Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0000808, Wed, 8 Nov 1995 14:43:53 -0800

Subject
poshlost discussion (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITORIAL NOTE. Yesterday, November 7th, was, if memory serves, the
anniversary of the Russian Revolution, the event that launched Nabokov's
career as a truly cosmopolitan writer. Had it not been for that event,
English would be poorer by several words--"poshlost" among them. Suellen
Stringer-Hye culls the following tidbits from the a-waves.

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The two exchanges below took place on two different
listserves during roughly the same period of time--
the end of September and early November. They appear to be
unrelated as there isn't any name
duplication. Both discuss the definition and origin of the
word poshlost. Disjointed and perhaps missing
some related posts, they are nevertheless illustrative of
Nabokov's influence on language and culture. The first is from
bit.listserv.words-l
------------
Date: 1995/10/04

> The word is "poshlost." Don't know the origin. I
> remember when I >was in college (what am I saying? No I
> don't. Well, large chunks >of time are kinda unaccounted
> for...), some of my friends had this >word on their wall,
> because they loved it so. I did, too. Below are >the
> word and what is probably a gross bastardization of its
> meaning: > >poshlost -- preposterously overdone without
> self-knowledge or irony; >comic, sad, and awful.

It is Russian, and a noun, meaning something like
corniness, kitsch, or vulgarity. I quote from a posting:

> just as 'vulgarity'
> historically refers >to _vulgus_, or 'common population',
> so 'posholost' is connected with >'poshlye liudi', or
> 'common people';

From the same posting, I gathered that it was probably
Nabokov who made it popular in English.

As an idea, it is the "bad taste" that, according to a
common theory, spawns evil. The "without self-knowledge or
irony" clause is no doubt connected to the BS American
notion that crap which is acknowledged as such is not crap.
(Or, for that matter, an asshole who admits to being an
asshole is not really an asshole.)
***********************************************************


>A Russian word meaning "self-satisfied mediocrity",
closely >associated with Gogol. I have a dim recollection
of an essay by >Vladimir Nabokov on Gogol that brought it
partway into the English >language. >


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newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l

The Russian word -- less abstract and more comprehensive
than vulgarity.... .....(long excerpt from book cited below)
As artist and critic, Nabokov is fascinated by the
relation of -poshlost- to art, and what art makes of it by
detaching itself and compromising itself. --John Bayley,

"Under Cover of Decadence," -Vladimir Nabokov: A Tribute-
(Morrow, 1980)

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Date: 1995/10/08

newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l

>There's nothing subtle or awe-inspiringly reverberatory
about >the word; all that was Nabokov's invention. There is
no way to >establish e.g. "American films and advertising"
as the embodiments >of "poshlust" except on Nabokov's
say-so. The mystical and non- >communicable concept
(something which you might mistakenly call >"lofty cliche")
actually arises out of something much crasser-->Nabokov's
vanity and self-interest. (There are good reasons to >think
so--these are not opinions I came up with myself.)

Poshlost -- The Lit Crit take

Date: 1995/10/07


>Bradlich, a tip of the Hatlow Hat to you for this one!
I"m >impressed1


I too am mighty danged impressed. The Words-L DRIVEL <tm>
Award to you, sir, for Dandy Recognition of Impenetrable
Verbosities & Excellence in Logorrhea.


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The second posting is from rec.arts books:

Re: Origin of _POSH_

Date: 1995/09/25


: >Can anyone point me to a source that would explain the
origin of the : >word _POSH_, as in "posh restaurant" etc.

: I know of no dictionary that accepts the acronymic
explanation, : though nobody seems to have a definitive
answer. John Ciardi, : in his _Browser's Dictionary_, not
only gives a detailed explanation : of how the word could
have come into English from the Romany : (gypsy) word
"posh" ("half"),

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Vladimir Nabokov often used the Russian word "Poshlost".
I don't recall reading an exact definition of the word
(Nabokov defined it through example). The word connotes
osentatiousness, vulgarity, philistinism.

If "posh" came from the Russian then the word is not much
of a compliment!

Perhaps there is some common root for the Russian and
Romany, or perhaps it's merely a happy coincidence.



obBook: "Gosh, looks swank!" said my vulgar darling.
-Vladimir Nabokov, "Lolita"




Suellen Stringer-Hye
Special Collections
Jean and Alexander Heard Library
Vanderbilt University
stringers@library.vanderbilt.edu