Subject
More on pathos (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Galya Diment <galya@u.washington.edu>
Just as an addendum to my earlier message -- it struck me, after I sent
it, that these two meanings of "pathetic" is what Pnin is really all
about. To many of his colleagues, he is "pathetic" in the sense of
being pitifully "ridiculous" -- to many of us, readers, and to Pnin's
occasional friends, like Joan, he is "pathetic" because his character and
fate move us to empathy and compassion. Just another variation on the
"Double Pnin" phenomenon.
Galya Diment
Just as an addendum to my earlier message -- it struck me, after I sent
it, that these two meanings of "pathetic" is what Pnin is really all
about. To many of his colleagues, he is "pathetic" in the sense of
being pitifully "ridiculous" -- to many of us, readers, and to Pnin's
occasional friends, like Joan, he is "pathetic" because his character and
fate move us to empathy and compassion. Just another variation on the
"Double Pnin" phenomenon.
Galya Diment