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THOUGHTS: Roth/DeRewal article in NOJ
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from Alexey Sklyarenko:
I read with great interest Matt Roth & Tiffany DeRewal's article in NOJ. Although I'm not a Pale Fire specialist, the article seems to me a major event in the Pale Fire scholarship, being a kind of synthesis of Carolyn Kunin's multiple personality and Brian Boyd's Shadean theories. But just like the authors call Pale Fire "a near-perfect work of art", their article can be called "a near-flawless piece of criticism". I have permitted myself to point out a few minor errors that don't undermine the authors' theory and that could have been easily avoided.
Prince Vseslav of Polotsk (the alternative transliteration "Polock" is incorrect) and Volkh (not "Volx"!) Vseslavovich are two different men. While the former, Prince Vseslav Brechislavovich, is a real person, the Kievan prince who lived in the XIth century and who is mentioned in Slovo o polku Igoreve, the latter, Volkh (this name comes not from volk, "wolf", but from volkhv, "magician, sourcerer") Vseslav'evich, is a hero of Russian folklore, son of Marfa Vseslav'evna by a snake. You can see here the bylina (Russian traditional heroic poem) about him included in Kirsha Danilov's collection: http://feb-web.ru/feb/byliny/texts/bpu/bpu-089-.htm (in Russian). It is probably irrelevant, but Kirsha = sharik ("little sphere")* = riksha ("rickshaw")
One might be tempted to hear New Eye in New Wye, the Appalachian town in Pale Fire (1962), but The Eye, the English version of Nabokov's Soglyadatay (1930), appeared only in 1965. Until then Nabokov hardly knew what new title he will give to his old Russian novella.
The authors of the article speak a lot of The Eye and Despair but don't even mention Solus Rex, Nabokov's last Russian novel that was to remain unfinished (its two chapters, Solus Rex and Ultima Thule were published as separate stories in 1940 and 1942, respectively). It is much closer to Pale Fire than any other work by Nabokov. The artist Sineusov,** the hero of Ultima Thule, and K. (the king in chess notation), the hero of Solus Rex (which is set in a distant northern island), seem to be one and the same person. K.'s first cousin, Prince Adulf, the only son of King Gafon and heir to the throne who is to be assassinated by extremists, is eclectic in his sexual tastes. Adam Falter, a character in Ultima Thule, is a medium, like Hazel Shade in Pale Fire. There are many more parallels.
These comments will do for now.
*Sharik is the name of the dog that is surgically transformed into a human being in Bulgakov's story Sobach'e serdtse ("The Dog's Heart", 1926). Whether VN knew this story (it was first published only in the 1980s, but the author had read it in Moscow to a number of fellow writers, some of whom, like Zamyatin, might later emigrate) is a tantalizing question.
**The name Sineusov hints at Sineus, the legendary Varangian prince who is said to have come to Russia with Ryurik. Whether Sineus comes from siniy us (Russian from "blue moustache hair") or sine hus (corrupted old-Swedish for "his kin") is a different question.
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I read with great interest Matt Roth & Tiffany DeRewal's article in NOJ. Although I'm not a Pale Fire specialist, the article seems to me a major event in the Pale Fire scholarship, being a kind of synthesis of Carolyn Kunin's multiple personality and Brian Boyd's Shadean theories. But just like the authors call Pale Fire "a near-perfect work of art", their article can be called "a near-flawless piece of criticism". I have permitted myself to point out a few minor errors that don't undermine the authors' theory and that could have been easily avoided.
Prince Vseslav of Polotsk (the alternative transliteration "Polock" is incorrect) and Volkh (not "Volx"!) Vseslavovich are two different men. While the former, Prince Vseslav Brechislavovich, is a real person, the Kievan prince who lived in the XIth century and who is mentioned in Slovo o polku Igoreve, the latter, Volkh (this name comes not from volk, "wolf", but from volkhv, "magician, sourcerer") Vseslav'evich, is a hero of Russian folklore, son of Marfa Vseslav'evna by a snake. You can see here the bylina (Russian traditional heroic poem) about him included in Kirsha Danilov's collection: http://feb-web.ru/feb/byliny/texts/bpu/bpu-089-.htm (in Russian). It is probably irrelevant, but Kirsha = sharik ("little sphere")* = riksha ("rickshaw")
One might be tempted to hear New Eye in New Wye, the Appalachian town in Pale Fire (1962), but The Eye, the English version of Nabokov's Soglyadatay (1930), appeared only in 1965. Until then Nabokov hardly knew what new title he will give to his old Russian novella.
The authors of the article speak a lot of The Eye and Despair but don't even mention Solus Rex, Nabokov's last Russian novel that was to remain unfinished (its two chapters, Solus Rex and Ultima Thule were published as separate stories in 1940 and 1942, respectively). It is much closer to Pale Fire than any other work by Nabokov. The artist Sineusov,** the hero of Ultima Thule, and K. (the king in chess notation), the hero of Solus Rex (which is set in a distant northern island), seem to be one and the same person. K.'s first cousin, Prince Adulf, the only son of King Gafon and heir to the throne who is to be assassinated by extremists, is eclectic in his sexual tastes. Adam Falter, a character in Ultima Thule, is a medium, like Hazel Shade in Pale Fire. There are many more parallels.
These comments will do for now.
*Sharik is the name of the dog that is surgically transformed into a human being in Bulgakov's story Sobach'e serdtse ("The Dog's Heart", 1926). Whether VN knew this story (it was first published only in the 1980s, but the author had read it in Moscow to a number of fellow writers, some of whom, like Zamyatin, might later emigrate) is a tantalizing question.
**The name Sineusov hints at Sineus, the legendary Varangian prince who is said to have come to Russia with Ryurik. Whether Sineus comes from siniy us (Russian from "blue moustache hair") or sine hus (corrupted old-Swedish for "his kin") is a different question.
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/