-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Russ & Female Man
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:39:06 -0500
From: Darryl Schade <dschade3@gmail.com>
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>


I'm reading Joanna Russ' Female Man and saw that she supposedly studied with VN at Cornell a year or 2 after Lolita would have come out. I'm curious if anyone has mentioned her in connection with VN. In Female Man there is a 12 year old girl who gets involved with an older woman. The sexual situation is similar to Lolita, the ages of the characters is similar, the manner of speech of the girl Laura is reminiscent also of Lo's, and she begins to be referred to by a "diminutive" as Laur, much like the Lo by Humbert. I couldn't help but think there is at least an homage to VN and Lolita if not also a twisting of the genders into a lesbian relationship. Also, the structure of the book is very experimental, fragmentary, metafictional.

thanks, Darryl





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