Subject
Paris-Stark (fwd)
Date
Body
Vadim Stark. Institute of Russ. Lit: Pushkin House; Nabokov Foundation,
Saint-Petersburg, Russia
NABOKOV AND PUSHKIN: GENEALOGICAL INTERSECTIONS IN THEIR
LITERARY REFLECTIONS
In 1936 Nabokov launched his autobiographical narrative which
would be finished in the Unites States (1947-51): CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE,
SPEAK MEMORY, DRUGIE BEREGA, and AUTRES RIVAGES (1961). It was then
Nabokov regretted his "imprecise family memory." During his emigration,
his uncle Vladimir Golubtsov had furnished him with "certain curious bits
of information." The study of names introduced in one way or another in
his literary works lets us draw conclusions about a certain selectivity of
Nabokov-the-writer toward Pushkin's entourage, and which were at the same
time artistically productive. The verification of a communality of
positions, procedures, and methods of including genealogical materials in
the literary fabric is of particular interest. Nabokov's building of
bridges between himself and Pushkin sometimes led to farces of fate that
one can followed across Nabokov poem cycles of 1924,and of Pushkin in
1828, written on the occasion of their investigations of ill-fated
marriages. A parallel is obvious, reflected in Nabokokv's literary work
for the Rukavishnikov family, and in Pushkin's for the Hannibal family. My
work is based on unedited archive materials on Rukavishnikov family
history.
(Hastily & badly translated fromthe French by DBJ)
Saint-Petersburg, Russia
NABOKOV AND PUSHKIN: GENEALOGICAL INTERSECTIONS IN THEIR
LITERARY REFLECTIONS
In 1936 Nabokov launched his autobiographical narrative which
would be finished in the Unites States (1947-51): CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE,
SPEAK MEMORY, DRUGIE BEREGA, and AUTRES RIVAGES (1961). It was then
Nabokov regretted his "imprecise family memory." During his emigration,
his uncle Vladimir Golubtsov had furnished him with "certain curious bits
of information." The study of names introduced in one way or another in
his literary works lets us draw conclusions about a certain selectivity of
Nabokov-the-writer toward Pushkin's entourage, and which were at the same
time artistically productive. The verification of a communality of
positions, procedures, and methods of including genealogical materials in
the literary fabric is of particular interest. Nabokov's building of
bridges between himself and Pushkin sometimes led to farces of fate that
one can followed across Nabokov poem cycles of 1924,and of Pushkin in
1828, written on the occasion of their investigations of ill-fated
marriages. A parallel is obvious, reflected in Nabokokv's literary work
for the Rukavishnikov family, and in Pushkin's for the Hannibal family. My
work is based on unedited archive materials on Rukavishnikov family
history.
(Hastily & badly translated fromthe French by DBJ)