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Fw: Biographie romancée
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----- Original Message -----
From: <Cyannicke@aol.com>
More than once in his novels Nabokov uses the French expression "Biographie
Romancée" . For example in The Gift ("You know those idiotic 'biographies
romancées' where Byron is cooly slipped a dream extracted from one of his
own
poems ? " ) or Sebastian Knight ( But if I should try with Sebastian the
result would be one of those 'biographies romancées' which are by far the
worst kind of literature yet invented.")
What is Nabokov's intention in using the French expression? Does it refer
to
the cultural French tradition which is indeed keen on this genre ? Or is
the
French idiom more speaking than the English actual equivalent?
Y. Chupin
Cyannicke@aol.com
EDITOR's NOTE. I vaguely recall thatVN also used the expression with
specific reference to Maurois' Byron bio. Perhaps in his letters to Wilson?
From: <Cyannicke@aol.com>
More than once in his novels Nabokov uses the French expression "Biographie
Romancée" . For example in The Gift ("You know those idiotic 'biographies
romancées' where Byron is cooly slipped a dream extracted from one of his
own
poems ? " ) or Sebastian Knight ( But if I should try with Sebastian the
result would be one of those 'biographies romancées' which are by far the
worst kind of literature yet invented.")
What is Nabokov's intention in using the French expression? Does it refer
to
the cultural French tradition which is indeed keen on this genre ? Or is
the
French idiom more speaking than the English actual equivalent?
Y. Chupin
Cyannicke@aol.com
EDITOR's NOTE. I vaguely recall thatVN also used the expression with
specific reference to Maurois' Byron bio. Perhaps in his letters to Wilson?