Subject
Re: french terms in pale fire
From
Date
Body
On Wed, Oct 2, 2013 at 5:51 AM, Yigit Yavuz <yigit.yavuz@gmail.com> wrote:
> Thank you, Barrie and Bedja.
>
> I also personally asked these terms to the Nabokov biographer Andrea
> Pitzer and to
> Rene Alladaye, the writer of the latest Pale Fire book. Mr. Alladaye also
> states that
> volant en arrière means "flying backwards". But curiously, the term also
> has the
> meaning which was already given in the very same sentence: a heraldic
> insect. Please
> check the link given by Andrea Pitzer:
>
> http://heraldry.sca.org/armory/primer/reptiles.html
>
> Would it be correct to say, then, that Nabokov only makes a repetition
> here:
> a heraldic butterfly is a winged insect; in other words, a volant en
> arrière...
>
Very interesting. I always thought it meant "flying backwards" (but why
mention that?). However, as that link says, it's the full heraldic term
for a flying animal shown from above (that is, so its back is seen) with
its wings spread. Heraldic bees and butterflies are generally shown in
this position.
http://books.google.com/books?id=xSeEWjQCTIAC&pg=PA260
So it's not a repetition; it's a specification of how the butterfly is
depicted. (True, all heraldic butterflies are depicted the same way, but I
believe the rules requires that the position be specified.)
I'm also interested in *"feuilles d'alarme"*. I can't find this in Google
Books except for uses that seem to be later than *PF* and to refer to alarm
systems for buildings. Did Nabokov make it up? If so, is it amusing or
connected to something in some way?
Jerry Friedman
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
> Thank you, Barrie and Bedja.
>
> I also personally asked these terms to the Nabokov biographer Andrea
> Pitzer and to
> Rene Alladaye, the writer of the latest Pale Fire book. Mr. Alladaye also
> states that
> volant en arrière means "flying backwards". But curiously, the term also
> has the
> meaning which was already given in the very same sentence: a heraldic
> insect. Please
> check the link given by Andrea Pitzer:
>
> http://heraldry.sca.org/armory/primer/reptiles.html
>
> Would it be correct to say, then, that Nabokov only makes a repetition
> here:
> a heraldic butterfly is a winged insect; in other words, a volant en
> arrière...
>
Very interesting. I always thought it meant "flying backwards" (but why
mention that?). However, as that link says, it's the full heraldic term
for a flying animal shown from above (that is, so its back is seen) with
its wings spread. Heraldic bees and butterflies are generally shown in
this position.
http://books.google.com/books?id=xSeEWjQCTIAC&pg=PA260
So it's not a repetition; it's a specification of how the butterfly is
depicted. (True, all heraldic butterflies are depicted the same way, but I
believe the rules requires that the position be specified.)
I'm also interested in *"feuilles d'alarme"*. I can't find this in Google
Books except for uses that seem to be later than *PF* and to refer to alarm
systems for buildings. Did Nabokov make it up? If so, is it amusing or
connected to something in some way?
Jerry Friedman
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/