Subject
Zemblanglish!
From
Date
Body
Dear All,
The discussions of "Moscovy glass...a pertussal "backdraucht" in a crowd
of schoolchildren," and "that odd muse of mine,/ My versipel,." have
been fascinating. May I suggest there's more than a hint that Shade may
be thinking, consciously or otherwise, with VN at his shoulder, in
Russo-zemblanglish in these instances:
"Glas" in medieval, church Russian is voice (still a productive stem,
i.e., "glasnost'"=public voice, or publicity); so, heartland, true,
Moscovy, puddle-tinkling, whooping, coughing, gasping, excited voices,
or glas-es.
"Versipel," vers[e] i pel, could be translated, in macaronic
Zemblanglish, as "he sang verse," which equals "that odd muse of mine".
VN was not above playing with his readers who do not know Russian. The
first paragraph of ADA comes to mind. ".another Tolsoy work, Detstvo i
Otrochestvo
(Childhood and Fatherland,.)". To the reader in the know, Otrochestvo is
"boyhood," and not to be confused with Otechestvo, "fatherland".
Shade's connection to the family name Lukin comes from the Russian "luk"
which means "arrow" or "onion". Maybe someone can do something with
that!
Onion domes anyone? Slings and arrows?
Best wishes,
Jerry Katsell
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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