VLVL2 and NPPF: Cultural Elitism

[Tim Strzechowski]

> > And, tying in PF, how does Nabokov address (or satirize?) the concept of
> > "cultural elitism" in the "Foreward"?
>
> I'm afraid I still don't "get" the question you are asking.
>
> Kinbote tells enough in the foreword for us to know he won't  pass the
> family values test.

Yes, I agree that he won't pass the test . . . but I question whether
"Kinbote tells enough in the foreward" or if what you are saying is more the
result of having read the work entire and viewing the "big picture."  It's
hard for me to recall how much I knew about Kinbote by simply reading the
foreward, since so much in it comes to light once the reader has finished
the novel.

Is anyone on the list following the reading schedule week-by-week w/o having
read the whole thing already?  Curious, is all.

>
> Later in the commentary we learn how scholars attending a language
> conference at Wordsmith can't converse in the languages they are
> supposed to be specializing in.
>

Yeah, kinda reminds me of Jack Gladney in _White Noise_ attempting to master
German.  Hilarious!

>
> Shade in the poem dislikes certain things associated with both the low
> and the high brow. Also he belittles Eliot who back then was the epitome
> of high culture. Pop references and all.

What I find interesting in the foreward is how Kinbote deifies Shade as a
glorious poet and thinker, yet never stops to realize some of the baser
aspects of Shade that he inadvertantly reveals (e.g. the discussion of the
stunning blonde in black tights, the obvious sneaking to obtain booze from
the liquor store, etc.).  Nabokov gives us Kinbote, who seems part and
parcel of the ivory tower mindset, willing and able to pass judgment on all
that is aesthetically (and culturally) superior (as the Eliot reference you
mention), yet Nabokov also gives us dialogue and images that puncture the
bloated images these academics have of each other and themselves.

>
> I'm not being much help I realize. Will give it some more thought.
>

Don't know that I'm being much help either, Paul.  Nevertheless, it seems to
me that PF and VL both address the concept of "cultural elitism," but in
different ways.

Tim