THE MOTIF OF MOVEMENT AND SEMANTICS OF CULTURAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL TOPOS IN V. NABOKOV’S NOVEL “DESPAIR”
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2018-6-112-119
The article gives an analysis of the poetic structure of space in Nabokov’s novel “Despair”. Close attention is paid to the motif of homelessness, not related to the external circumstances of life (the main character in the novel, Herman has an apartment), but to his inner sense about the meaning of existence. This key feature of the character determines his position – in motion. The temporary destinations of the character (the semantics of temporality, non-permanence: hotels, taverns, post offices), and the direction of Herman’s travel (closer to Russia or South-West Europe) are also important in understanding the concept of the novel. The spatial choice reflects also the inner turmoil of the character, his national belonging to two cultures (Russian and German). The character’s choices fluctuate, and this is reflected in his movements: he approaches Russia, then moves away. It is important to note that the specificity of the novel’s poetics of space is revealed in the comparison of forced and desired, real and imaginary moves of the character. Key scenes of the story are correlated with different countries: Herman discovers his twin in the Czech Republic, he commits murder in Germany, writes the text about the idea of murder and substitution (designed to prove his genius) in France, but he plans to transfer the manuscript to writer-emigrant from Russia and dreams that his novel will be known to carriers of Russian culture, including those in Soviet Russia. In addition to these countries, the field of the character’s consciousness the novel includes countries such as Italy and France. Accordingly, the article explores the ways of constructing the image of different countries, cities, some places and reveal how the space perception of the characters contributes to their disclosure. The space-related motif of movement allows us to distinguish the author’s position and the position of the unreliable narrator and specify the artistic methods of disclosure of the selfdetermination and self-identification problem created in the novel.
Keywords: russian emigration literature, V. Nabokov, motif of movement, artistic space
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Issue: 6, 2018
Series of issue: Issue 6
Rubric: PROBLEMS AND POETICS OF RUSSIAN LITERATURE OF THE XIX–XXI CENTURIES
Pages: 112 — 119
Downloads: 2114