictly
scholarly exercise. The close reader of PALE FIRE will, in addition to
feeling the force of the authorial identity Nabokov has established for
himself in his own book, also develop an intricate understanding of the
controversies surrounding highly subjective bookss such as THE LIFE OF
JOHNSON, and come to look at the works parodied in Nabokov's novel in a
different light. Newer novels can thus inform readings of older texts,
helping the reader to re-read the older works in important, new ways.