Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0009549, Thu, 1 Apr 2004 19:32:44 -0800

Subject
Fw: Freud and Havelock Ellis
Date
Body
EDNOTE. SEE my comment at bottom.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ulrich Schmid" <ulrich.schmid@issl.unibe.ch>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, April 01, 2004 9:56 AM
Subject: Freud and Havelock Ellis


> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (24
lines) ------------------
> I was wondering if Vladimir Krizhevskij is mixing up Freud with Havelock
> Ellis quoting a case of a Russian gentleman suffering from a sexual
> obsession with young girls. If he is right, I would be grateful for an
> indication where exactly Freud refers to this case. The full reference is
> on: http://www.rg.ru/2004/03/23/lolita.html
>
> Many thanks,
> Ulrich Schmid (Slavic Dept., University of Berne, Switzerland)
>
> Ulrich Schmid
> Institut fьr slavische Sprachen und Literaturen
> Universitдt Bern
> Lдnggassstr. 49
> 3000 Bern 9
-------------------------------------------------
EDRESPONSE. As Prof. Schmid suggests, Prof. Krizhevskii has, I think,
mixed up his psychiatrists. The ur-Lolita case Dr. Krizhevskii has in mind
is related in the anonymous _Confessions of Victor X_, that Havlock Ellis
printed in the French edition of his _Studies in the Psychology of Sex_.
Nabokov's friend Edmund Wilson called the writer's attention to essay. It is
true that VN disliked both Drs. Freud and Zhivago. Victor's Confession_ was
published in 1984 by British Slavist Donald Rayfield who translated the
French text and supplies a useful Afterword. VN, BTW, greatly admired Dr.
Chekov.

If anyone does know of a Freud case that seems to antedate Lolita_,
please advise the list.