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Re: Puzzling Nabokov reference in DFWallace's _A Supposedly..._
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"In a message dated 97-11-01 14:52:45 EST, you write:
<< DFW is of course referring to Gaddis, Barth and Pynchon... He
doesn't
mention Nabokov later on, but there seems to be an unspoken assumption
that these writers could not have written what they did w/o VN.
>>
"if this were the assumption, why?"
The term itself, "post-Nabokovian," suggests a progression of some
sort---a moving-toward. That and the sentence that followed the one I
posted: "The erudite, sardonic fictions of the Black Humorists
introduced a generation of new fiction writers who saw themselves as
sort of avant-avant-garde, not only cosmopolitan and polyglot [two prime
Nabokovian qualities, I think] but also technologically literate,
products of more than just one region, heritage, and theory..."
The "Black Humorist" part, which is often tagged on to Nabokov in
encyclopedic entries, also had some part in the assumption.
Regards,
Juan Martinez
----------------------------------------------------
"Speak softly
Drive a Sherman tank,
Laugh hard,
It's a long way to the bank."
---They Might Be Giants, _Rhythm Section Want Ad_
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