NABOKV-L post 0007723, Tue, 8 Apr 2003 19:03:04 -0700

EDNOTE. Nabokov's use of typographic icons is a virtually unexplored aspect of his style.

----- Original Message -----
From: Jacob Wilkenfeld
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Tuesday, April 08, 2003 4:36 PM
Subject: Parenthetical Images


Dear List,
I was wondering whether VN's striking use of two short, clarifying images within a set of parentheses (forming a miniature oval canvas) was his own invention or if it had a precursor in literature. Has anyone coined a term for such a literary device? I have in mind the kind of designation that VN used when he described in his Lectures on Literature the features of Tolstoy's style: eg, "the functional ethical comparison." How about "the parenthetical oval portrait"? (Though I guess that label would misleadingly conjure up the Edgar Allan Poe story in the reader's mind).

Thanks.

Best,

Jacob Wilkenfeld



"Then came a small square (four benches, a bed of pansies) round which the trolley steered with rasping disapproval." -from 'The Aurelian'







--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Tax Center - File online, calculators, forms, and more