Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0010599, Fri, 19 Nov 2004 10:14:12 -0800

Subject
Fwd: Re: TT-19 Pauline anide
Date
Body
Don, I also think Henry Moore and his Mother and Child (especially, Mother
with a fetus inside--a fetus nedated?) works are
plausibly the models of the sculptor and "Pauline anide."

Some of the list might wonder why I am sticking to the definite
meaning of "anide." If I spoke one of the Indo-European languages as my
mother tongue, I would not. As a Japanese translator, I must translate
*everything* except proper names. "Anide" cannot be left as it is in
Japanese.
Neither can I find a Japanese word that would mean "formless," "heartless
(fetus)" and perhaps "in a nest." Then I have to think about priority. In
our
Japanese translation, "anide" is "formless." As we are preparing for the
second edition, I wanted to find something "better" if any. As Jansy says,
"anide" is open to various meanings and we should not try to limit its
possibilities. I agree as a reader, but I grudgingly do not as a translator.

Akiko

----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2004 6:02 AM
Subject: Fwd: Re: TT-19 Pauline anide


> Don
> I hope this message gets through.
> A clumsy word, such as ' Pauline anide ' ( that carries the indigo sound
of
> "aniline"), must have been added on purpose to suggest a word-play open
to
> various interpretations, including anatomical terms such as a "heartless
> fetus" ( in French, like the name Pauline) or for naming insects or pupae
> ( which could take us to entomologist Prof. Nabokonidus in "Ada" ). Any
way,
> I don´t think any interpretation is better than the next one and its
"truth"
> will depend on the associative inroads into TT that it can explore.
> Jansy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 4:00 PM
> Subject: TT-19 Pauline anide
>
>
> > EDNOTE. You are right. I can not recall why I assumed "anide" was
French.
> But it
> > clearly derives from Greek/Latin antecedents and means "shapeless,
> formless" as
> > in undifferentiated embryo. This seems to fit the "obese"
> Pauline-as-model. I
> > still like my suggestion of sculptor Henry Moore, Nabokov bete noir,
whose
> > works were often "undiferentiated."
> > --------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > ----- Forwarded message from a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp -----
> > Date: Thu, 18 Nov 2004 10:13:50 +0900
> > From: Akiko Nakata <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
> > Reply-To: Akiko Nakata <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
> > Subject: Re: Fwd: Turgenev and Pauline anide
> > To: chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu
> >
> > Dear Don,
> >
> > Thank you for the Ednote.
> > Is "anide" really a French word for "formless"? In French
> dictionaries--and
> > several dictionaries
> > of some other languages--I have consulted, I could not find the word. If
> it
> > is a French word, I will be happy free from the "anide" for which I
could
> > not find a perfect solution.
> >
> > For your reference, I pasted my note to "anide" below.
> >
> > 73.10: *anide*: Brian Boyd explains "anide" in the LoA edition notes as
> > "Anidian, formless, lacking differentiation (of an embryo or fetus). I
> found
> > that in Webster 3 as the definition of "anidian," and I think the
meanings
> > Brian cites matches the text, but I could not find that "anide" equals
> > "anidian." A website has "anide" as a synonym of "acardiaque," i. e.,
> > "acardiac" in English. Cf. Vulgaris-Medical:
> >
>
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:SGeEfe-j_QcJ:www.vulgaris-medical.com/v1/%3Fp%3Dindex_fiche%26id_article%3D5331+anide&hl=ja
> > .
> > The other "anide" hit was in a Spanish verb conjugation table.
> > "Anidar">"anide" means 1. to nest, 2. to live. I would be grateful if
> > someone would explain the Spanish verb. I do not understand why the
> Belgian
> > sculptor named his work made from a French (or Belgian) woman in
Spanish,
> > though.
> >
> > Later, I found "Pauline anide" in Spanish is not grammatically correct
as
> > you may know.
> >
> > Brian wrote to me that W2 gives "anidean" as a variant of "anidian" with
> the
> > meanings he cited in AoL, and in a technical polysyllable that "-an"
> suffix
> > could be superfluous, which he thought was what both VN and he were
going
> > on.
> >
> > I was almost persuaded by Brian because there was no better explanation.
> But
> > if "anide" is a French word commonlly used, it must be better than
Brian's
> > definition. It would be natural that a Belgian artist named his work in
> > French.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> > Akiko
> >
> > ----- End forwarded message -----
> >
> >
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>

----- End forwarded message -----