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Re: Nabokov's Symbols
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Date
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James Twiggs: "'The word is not a shadow. The word is a thing' - Nabokov as anti-Symbolist." by Glynn, Michael michael.glynn@btinternet.com ) European Journal of American Culture; 2006, Vol. 25 Issue 1, p3-30, 28p
JM: Nevertheless, if "the word is not a shadow -the word is a thing," how are we to understand Nabokov's words about James Joyce?
Nabokov believed that we think "in shadows of words" and in his opinion James Joyce lent "too much verbal body to his thoughts". For him Joyce's "stream of consciousness" had its origin in a mere stylistic convention, perhaps so literal that it "altered the time element" and "placed too great a reliance on typography."
Did Nabokov see himself as an enchanter - in the literal sense (ie: word-animism)?
Was he a "nominalist"?
He stated that he doesn't think in words but by images. Would these then be "the shadows of words"?*
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Freud considered dream images as "regressive," and apt to suffer distortions. This is why he traces them to their original words (verbal symbols, which are totally distinct from euphemistic or imagetic "symbols") to find out the latent, unconscious, line of thought.
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JM: Nevertheless, if "the word is not a shadow -the word is a thing," how are we to understand Nabokov's words about James Joyce?
Nabokov believed that we think "in shadows of words" and in his opinion James Joyce lent "too much verbal body to his thoughts". For him Joyce's "stream of consciousness" had its origin in a mere stylistic convention, perhaps so literal that it "altered the time element" and "placed too great a reliance on typography."
Did Nabokov see himself as an enchanter - in the literal sense (ie: word-animism)?
Was he a "nominalist"?
He stated that he doesn't think in words but by images. Would these then be "the shadows of words"?*
...............................................................
Freud considered dream images as "regressive," and apt to suffer distortions. This is why he traces them to their original words (verbal symbols, which are totally distinct from euphemistic or imagetic "symbols") to find out the latent, unconscious, line of thought.
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/