Subject
{Thoughts] The real and the semblance in Pale Fire
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There are occasions when a familiar text suddenly opens up onto a new query
that adds a different perspective for an authors work. In this case, its
point of departure came from a paragraph in VNs Pouchkine, le vrai et le
vraisemblable ( I dont have its translation in English) that has been
published for the first time in the NRF (1937) arguing about the real
Pushkin.
The selected lines fit so perfectly into their original context that, until
now, I had never tried to apply them to another one.
Today I was reminded of John Shades poem Pale Fire, its real
autobiographical elements and the partially real and delirious commentary
by C.Kinbote. Fictive poet, fictive commentator, real author: what is
real in the novel, what is fake (duperie), where does it carry us in
sensations, cultural atmosphere, private dreams ( life and its pastiche,
life and its commentary)? Do VNs observations about how he immerses himself
into Pushkins life and entourage reflect what the present reader can
recover about VN while listening to JS and CK? Did he have his old thesis
in mind when he composed PF and what does it reveal about VNs views about
art or his intended essence in JSs poem read in isolation?
The line that stimulated me begins with: A poets life is like the pastiche
of his work (quoting: La vie dun poète est comme le pastiche de son
oeuvre. Le passage du temps semble vouloir répéter le geste du génie, em
prêtant à son existence imaginée la même teinte et le même contour que le
poète avait donnés à ses créatures... Quimporte au fond, si ce que nous
voyons nest qune immense duperie. Pouchkine: le vrai et le
vraisemblable,1937.)
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that adds a different perspective for an authors work. In this case, its
point of departure came from a paragraph in VNs Pouchkine, le vrai et le
vraisemblable ( I dont have its translation in English) that has been
published for the first time in the NRF (1937) arguing about the real
Pushkin.
The selected lines fit so perfectly into their original context that, until
now, I had never tried to apply them to another one.
Today I was reminded of John Shades poem Pale Fire, its real
autobiographical elements and the partially real and delirious commentary
by C.Kinbote. Fictive poet, fictive commentator, real author: what is
real in the novel, what is fake (duperie), where does it carry us in
sensations, cultural atmosphere, private dreams ( life and its pastiche,
life and its commentary)? Do VNs observations about how he immerses himself
into Pushkins life and entourage reflect what the present reader can
recover about VN while listening to JS and CK? Did he have his old thesis
in mind when he composed PF and what does it reveal about VNs views about
art or his intended essence in JSs poem read in isolation?
The line that stimulated me begins with: A poets life is like the pastiche
of his work (quoting: La vie dun poète est comme le pastiche de son
oeuvre. Le passage du temps semble vouloir répéter le geste du génie, em
prêtant à son existence imaginée la même teinte et le même contour que le
poète avait donnés à ses créatures... Quimporte au fond, si ce que nous
voyons nest qune immense duperie. Pouchkine: le vrai et le
vraisemblable,1937.)
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,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
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 :http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=NABOKV-L