Subject
Boyd's objections to Shadean thesis
From
Date
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In Boyd's _Nabokov's PF_, he presents several fundamental arguments
against
a Shadean interpretation of the poem. I believe that the Shadean
multiple
personalities theory (henceforth SMP), along with a couple of other
ideas,
satisfactorily answers each of these objections. I'll present each of
them
here (with page citation from Boyd), and a brief rebuttal.
1. "Shade has never previously shown himself capable of sustained
fictional
invention" (123). Boyd actually knocks this one down himself with his
reference to Sterne, but I would add that Kinbote's very existence
depends
upon his being an "alternate" personality who is able to express himself
in
ways that Shade cannot.
2. Via David Lodge, it's hard to imagine "Shade transmuting into
poignant
autobiographical art the tragedy of his daughter's death only then to
offset it against the crazy invention of Kinbote" (123). But Shade does
not willfully create Kinbote, since Kinbote is a result of Shade's
attack.
3. D. Barton Johnson has pointed out that "whoever writes the Commentary
knows Russian, and we have no evidence that Shade knows the language"
(124). Shade's mother has the maiden name Lukin. As has recently been
pointed out here, this is a common Russian surname. I did a quick Google
search and found that practically every person with this last name is
Russian. Try it yourself if you don't believe me. (On a side note, the
debate about this seems strangely similar to the recent debate
surrounding
Senator George Allen's use the of word 'macaca.' Many claimed he
couldn't
have known about the term since it is most often used in North Africa.
The
telling evidence against him was that his mother was French Tunisian.)
4. Pifer and others argue that "Shade would have to be very immodest" to
write many of the fawning Kinbote passages (124). Again, Kinbote,
though
part of Shade in many ways, acts independently from him, just as
Kinbote,
in the traditional reading of PF, works independently from Botkin.
5. Boyd's main argument is that a "Shadean thesis becomes positively
incoherent" when we consider its effect on Shade's world. "If we imagine
a
Shade in New Wye who arranges his own fictive death . . . what happens
on
publication day? Does he disappear with Sybil . . . to start a new life?
Or
does he stay in New Wye and face the ribbing, the endless sideways
glances..."(125). But the SMP theory doesn't imagine Shade faking his
death, nor is it necessary to imagine Shade continuing to live in New
Wye.
Carolyn imagines him in an asylum. Tiffany DeRewal imagines him holed up
in
Cedarn.
6. But what about all of Shade's interaction with Kinbote? Does the
novel
lose something if we don't see those interactions as happening outside
of
Shade's brain? This point is obviously arguable. I would, however,
point
out that much of Kinbote's New Wye tale appears to be fabricated anyway,
particularly with regard to his conversations with other faculty
members.
Take, for example Kinbote's note to line 894, which goes on at length
about
how people on campus often stopped him to tell him how much he looked
like
the Zemblan king. He then goes on to relate a specific confrontation
with "a visiting German lecturer" who claims to have seen King Charles
in
person. Shade then breaks in and comes to Kinbote's defense. What to
make
of this? If we believe that Zembla is a figment, this conversation has
to
be fabricated--including Shade's contribution to the conversation. Does
this not at least raise to the realm of the possible the notion that ALL
of
Kinbote's experiences in New Wye are also figments? If not, how does
one
discern the events which actually happened from the ones like we read in
C.894?
7."But if Shade invents Kinbote, Zembla, and his own death, he must also
be
radically reinventing his real life" (126). This isn't a problem with
the
SMP theory, since the invention of Kinbote is not willful.
To sum up, none of the above proves the SMP theory is the "right one";
however, I do think many of the Shadean objections are answered in a
very
clever fashion. In a future post, I will try to argue that in fact the
SMP
theory uses much of the same evidence as Boyd's "from beyond" theory to
come to a much more elegant solution.
Final caveat: most of my thoughts regarding the SMP were developed in
concert with and in response to my student Tiffany DeRewal's work on
this
theory. I believe she has now sent her theory to the list. If it doesn't
show up, I'll have her send it again.
