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Re: John Shade as Japanese Fish
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Thanks to Brian for the lovely Hokusai illustrations. Had I checked Brian's LoA notes to PF before I sent my original message, I would have seen that he lays out the allusion to Hokusai there. I tend to agree that VN probably did not know of the legend behind the image, however Gerard de Vries, off-list, reminded me that Kinbote tries to dress Shade in a "veritable dragon skin of oriental chromas, fit for a samurai" (C. 181). So Shade-as-Dragon does have a companion image in the text. Food for thought.
Cheers,
Matt
On 4/30/18, Brian Boyd <b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz> wrote:
> I asked Véra Nabokov was the fish image in Pale Fire a homage to Hokusai?
> With a smile, she said Yes. So I think that settles the matter.
>
>
> I have loved Hokusai's work for over forty years. He's incomparably
> the greatest Japanese artist. I had three Hokusai prints in my part of
> the On the Origin of Art
> exhibition?<https://mona.net.au/museum/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/on
> -the-origin-of-art> at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart,
> Tasmania, 2016-17, including the Great Wave (the last and culminating
> piece in the show).
>
>
> Here's the better known of his carp in waterfall (two fish--one could
> imagine that the lower one is not going to make it; but we can suspect
> that Nabokov knew only the image, not the legend) and a Hokusai carp
> image I like even more, almost monochrome, with two turtles also
> enjoying the water and its ripples.
>
>
> Brian Boyd
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> on behalf of
> Roth, Matthew <mroth@MESSIAH.EDU>
> Sent: Tuesday, 1 May 2018 6:18 a.m.
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: [NABOKV-L] John Shade as Japanese Fish
>
> Near the end of Kinbote's note to line 691 ("the attack"), he pictures
> JS "squirming up the college hall stairs as a Japanese fish up a cataract"
> (250). Kinbote seems to think we will understand the image, and indeed
> it turns out that the carp ascending a waterfall is a common image in
> Japanese art. There is even a story to go with the image, as told here
> by M. McLean from his 1889 book, Echoes of Japan:
>
> The Carp Ascending The Waterfall.
> It is a common sight to see, on Japanese works of art, and in
> picture-books, a carp trying to swim against a strong current or
> waterfall. This allegorical picture has a very interesting history,
> and is derived from a Chinese story. In some part of China there is a
> strong current, called Rio-mon, or Dragon's Gate. This stream is
> looked upon as sacred; so that, if any fish succeeds in scaling it, it
> becomes a dragon. The passage is very difficult, it being rocky and
> steep, and every fish except the carp fails in the attempt.
>
> Other versions make clear that only one of a thousand carp ascends to
> the top and is transformed. The others remain mere fish in the pool
> below. I see at least three connections to PF in this story. First, it
> is a story of animal metamorphosis-a theme associated with Hazel (wood
> duck, trying on furs, Vanessa). It is also a story of the passage into
> immortality-certainly a theme of the novel, played out in myriad ways.
> Thirdly, we might see a transmuted version of the Gradus ad Parnassum,
> as Shade ascends the academic stairs. Did he make it to the top? I
> think he did. Perhaps others can do more with the image/allusion.
>
> Cheers,
> Matt Roth
>
> PS. I have attached a representative image of the koi's ascent
>
> .CS UTF-8
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> Nabokov Studies: https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/257 Chercheurs
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> Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
> Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
> AdaOnline: "http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/ The Nabokov Society of
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Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
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Cheers,
Matt
On 4/30/18, Brian Boyd <b.boyd@auckland.ac.nz> wrote:
> I asked Véra Nabokov was the fish image in Pale Fire a homage to Hokusai?
> With a smile, she said Yes. So I think that settles the matter.
>
>
> I have loved Hokusai's work for over forty years. He's incomparably
> the greatest Japanese artist. I had three Hokusai prints in my part of
> the On the Origin of Art
> exhibition?<https://mona.net.au/museum/exhibitions/past-exhibitions/on
> -the-origin-of-art> at the Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart,
> Tasmania, 2016-17, including the Great Wave (the last and culminating
> piece in the show).
>
>
> Here's the better known of his carp in waterfall (two fish--one could
> imagine that the lower one is not going to make it; but we can suspect
> that Nabokov knew only the image, not the legend) and a Hokusai carp
> image I like even more, almost monochrome, with two turtles also
> enjoying the water and its ripples.
