THE MOTIF OF WIND/STORM IN THE NOVEL DESPAIR BY V. NABOKOV
DOI: 10.23951/1609-624X-2019-6-47-55
The year of 2019 is the anniversary of two writers of different eras – A. S. Pushkin (1799–1837) and V. V. Nabokov (1899–1977). This study did not initially include the goal of identifying the “bringing together “of two writers, but an analysis of the wind motive led to results that broadened the ideas about the creative dialogue between Nabokov and Pushkin already established in literature. The aim of the work is to analyse the wind / storm motive in V. Nabokov’s novel “Otchayaniye” (Despair) in relation to cultural tradition. Material and methods. Motive and intertextual analysis based on the work of B. Gasparov, I. Silantyev. For understanding of the functionality and archetypical semantics of the wind / storm motive, the studies of K. Nagina and E. Nikanorova are significant; among the research work on Nabokov, the baseline for this study is, firstly, the article by A. Dolinina, who described the principles of using V. Nabokov to use Pushkin’s intertext in the novel “Otchayaniye” (Despair). Results and discussion. When analyzing “Otchayaniye” (Despair), it was considered that the narrative motive is often implemented in conjunction with an anonymous motive, therefore the focus of research attention was not only the wind motive / storm motive, but also windcalm. It was revealed that the wind motive in the novel is polysemantic and “works” to reveal the main themes and problems in the novel, “involved” in the design of the author’s concept of the work. It is associated primarily with moral and ethical issues: the definition of boundaries and the essence of free will, crime and punishment. It was found that the motive functionally considered in the novel correlates with the archetypal image of the storm, which traditionally embodies above the personal will and trial, the condition of passage of which is the strength of the moral basis of the individual. For the immoral character, who is the central hero of the novel, Herman (a murderer who is not experiencing remorse and torment of conscience), the wind turned into a storm, carries the semantics of punishment (“frightening” wind, “murderous drafts”). The study revealed the use of Nabokov’s method of increasing gradation in the design of the wind motive, which accompanies Hermann’s doubts and moral throwing, turning into a storm at the moment of final despair. Stillness arises at the climax points of the plot (the murder of an imaginary double and Herman reading his own, which must justify, but expose his mediocrity, “story”). If Herman interprets windcalm as the indifference of being to human life, as the absence of God, then at the author’s level “silence of being” emphasizes Nabokov’s idea of free will: nature does not give signs and does not interfere with a person’s moral choice. The analysis of the wind motive made it possible to reveal, the Pushkin’s fairy tale “Skazka o Rybake i Rybke” / About the Fisherman and the Fish as a significant intertext of the novel; the final “Otchayaniye” (Despair) correlates with the outcome of the tale: the character who wished to become a “despot” not only of his own being, but also of the lives of others (to take the place of God), remained “by the broken washtub”. Conclusion. This study made it possible to expand the understanding of the intertextual connections of the novel by V. Nabokov, to clarify the author’s concept of crime and punishment.
Keywords: Nabokov, Pushkin, literature of Russian emigration, wind / storm motive, intertextuality
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Issue: 6, 2019
Series of issue: Issue 6
Rubric: TOPICAL ISSUES OF LITERARY CRITICISM
Pages: 47 — 55
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