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
against
a Shadean interpretation of the poem. I believe that the Shadean
multiple
personalities theory (henceforth SMP), along with a couple of other
ideas,
satisfactorily answers each of these objections. I'll present each of
them
here (with page citation from Boyd), and a brief rebuttal.
1. "Shade has never previously shown himself capable of sustained
fictional
invention" (123). Boyd actually knocks this one down himself with his
reference to Sterne, but I would add that Kinbote's very existence
depends
upon his being an "alternate" personality who is able to express himself
in
ways that Shade cannot.
2. Via David Lodge, it's hard to imagine "Shade transmuting into
poignant
autobiographical art the tragedy of his daughter's death only then to
offset it against the crazy invention of Kinbote" (123). But Shade does
not willfully create Kinbote, since Kinbote is a result of Shade's
attack.
3. D. Barton Johnson has pointed out that "whoever writes the Commentary
knows Russian, and we have no evidence that Shade knows the language"
(124). Shade's mother has the maiden name Lukin. As has recently been
pointed out here, this is a common Russian surname. I did a quick Google
search and found that practically every person with this last name is
Russian. Try it yourself if you don't believe me. (On a side note, the
debate about this seems strangely similar to the recent debate
surrounding
Senator George Allen's use the of word 'macaca.' Many claimed he
couldn't
have known about the term since it is most often used in North Africa.
The
telling evidence against him was that his mother was French Tunisian.)
4. Pifer and others argue that "Shade would have to be very immodest" to
write many of the fawning Kinbote passages (124). Again, Kinbote,
though
part of Shade in many ways, acts independently from him, just as
Kinbote,
in the traditional reading of PF, works independently from Botkin.
5. Boyd's main argument is that a "Shadean thesis becomes positively
incoherent" when we consider its effect on Shade's world. "If we imagine
a
Shade in New Wye who arranges his own fictive death . . . what happens
on
publication day? Does he disappear with Sybil . . . to start a new life?
Or
does he stay in New Wye and face the ribbing, the endless sideways
glances..."(125). But the SMP theory doesn't imagine Shade faking his
death, nor is it necessary to imagine Shade continuing to live in New
Wye.
Carolyn imagines him in an asylum. Tiffany DeRewal imagines him holed up
in
Cedarn.
6. But what about all of Shade's interaction with Kinbote? Does the
novel
lose something if we don't see those interactions as happening outside
of
Shade's brain? This point is obviously arguable. I would, however,
point
out that much of Kinbote's New Wye tale appears to be fabricated anyway,
particularly with regard to his conversations with other faculty
members.
Take, for example Kinbote's note to line 894, which goes on at length
about
how people on campus often stopped him to tell him how much he looked
like
the Zemblan king. He then goes on to relate a specific confrontation
with "a visiting German lecturer" who claims to have seen King Charles
in
person. Shade then breaks in and comes to Kinbote's defense. What to
make
of this? If we believe that Zembla is a figment, this conversation has
to
be fabricated--including Shade's contribution to the conversation. Does
this not at least raise to the realm of the possible the notion that ALL
of
Kinbote's experiences in New Wye are also figments? If not, how does
one
discern the events which actually happened from the ones like we read in
C.894?
7."But if Shade invents Kinbote, Zembla, and his own death, he must also
be
radically reinventing his real life" (126). This isn't a problem with
the
SMP theory, since the invention of Kinbote is not willful.
To sum up, none of the above proves the SMP theory is the "right one";
however, I do think many of the Shadean objections are answered in a
very
clever fashion. In a future post, I will try to argue that in fact the
SMP
theory uses much of the same evidence as Boyd's "from beyond" theory to
come to a much more elegant solution.
Final caveat: most of my thoughts regarding the SMP were developed in
concert with and in response to my student Tiffany DeRewal's work on
this
theory. I believe she has now sent her theory to the list. If it doesn't
show up, I'll have her send it again.
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