Lalit[h]a (literally, ‘she who plays’) is an ancient, still revered, line of Hindu goddesses variously representing divine Womanhood and Female Bliss.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalita_sahasranama
It’s a plausible-enough, high-self-esteem name for both real and fictional Hindu women wherever born or dwelling. I mention this because Hinduism is not confined to present-day India, and ethnic-labels are so confusing, especially Indian-American and American-Indian! In fact, the US Census Bureau prefers Asian-Indian American ... But I digress.
Is there a particular reason, beyond coincidental spellings, for finding the aceno (gesture) to VN? That’s a long
anachronistic stretch from ancient Lalit[h]a to VN’s modern Lolita.
The Hindu goddesses are depicted diversely (a pantheon beyond reasonable Western accounting). Lalit[h]as are seductive, even demonic, but usually sexually mature: no real connections with VN’s nymphet, a creature based on Western cultural views on sexual age-taboos.
If you seek more VN coincidences based on names with L’s, T’s and I’s, we have the intriguing Lilith!
I quote from the ever-lurking wiki:
The demon Lilith, the evil woman, is described as a beautiful woman, who transforms into a blue, butterfly-like demon, and it is associated with the power of seduction.
Say no more!
Stan Kelly-Bootle
On 23/06/2011 17:26, "jansymello" <jansy@AETERN.US> wrote:
I have no idea if Jonathan Franzen's reference to Nabokov has been mentioned in the Nab-List. Here it comes through a translated article written by William Deresiewicz. The image of Nabokov didn't appear online and I photographed the newspaper. Deresiewicz's reference is very brief, when he discusses Liberty and an affair of Walter with his assistant, a young Indian-American. called Lalitha.
O incômodo papel de apontar a ruína/ traduzido por Celso Paciornik
28 de maio de 2011, William Deresiewicz - O Estado de S.Paulo
William Deresiewicz - O Estado de S.Paulo.
www.estadao.com.br <http://www.estadao.com.br/> ˝ Cultura - Em cache
Os leitores de As Correções reconhecerão alguns temas-chave: dinâmica familiar e seu impacto em filhos adultos, o Meio-Oeste e o Leste urbano (Walter e Patty se mudam para Washington, D. C.; Richard para Jersey City), os infortúnios da classe média ascendente; o conflito entre dever e prazer. Franzen continua soberbo na exposição da textura psicológica da experiência cotidiana: as oscilações da alma, as lutas pelo poder na vida doméstica, as jogadas de xadrez do comportamento amoroso. Mas se o terreno, e a mente que o mapeia, são aqueles do romance anterior, os contornos são diferentes. As Correções enfoca as relações filiais, Liberdade as românticas, incluindo o caso de Walter com sua assistente indiano-americana bem jovem (nomeada, com um aceno a Nabokov, Lalitha). Em As Correções, contemporâneos (ele nasceu em 1959) ainda estão lidando com seus pais. Em Liberdade, eles estão lidando não só uns com os outros, mas também com seus próprios filhos adultos.