Chastised by the realization that it is impossible to
be a "good" VN reader without understanding a reference in a title of his
short-stories ( particularly the twist in "That in Aleppo once" ) I decided
to google the archives for further clues. I also wanted to recover a
posting by Schuman. So I chose: NABOKV-L Archives -- September 2002 (#73)-
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... I suggest new readings of three short
stories-"Lik," "That in Aleppo Once. ... GENERAL SESSION
July 15 Samuel Schuman, University of Minnesota, Morris,
...
listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0209&L=nabokv-l&P=8730
- 160k -
I
selected, just as an example:
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Donald Barton Johnson, University of
California, Santa Barbara, USA
"Signs & Symbols": Nabokov &
Iconicity
Iconicity is one of the techniques Nabokov uses to surmount the
limitations of language. Prominent among these devices is alphabetic iconicism,
the use of a letter's physical shape to carry meaning: words mean; letters
(sometimes) illustrate or mimic topic and/or theme.
After a brief
survey of iconic types, I set out to explore Nabokov's attempts to draw
various other kinds of typographic signs into his stylistic arsenal. These
include punctuation such as exclamation points, question marks, ellipses;
figures, such as parentheses; and even type faces such as italic.
We shall
see that Nabokov, the consummate artist, employs these almost subliminal signs
and symbols and integrates them into the architecture of his
art.
Samuel Schuman, University of Minnesota, Morris,
USA
"A poem, a poem, forsooth:" Immortality and Transformation in
Shakespeare's Sonnets and Nabokov's Novels
In the Sonnets, especially numbers
15-20, Wm. Shakespeare evokes the motif of immortality at several levels.
Nabokov's novels are similarly evocative. Both authors see in the work of
art a means of eternalizing the subject of the poem or novel, and its author as
well. And, in works such as Sonnet 18, and Lolita or Ada, this immortality
is achieved through a kind of transmutation of the author and the beloved "into"
the literary work. For both writers, this theme seems to combine literary
technique and autobiographical intensity. The force which creates these
transformations is the power of love and the magic of language.
( both
offered as Abstracts of papers at the
NABOKOV SYMPOSIUM (July 15-19, 2002) Saint Petersburg.
How about that? "'I suggest new readings
of" some other VN short stories..."That in Aleppo Once", "Spring in
Fialta"....
Jansy