>
>
> Brian Boyd
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> on behalf of
> Roth, Matthew <mroth@MESSIAH.EDU>
> Sent: Tuesday, 1 May 2018 6:18 a.m.
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: [NABOKV-L] John Shade as Japanese Fish
>
> Near the end of Kinbote's note to line 691 ("the attack"), he pictures
> JS "squirming up the college hall stairs as a Japanese fish up a cataract"
> (250). Kinbote seems to think we will understand the image, and indeed
> it turns out that the carp ascending a waterfall is a common image in
> Japanese art. There is even a story to go with the image, as told here
> by M. McLean from his 1889 book, Echoes of Japan:
>
> The Carp Ascending The Waterfall.
> It is a common sight to see, on Japanese works of art, and in
> picture-books, a carp trying to swim against a strong current or
> waterfall. This allegorical picture has a very interesting history,
> and is derived from a Chinese story. In some part of China there is a
> strong current, called Rio-mon, or Dragon's Gate. This stream is
> looked upon as sacred; so that, if any fish succeeds in scaling it, it
> becomes a dragon. The passage is very difficult, it being rocky and
> steep, and every fish except the carp fails in the attempt.
>
> Other versions make clear that only one of a thousand carp ascends to
> the top and is transformed. The others remain mere fish in the pool
> below. I see at least three connections to PF in this story. First, it
> is a story of animal metamorphosis-a theme associated with Hazel (wood
> duck, trying on furs, Vanessa). It is also a story of the passage into
> immortality-certainly a theme of the novel, played out in myriad ways.
> Thirdly, we might see a transmuted version of the Gradus ad Parnassum,
> as Shade ascends the academic stairs. Did he make it to the top? I
> think he did. Perhaps others can do more with the image/allusion.
>
> Cheers,
> Matt Roth
>
> PS. I have attached a representative image of the koi's ascent
>
> .CS UTF-8
> Archive
> Search:<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu
> &hl=en%0A>
> <http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&hl=en%
> 0A>
> ___
> L-Soft <https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L>
>
> Contact<mailto:dana.dragunoiu@gmail.com,nabokv-l@utk.edu,shvabrin@humn
> et.ucla.edu> the
> Editors<mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu>
> <http://www.nabokovonline.com>
> <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm>
> Policies<http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm>
> ___
> Options<http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NABOKV-L>
> Nabokov Studies<https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/257> (Journal)
> <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm>
> NOJ<http://www.nabokovonline.com>
> ___
> Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm>
>
> <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NABOKV-L> Chercheurs
> Enchantés (French VN Society)
> <http://www.vladimir-nabokov.org/association/chercheurs-enchantes/73>
> AdaOnline<http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/> NSJ
> <http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> Ada
> Annotations<http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> VN Bibliography
> Blog<http://vnbiblio.com/>
> All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
>
> Search archive with Google:
> http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
>
> Contact the Editors:
> mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,dana.dragunoiu@gmail.com,shvabrin@humnet.ucla.
> edu
> Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
> Nabokov Studies: https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/257 Chercheurs
> Enchantes:
> http://www.vladimir-nabokov.org/association/chercheurs-enchantes/73
> Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
> Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
> AdaOnline: "http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/ The Nabokov Society of
> Japan's Annotations to Ada:
> http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html
> The VN Bibliography Blog: http://vnbiblio.com/ Search the archive with
> L-Soft:
> https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L
>
> Manage subscription options
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Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
Nabokov Studies: https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/257 Chercheurs Enchantes: http://www.vladimir-nabokov.org/association/chercheurs-enchantes/73
Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
AdaOnline: "http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/ The Nabokov Society of Japan's Annotations to Ada: http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html
The VN Bibliography Blog: http://vnbiblio.com/ Dieter Zimmer Website: http://www.d-e-zimmer.de/index.htm
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Nabokov Studies: https://muse.jhu.edu/journal/257
Chercheurs Enchantes: http://www.vladimir-nabokov.org/association/chercheurs-enchantes/73
Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
AdaOnline: "http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/
The Nabokov Society of Japan's Annotations to Ada: http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html
The VN Bibliography Blog: http://vnbiblio.com/
Dieter Zimmer Website: http://www.d-e-zimmer.de/index.htm
Search the archive with L-Soft: https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L
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