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Re: An interesting interview of Nabokov in French
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JM: How very kind of you, Maurice Couturier, to send us a page of your forthcoming book. Thank you, in particular.
I look forward to its publication in France. I noticed, through the internet, that your book on Lolita has been recently reviewed and translated in Portugal* (and this also constitutes a "Nabokov Sighting"...)
Dear List, I offer a very rough translation of the most relevant parts of Maurice Couturier's page, posted in reply to my question**:
"In the interview Nabokov granted to L'Express, in 1959, Nabokov pretends to have invented the word, but he quickly added: "Ronsard..." It is surprising however that, soon afterwards, Nabokov indicates that the use of this word in the title of a French movie constitutes a violation of his rights." [ : "I am informed that a French motion picture company is about to make a picture entitled 'The Nymphets' ('Les Nymphettes'). The use of this title is an infringement of my rights since this term was invented by me for the main character in my novel Lolita and has now become completely synonymous with Lolita in the minds of readers throughout the world."]
Ronsard's "Amourette" (Ronsard, Ouvres, Vol. I, Paris, Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, p. 1222):
Petite Nymphe folâtre,
Nymphette que j'idolâtre,
Ma mignonne, dont les yeux
Logent mon pis et mon mieux ;
Ma doucette, ma sucrée,
Ma Grâce, ma Cythérée,
Tu me dois pour m'apaiser
Mille fois le jour baiser.
( "Mischievous little nymph,/You nymphet whom I idolize,/My little one, in whose eyes/lodge what's best and worst in myself /My sweetie, sweetie-pie,/My grace, my Aphrodite,/ My hunger you must assuage /With a thousand kisses every-day")
I agree with Couturier's succint comment related to how surprising it is to find that Nabokov is vindicating authorial rights to the use of the word "nymphet" in French.
Nabokov's worries, at that time, about Kubrick's Lolita movie and all the publicity involving Lolita, may ellucidate his state of mind at the time he made this claim.***
.............................................................................................................................................................................................
* -Lolita 21 dez. 2010 ... Onde a mulher activa encontra toda a informação que necessita ... 'Lolita' é um livro de Maurice Couturier, lançado pela Editora Pergaminho. ... www.mulherportuguesa.com/tempos-livres/livros/3864 -
**- Dans l'interview qu'il a accordée à L'Express en 1959, Nabokov prétend avoir inventé le mot, mais il ajoute aussitôt : « Et Ronsard...»[ ] On s'étonne, cependant, qu'il ait pu prétendre par la suite que l'utilisation de ce mot dans le titre d'un film français constituait une violation de ses droits ..
*** -I tried to find the letter indicated by Couturier ("Lettres choisies, p. 382") and I couldn't locate it at first in the Harvest/HBJ 1989 edition in English.of "V.N Selected Letters, 1940-1977." However, Couturier's article, where I first read about it ( http://revel.unice.fr/cycnos/index.html?id=1287), provides the needed indication for the English reader (it comes on page 312).
The letter was written to James Harris in April 20, 1960. In this letter Nabokov also states: "...any title with the term "nymphet" in it would naturally and inevitably suggest Lolita, whether she is named or not. Could you please find the exact name and address of the French company in question. It is my intention to sue them without delay." (Nabokov's letter was surrounded by his correspondence with Stanley Kubrick, discussing his screenplay for the movie "Lolita". There's even a message to Dmitri, from October 1960, asking him to "stop the 'Lolita publicity'..it is in very bad taste..." ).
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I look forward to its publication in France. I noticed, through the internet, that your book on Lolita has been recently reviewed and translated in Portugal* (and this also constitutes a "Nabokov Sighting"...)
Dear List, I offer a very rough translation of the most relevant parts of Maurice Couturier's page, posted in reply to my question**:
"In the interview Nabokov granted to L'Express, in 1959, Nabokov pretends to have invented the word, but he quickly added: "Ronsard..." It is surprising however that, soon afterwards, Nabokov indicates that the use of this word in the title of a French movie constitutes a violation of his rights." [ : "I am informed that a French motion picture company is about to make a picture entitled 'The Nymphets' ('Les Nymphettes'). The use of this title is an infringement of my rights since this term was invented by me for the main character in my novel Lolita and has now become completely synonymous with Lolita in the minds of readers throughout the world."]
Ronsard's "Amourette" (Ronsard, Ouvres, Vol. I, Paris, Gallimard, Bibliothèque de la Pléiade, p. 1222):
Petite Nymphe folâtre,
Nymphette que j'idolâtre,
Ma mignonne, dont les yeux
Logent mon pis et mon mieux ;
Ma doucette, ma sucrée,
Ma Grâce, ma Cythérée,
Tu me dois pour m'apaiser
Mille fois le jour baiser.
( "Mischievous little nymph,/You nymphet whom I idolize,/My little one, in whose eyes/lodge what's best and worst in myself /My sweetie, sweetie-pie,/My grace, my Aphrodite,/ My hunger you must assuage /With a thousand kisses every-day")
I agree with Couturier's succint comment related to how surprising it is to find that Nabokov is vindicating authorial rights to the use of the word "nymphet" in French.
Nabokov's worries, at that time, about Kubrick's Lolita movie and all the publicity involving Lolita, may ellucidate his state of mind at the time he made this claim.***
.............................................................................................................................................................................................
* -Lolita 21 dez. 2010 ... Onde a mulher activa encontra toda a informação que necessita ... 'Lolita' é um livro de Maurice Couturier, lançado pela Editora Pergaminho. ... www.mulherportuguesa.com/tempos-livres/livros/3864 -
**- Dans l'interview qu'il a accordée à L'Express en 1959, Nabokov prétend avoir inventé le mot, mais il ajoute aussitôt : « Et Ronsard...»[ ] On s'étonne, cependant, qu'il ait pu prétendre par la suite que l'utilisation de ce mot dans le titre d'un film français constituait une violation de ses droits ..
*** -I tried to find the letter indicated by Couturier ("Lettres choisies, p. 382") and I couldn't locate it at first in the Harvest/HBJ 1989 edition in English.of "V.N Selected Letters, 1940-1977." However, Couturier's article, where I first read about it ( http://revel.unice.fr/cycnos/index.html?id=1287), provides the needed indication for the English reader (it comes on page 312).
The letter was written to James Harris in April 20, 1960. In this letter Nabokov also states: "...any title with the term "nymphet" in it would naturally and inevitably suggest Lolita, whether she is named or not. Could you please find the exact name and address of the French company in question. It is my intention to sue them without delay." (Nabokov's letter was surrounded by his correspondence with Stanley Kubrick, discussing his screenplay for the movie "Lolita". There's even a message to Dmitri, from October 1960, asking him to "stop the 'Lolita publicity'..it is in very bad taste..." ).
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/