Subject
Re : Nabokov and music (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITOR'S NOTE. I am not sure just what KQKn article joseph piercy
<j9250308@wlv.ac.uk> has in mind. does any one recall?
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Dear Nabokovians, I must confess that I am a bit put
out by some of the dismissive comments from members of the list concerning
the request for ideas on Nabokov and music. Nabokov is famed for his
furious anti-Freudian stance but that has not stopped scholars exploring
possible relationships between the two. There seems to be a tendency to
take everything that Nabokov says in "Strong Opinions" (and elsewhere) as
the absolute gospel (this, I think, is very lazy scholarship). I sometimes
feel that Nabokov reveals more about himself through what he refutes than
what he actually conceeds. Let's all try to read between the lines a bit
more eh ? I leave you with what I think is a not insignificant quote
(also, ironically, from "Strong Opinions") : "The magic of prosody may
improve upon what we call prose by bringing out the full flavour of
meaning, but in plain prose there are also rhythmic patterns, the music of
precise phrasing, the beat of thought rendered by recurrent peculiarities
of idiom and intonation" ("Strong Opinions" p44).
Joseph Piercy
University Of Wolverhampton
United Kingdom
j9250308@wlv.ac.uk
P.s Somebody (sorry) mentioned an article on "King, Queen, Knave". I am
having difficulty getting through to Zembla. Would it be possible to send
out a full citation for this ?
<j9250308@wlv.ac.uk> has in mind. does any one recall?
------------------
Dear Nabokovians, I must confess that I am a bit put
out by some of the dismissive comments from members of the list concerning
the request for ideas on Nabokov and music. Nabokov is famed for his
furious anti-Freudian stance but that has not stopped scholars exploring
possible relationships between the two. There seems to be a tendency to
take everything that Nabokov says in "Strong Opinions" (and elsewhere) as
the absolute gospel (this, I think, is very lazy scholarship). I sometimes
feel that Nabokov reveals more about himself through what he refutes than
what he actually conceeds. Let's all try to read between the lines a bit
more eh ? I leave you with what I think is a not insignificant quote
(also, ironically, from "Strong Opinions") : "The magic of prosody may
improve upon what we call prose by bringing out the full flavour of
meaning, but in plain prose there are also rhythmic patterns, the music of
precise phrasing, the beat of thought rendered by recurrent peculiarities
of idiom and intonation" ("Strong Opinions" p44).
Joseph Piercy
University Of Wolverhampton
United Kingdom
j9250308@wlv.ac.uk
P.s Somebody (sorry) mentioned an article on "King, Queen, Knave". I am
having difficulty getting through to Zembla. Would it be possible to send
out a full citation for this ?