PS: I forgot to add that, unless Nabokov states
it explicitly, his authorial intentions remain open to various
interpretations, although there are many opinions of his to be
found in print to reveal his views about poetry, art
and artistic projects.
We must keep in mind that VN affirmed
(playfully or not) that the poem "Pale Fire" was written by the
greatest among the fictional poets, ie, by John
Shade. Another explicit comment concerns his opinions
about women as translators and as
poets (a bleak view, indeed, should Hazel's insufflations have
effectively influenced the quality of Shade's poetic expertise... and this
means a new level of authorial mischief to take into account?).
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2010 6:41
PM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] from Ron
Rosenbaum re "Pale Fire" & EDNote
Ron Rosenbaum addresses
B.Boyd, and the List: " Is he then, elephant and starfish
aside, still willing to assert that he believes the poem "Pale Fire" was meant
by VN to be taken as written by the ghost of John Shade's dead daughter? I
think this is an important question for the foremost Nabokov biographer to
help us clear up[...] And I'd be interested to see if anyone else on the list
subscribes to this theory of the poem's
authorship. "
JM: There's fiction's fiction
- otherwise we all know that even
a perturbed Hazel has been authored by Nabokov ( so, why
not her ghost?).
I think it perfectly valid
to consider that, in one level (ie: of the plot,
as concocted by Kinbote, namely, the novel itself) it was Hazel
who inspired Shade's hand.
I don't subscribe to this theory (
actually, for me it is easier to believe in fairies and nymphets,
than ethereal ghosts), but I don't see why this idea clashes
with any subsequent arguments about Nabokov's authorship of the poem
taken in isolation.
All private
editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.