Subject
Nabokov and Kinsey (fwd)
Date
Body
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From:bef@ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
I wonder if anyone knows whether or not Nabokov consulted either of the
Kinsey studies when writing _Lolita_. _Sexual Behavior in the Human
Female_ bears a copyright date of 1953, so perhaps it appeared too late
for use, but I see a few resonant tidbits in the subchapter
"Pre-Adolescent Contacts with Adult Males." Could "Humbert the wounded
spider" owe something to the following passage?
. . . some 80 per cent of the children had been emotionally
upset or frightened by their contacts with adults. A small
portion had been seriously disturbed; but in most instances
the reported fright was nearer the level that children will
show when they see insects, spiders, or other objects against
which they have been adversely conditioned.
Ben Friedlander
From:bef@ACSU.BUFFALO.EDU
I wonder if anyone knows whether or not Nabokov consulted either of the
Kinsey studies when writing _Lolita_. _Sexual Behavior in the Human
Female_ bears a copyright date of 1953, so perhaps it appeared too late
for use, but I see a few resonant tidbits in the subchapter
"Pre-Adolescent Contacts with Adult Males." Could "Humbert the wounded
spider" owe something to the following passage?
. . . some 80 per cent of the children had been emotionally
upset or frightened by their contacts with adults. A small
portion had been seriously disturbed; but in most instances
the reported fright was nearer the level that children will
show when they see insects, spiders, or other objects against
which they have been adversely conditioned.
Ben Friedlander