One of the probably most prominent examples of teeth in literature is Thomas
Mann's Buddenbrooks. Teeth play a central role and are one of the
leitmotifs in the novel. There are other examples in the works of Mann
(I
know that VN had a strong opinion on Mann and many Nabokovians therefor don't
like him. But if you' d like to read something differnt from Mann (except for
Buddenbrooks, Der Tod in Venedig, Der Zauberberg) maybe you should try
Der Erwählte ( The Chosen One ?). Ada Enthusiasts should find here once
again the topic of incest in German literature.)
Another text that comes to mind speaking of teeth is Flann O'Brien The third policeman, which has a nice strange discussion about teeth and health (probably a commonplace topic at that time).
philip
"D. Barton Johnson" schrieb:
EDNOTE. Prof. Goldschweer has put me to shame. My claim to be the progenitor of a new critical genre was mistaken--as documented below. Worse yet, Ziolkowski's volume with its seminal essay "The Telltale Teeth: Psychodontia to Sociodontia" is on my shelf and I must have read it. He adds many names to the (transcen-)dental canon. Among them a couple of novels I have recently read---but obviously with insufficient attention to the dental theme: Frank Norris's 1899 _McTeague_ and Georges Bernanos' _Diairy of Country Priest -(circa 1930?). Alert reader Basil Lawrence calls attention William Goldman's _Marathon Man_.----- Original Message -----
<?color><?param 0100,0100,0100>Dear List,
There is an article on that subject in <?/color>Theodore <?color><?param 0100,0100,0100>Ziolkowski's Varieties of Literary Thematics (Princeton 1983), including Guenther Grass (I think), but not Nabokov (if my memory doesn't deceive me).
Kind regardsUlrike Goldschweer, Bochum (Germany)