Subject
Split personalities in PF
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Several folks have recently argued that basing a Shadean interpretation
of
Pale Fire on the idea of a split personality would be too Freudian and
would never have interested Nabokov. This makes very little sense to me,
since the most traditional reading of the novel relies on the very
notion
that Kinbote is really a delusional V. Botkin. Clearly, Nabokov DID see
multiple personalities as a valid plotting device. The only alternative
is
to actually believe that Kinbote really is the king of Zembla.
Matthew Roth
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Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
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of
Pale Fire on the idea of a split personality would be too Freudian and
would never have interested Nabokov. This makes very little sense to me,
since the most traditional reading of the novel relies on the very
notion
that Kinbote is really a delusional V. Botkin. Clearly, Nabokov DID see
multiple personalities as a valid plotting device. The only alternative
is
to actually believe that Kinbote really is the king of Zembla.
Matthew Roth
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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