NPPF Canto 1 Incest Motif
cfalbert
calbert at hslboxmaster.com
Wed Jul 30 13:11:21 CDT 2003
Thank you for your assistance......Belerma, according to one essay I scanned
in the Norton Quixote may be part of a "picaro" metaphor.......this would
make the "cunnilingus" references perhaps only metonymical for the
"maturing" process.......
and thank you again for going to the trouble
love,
cfa
----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Joseph" <mjoseph at rci.rutgers.edu>
To: "cfalbert" <calbert at hslboxmaster.com>
Cc: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Wednesday, July 30, 2003 1:46 PM
Subject: Re: NPPF Canto 1 Incest Motif
> Cfalbert, without an index, it's hard to be absolutely sure, but Nabokov
> seems to make but one passing reference to Lady Belerma, in his lecture
> "Narrative and Commnetary Part To (1615), merely recounting the narrative
> passage in which she appears (chapter 23). Glad to check further if you
> remember something more.
>
>
> Michael
>
>
>
> On Tue, 29 Jul 2003, cfalbert wrote:
>
> > Does anyone have access to Nab's lectures on Quixote?
> >
> > If so, please check what he has to say about Lady Belerma and get back
to
> > us...
> >
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > love,
> > cfa
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Michael Joseph" <mjoseph at rci.rutgers.edu>
> > To: "s~Z" <keithsz at concentric.net>
> > Cc: "Pynchon-L" <pynchon-l at waste.org>
> > Sent: Tuesday, July 29, 2003 3:01 PM
> > Subject: Re: NPPF Canto 1 Incest Motif
> >
> >
> > >
> > > On Tue, 29 Jul 2003, s~Z wrote:
> > > >
> > > > My reading has nothing to do with Freud,
> > >
> > > I thought you were pointing through your quotation at VN's use of the
term
> > > "uncanny," and it made sense that as you were analyzing the poem with
the
> > > thought that it possessed a central secret and that secret was incest,
you
> > > would be drawing on Freud, one way or the other, either to explain
> > > Nabokov's incest gambit or to rat out the meanings of incest.
> > >
> > > Although I'm persuaded against the incest argument, I'm not persuaded
> > > there aren't clues pointing toward it. I agree that, since Kinbote is
> > > apparently a pedophile, it would be interesting to see Shade as an
abused
> > > child - which is different from incest, of course. Kinbote <> Shade
would
> > > constitute the binary: literary admirer/abuser of innocence ..>
admired
> > > poet/abused innocent, and Kinbote's various pursuits would take on an
> > > additional quality of menace.
> > >
> > >
> > > > and I read the quote
> > > > through my hypothesis that ADA has clues for interpreting PF.
> > > > I.e., seeing ADA as the dot-arrow pointing back to PF.
> > > >
> > >
> > > I see the mysterious backward foot-print as Shade's symbol of the
present,
> > > which moves into the future but points back to the past, and the
parallel
> > > operations of the poem. (Of course, it could be other things, too. We
know
> > > it's a pheasant, so at least it can't be a wild goose.)
> > >
> > >
> > > > "Learn to distinguish banality. Remember that mediocrity thrives on
> > 'ideas.'
> > > > Beware of the modish message. Ask yourself if the symbol you have
> > detected
> > > > is not your own footprint. Ignore allegories. By all means place the
> > 'how'
> > > > above the 'what' but do not let it be confused with the 'so what.'
Rely
> > on
> > > > the sudden erection of your small dorsal hairs. Do not drag in Freud
at
> > this
> > > > point. All the rest depends on personal talent." - Vladimir Nabokov
> > > >
> > >
> > > Devilish advice!
> > >
> > > Michael
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
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