Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0022832, Sun, 13 May 2012 17:09:12 -0700

Subject
thinking in images; theology
Date
Body
On May 13, 2012, at 12:10 PM, Jansy wrote: In one of his interviews
( BBC.1962) Nabokov said :" I don't think in any language. I think in
images. I don't believe that people think in languages...No, I
think in images, and now and then a Russian phrase or an English
phrase will form with the foam of the brainwave, but that's about
all." Inspite of his conclusivon "that's about all", perhaps there's
something else, something non-verbal, taking place in VN's (and in
some of the other writer's) style.

I am very interested in the fact that VN speaks of "thinking in
images." I first heard a somewhat similar phrase used by the
remarkable Temple Grandin, a woman who despite her autism, became (to
quote Wikipedia) "an American doctor of animal science and professor
at Colorado State University, bestselling author, and consultant to
the livestock industry on animal behavior. As a person with high-
functioning autism, Grandin is also noted for her work in autism
advocacy and is the inventor of the squeeze machine designed to calm
hypersensitive people."

Miss Grandin speaks of "thinking in pictures." It is in fact the title
of her autobiography, Thinking in Pictures: Other Reports from My Life
with Autism (1996) ISBN 0-679-77289-8 Her descriptions of how her
mind works is fascinating. It might behoove anyone interested in the
Nabokovian mind to read her book. My father, who taught radiology,
found the book invaluable in helping his students learn how to analyze
x-rays.

Somewhat off point, but perhaps not, I had an epiphany a few years ago
and realized that very likely God, if there is a God anything like
what we humans imagine, doesn't understand language at all. It makes
for an interesting theology - an ill-favored theology, perhaps, but
mine own?

C Kunin




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