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Re: MLA Abstracts (179)#1
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EDITORIAL NOTE: This and the following three postings contain the
abstracts for papers to be read in section "179 Vladimir Nabokov: Varia",
10:15-11:30 am, Stetson D, Hyatt Regency Chicago.
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I. "The Goglian Sentences in Nabokokv's _Pnin_. Sam Schuman, U. of Minn.
In his work on Nicolai Gogol, Nabokov dwells at some length on an analysis of a
"remarkable phenomenon" in Gogol's prose: a syntatic tactic in which V.N. finds
"mere forms of speech directly giving rise to live creatures." Sentences and
paragraphs take on a kind of organic energy, where similes and metaphors spin
off little stories of their own. These utterances (like a Knight's move in
chess) veer off into entirely unexpected directions in mid-flight. It is
obvious from the delight which Nabokov takes in describing and illustrating the
device that it is one of particular appeal to him.
It is little surprise, therefore, that we find very similar constructions in
Nabokov's own prose works. In PNIN, for example, I find several of these
"Gogolian" sentences: sentences which start off in one narrative direction,
and, in the midst of an innocent figure of speech, burst off in wild new
directions. For example:
Technically speaking, the narrator's art of integrating
telephone conversations still lags far behind that of
rendering dialogues conducted from room to room, or
from window to window across some narrow blue alley
in an ancient town with water so precious, and the
misery of donkeys, and rugs for sale, and minarets, and
foreigners and mellons, and the vibrant morning echoes (31).
As in Gogol's works, but perhaps more self-consciously, these fantastic
sentences reveal the convolutions and preoccupations of the minds which imagine
them. The discovery, unravelling and comprehending of these foliating
expressions is one of the most charming delights of reading Nabokov.
Sam Schuman
Sam
abstracts for papers to be read in section "179 Vladimir Nabokov: Varia",
10:15-11:30 am, Stetson D, Hyatt Regency Chicago.
--------------------------------------------
I. "The Goglian Sentences in Nabokokv's _Pnin_. Sam Schuman, U. of Minn.
In his work on Nicolai Gogol, Nabokov dwells at some length on an analysis of a
"remarkable phenomenon" in Gogol's prose: a syntatic tactic in which V.N. finds
"mere forms of speech directly giving rise to live creatures." Sentences and
paragraphs take on a kind of organic energy, where similes and metaphors spin
off little stories of their own. These utterances (like a Knight's move in
chess) veer off into entirely unexpected directions in mid-flight. It is
obvious from the delight which Nabokov takes in describing and illustrating the
device that it is one of particular appeal to him.
It is little surprise, therefore, that we find very similar constructions in
Nabokov's own prose works. In PNIN, for example, I find several of these
"Gogolian" sentences: sentences which start off in one narrative direction,
and, in the midst of an innocent figure of speech, burst off in wild new
directions. For example:
Technically speaking, the narrator's art of integrating
telephone conversations still lags far behind that of
rendering dialogues conducted from room to room, or
from window to window across some narrow blue alley
in an ancient town with water so precious, and the
misery of donkeys, and rugs for sale, and minarets, and
foreigners and mellons, and the vibrant morning echoes (31).
As in Gogol's works, but perhaps more self-consciously, these fantastic
sentences reveal the convolutions and preoccupations of the minds which imagine
them. The discovery, unravelling and comprehending of these foliating
expressions is one of the most charming delights of reading Nabokov.
Sam Schuman
Sam