Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0009481, Mon, 22 Mar 2004 17:44:55 -0800

Subject
Fw: Fw: Fw: speaking of prefaces LOLITA's John Ray, Jr.
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stringer-Hye, Suellen" <suellen.stringer-hye@vanderbilt.edu>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (94
lines) ------------------
> There are many connections to Polar Expedition in Lolita as I
> discovered while writing a paper about VN and Melville. See
>
> "The Weed Exiles the Flower, Melville and Nabokov" Nabokov Studies
> Vol. 5
>
> <http://staffweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/libtech/stringer/melnab.doc>
>
> --On Monday, March 22, 2004 8:29 AM -0800 "D. Barton Johnson"
> <chtodel@cox.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jeff Edmunds
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Monday, March 22, 2004 7:18 AM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: speaking of prefaces
> >
> > From Jeff Edmunds <jhe2@psulias.psu.edu>:
> >
> > In response to Carolyn Kunin's query about John Ray, Jr.:
> >
> > In her book _Lolita: un royaume au-delà des mers_ (Talence:
> > Presses Universitaires de Bordeaux, 1996), Christine
> > Raguet-Bouvart lists John Ray, Jr. among the book's many doubles.
> > I quote from my discussion of the book that originally appeared
> > in Nabokov Studies #3 (1996):
> >
> > "In her essay on "Doubles and Reflections," Raguet-Bouvart begins
> > by noting the oft-overlooked double title (Lolita, or the
> > Confessions of White Widowed Male) suggested by Humbert and by
> > listing the familiar roster of the novel's doubles: John Ray, Jr.
> > [JR, Jr.], Gaston Godin, Harold Haze, etc. etc.."
> >
> > My article includes a footnote to Raguet-Bouvart's mention of
> > John Ray, Jr.:
> >
> > "It might also be noted that, pronounced à la française, "J.R."
> > gives "J'y erre," which is particularly resonant given
> > Raguet-Bouvart's subsequent emphasis on Humbert's errance."
> >
> > Although it was inspired by Raguet-Bouvart's discussion of
> > Humbert's wandering (errance), a theme first discussed at length
> > by Alain Robbe-Grillet in his 1964 article "La notion
> > d'itinéraire dans Lolita," the observation in my footnote may be
> > too contrived to be true.
> >
> > Or it may not.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > At 08:55 AM 3/20/2004 -0800, you wrote:
> >
> > EDNOTE.
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Carolyn Kunin
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Saturday, March 20, 2004 7:49 AM
> > Subject: speaking of prefaces
> >
> > To the List,
> >
> > I have often wondered about the name John Rae, Jr (preface
> > Lolita). I sometimes came across the name John Rae linked to
> > Arctic exploration, but "Jr" was never there.
> >
> > I am reading Ken McGoogan's Fatal Passage: the Story of John Rae,
> > the Arctic Hero Time Forgot and it turns out that John Rae was
> > the son of "John Rae, Sr," and so, though never referred to that
> > way, he really was John Rae, Jr.
> >
> > Other names linked to Arctic exploration occasionally turn up in
> > Nabokov's work (Amundsen in Ada, for example) and I think I that
> > there is a play about Scott? or am I dreaming?
> >
> > Carolyn
> > -------------------
> > EDNOTE. But LO's presenter is John RAY, Jr. PhD, not John
> > RAE. The Scott play is "The Pole" available in English translated
> > by DN with a very nice preface. The play was performed in Berlin
> > a few years back.
> >
> >
>
>
>
> ---------------------------------------
> Stringer-Hye, Suellen
> Vanderbilt University
> Email: suellen.stringer-hye@Vanderbilt.Edu