Subject
Re: reposting L Hochard re: Rosenbaum
From
Date
Body
Well, ultimately what matters is whether VN would have had this bit of
cultural knowledge available to him. Short of finding a specific reference
to the Botkin hospital in some yet-to-be-discovered bit of writing in VN's
hand, the best we can do is estimate the odds by, for example, trying to
determine how well known this hospital was among emigres with whom VN might
have had contact, etc. For someone who, like me, grew up in the NY City
area, "Bellevue" (after Bellevue Hospital's famous psychiatric department)
is synonymous with "loony bin." A character named "Bellevue" would not fail
to trigger this association. (Like Rusk, for RSG and his fellow Texans--an
association completely lost on me.) But, of course, this association would
simple not be available to, say, a Moscovite reading this imagined novel
about (say) Claire Bellevue.
Was this Botkinskaia bol'nitsa part of VN's own network of associations when
he wrote the Botkin character? Barrying the discovery of direct evidence,
we'll probably never know. Perhaps VN was aware of Dr. Evgenii Botkin, for
whom the hospital was named, and who was physician to the last tsar (see:
http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/ebotkinbio.html).
What I take away from this thread is an increased awareness of VN's
fascination with syncretic signs (not necessarily symbols). He loved words
and expressions that could conjure multiple, relevant associations with the
denotative referent. This feature of his aesthetics, I believe, is what
often drives us readers a bit batty, for we no association that seems
thematically relevant can ever be completely dismissed. ("Bodkin" hasn't
been referenced in this present thread, although the association has long
been noted.) My own view is that it is precisely this syncretic tendency
that suggests that the search for "precise solutions" is usually misguided.
There is no single key, just a fascinating array of doors inviting us into a
plethora of avenues of readerly pleasure.
Best,
David Powelstock
On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 5:19 PM, R S Gwynn <Rsgwynn1@cs.com> wrote:
> I also think the Botkin hospital link a little far-fetched, but in Texas,
> if we say, "He's at Rusk," we mean he's loony.
>
> I did find the juxtaposition of Botkin and Chekhov in this article
> interesting:
>
> http://eng.mma.ru/about/historymma
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
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
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
cultural knowledge available to him. Short of finding a specific reference
to the Botkin hospital in some yet-to-be-discovered bit of writing in VN's
hand, the best we can do is estimate the odds by, for example, trying to
determine how well known this hospital was among emigres with whom VN might
have had contact, etc. For someone who, like me, grew up in the NY City
area, "Bellevue" (after Bellevue Hospital's famous psychiatric department)
is synonymous with "loony bin." A character named "Bellevue" would not fail
to trigger this association. (Like Rusk, for RSG and his fellow Texans--an
association completely lost on me.) But, of course, this association would
simple not be available to, say, a Moscovite reading this imagined novel
about (say) Claire Bellevue.
Was this Botkinskaia bol'nitsa part of VN's own network of associations when
he wrote the Botkin character? Barrying the discovery of direct evidence,
we'll probably never know. Perhaps VN was aware of Dr. Evgenii Botkin, for
whom the hospital was named, and who was physician to the last tsar (see:
http://www.alexanderpalace.org/palace/ebotkinbio.html).
What I take away from this thread is an increased awareness of VN's
fascination with syncretic signs (not necessarily symbols). He loved words
and expressions that could conjure multiple, relevant associations with the
denotative referent. This feature of his aesthetics, I believe, is what
often drives us readers a bit batty, for we no association that seems
thematically relevant can ever be completely dismissed. ("Bodkin" hasn't
been referenced in this present thread, although the association has long
been noted.) My own view is that it is precisely this syncretic tendency
that suggests that the search for "precise solutions" is usually misguided.
There is no single key, just a fascinating array of doors inviting us into a
plethora of avenues of readerly pleasure.
Best,
David Powelstock
On Thu, Aug 26, 2010 at 5:19 PM, R S Gwynn <Rsgwynn1@cs.com> wrote:
> I also think the Botkin hospital link a little far-fetched, but in Texas,
> if we say, "He's at Rusk," we mean he's loony.
>
> I did find the juxtaposition of Botkin and Chekhov in this article
> interesting:
>
> http://eng.mma.ru/about/historymma
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
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
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/