Subject
Nabokov and Pedophilia (fwd)
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From: Ryan Asmussen <rra@bu.edu>
With respect to this issue of whether or not Nabokov was sympathetic with
either Humbert or his Lolita (or possibly both), and whether or not his
childhood experiences at the hands of his uncle was a legitimate factor in
determining this and other personal issues, it's important, I think, to
keep in mind that VN, in fact, was a novelist, a brilliant novelist, and,
as such, to a very strong degree yet in a broad way, must have have had to
empathize with his characters -- but creatively, not necessarily
psychologically -- at very least in the sense of being able to write from
within those character's selves/guises in order to effectively convey their
human-ness... if not their humaneness.
>*** Here is the description Beth is referring to if you do not have SM
>handy: "When I was eight or nine, he would invariably take me upon his
>knee after lunch and (while two young footmen were clearing the table in
>the empty dining room) fondle me, with crooning sounds and fancy
>endearments, and I felt embarrassed for my uncle by the presence of the
>servants and relieved when my father called him from the veranda: 'Basile,
>on vous attend.'" GD***
Actually, to my ear and attendant sense, I detect in the above passage a
certain, perhaps, reticence, and very clearly an aesthetic distance in his
tone, as if to say, "Even at this age I was aware of the broader
implications beyond my immediate, personal sphere of consciousness." And I
think this may interestingly hearken back to VN's well-known definition of
art = Beauty plus pity. While, admittedly, it might be difficult here in
the above passage to read VN as finding much beauty in his uncle's perverse
inclinations, still one may detect a certain amount of genuine pity on his
part. Later on, this may very well have manifested itself in, as I said, a
strong creative empathy with those people/characters he would define as
"charming-yet-morally-suspect".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan Asmussen
Administrative Assistant to the Chairman
Biomedical Engineering Department
Boston University
44 Cummington Street
Boston, MA 02215
e-mail: rra@bu.edu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With respect to this issue of whether or not Nabokov was sympathetic with
either Humbert or his Lolita (or possibly both), and whether or not his
childhood experiences at the hands of his uncle was a legitimate factor in
determining this and other personal issues, it's important, I think, to
keep in mind that VN, in fact, was a novelist, a brilliant novelist, and,
as such, to a very strong degree yet in a broad way, must have have had to
empathize with his characters -- but creatively, not necessarily
psychologically -- at very least in the sense of being able to write from
within those character's selves/guises in order to effectively convey their
human-ness... if not their humaneness.
>*** Here is the description Beth is referring to if you do not have SM
>handy: "When I was eight or nine, he would invariably take me upon his
>knee after lunch and (while two young footmen were clearing the table in
>the empty dining room) fondle me, with crooning sounds and fancy
>endearments, and I felt embarrassed for my uncle by the presence of the
>servants and relieved when my father called him from the veranda: 'Basile,
>on vous attend.'" GD***
Actually, to my ear and attendant sense, I detect in the above passage a
certain, perhaps, reticence, and very clearly an aesthetic distance in his
tone, as if to say, "Even at this age I was aware of the broader
implications beyond my immediate, personal sphere of consciousness." And I
think this may interestingly hearken back to VN's well-known definition of
art = Beauty plus pity. While, admittedly, it might be difficult here in
the above passage to read VN as finding much beauty in his uncle's perverse
inclinations, still one may detect a certain amount of genuine pity on his
part. Later on, this may very well have manifested itself in, as I said, a
strong creative empathy with those people/characters he would define as
"charming-yet-morally-suspect".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ryan Asmussen
Administrative Assistant to the Chairman
Biomedical Engineering Department
Boston University
44 Cummington Street
Boston, MA 02215
e-mail: rra@bu.edu
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~