Russian 225 - Nabokov and the Art of Reading

An author’s best audience, said Vladimir Nabokov, is the one he sees in the mirror. Yet despite his claim to be “perfectly indifferent” to his readers, Nabokov was deeply invested in teaching them how to read him, and how to read other authors he admired. This course examines the evolution of Nabokov’s fiction under the influence of the audiences he encountered—first as an impoverished Russian exile, then an aspiring American writer, later a scandalous literary celebrity, and finally an imperious arbiter of taste. We will consider several of Nabokov’s most ambitious and experimental works: The Eye, Invitation to a Beheading, The Gift, Lolita, Pale Fire, and Speak, Memory. Each of these texts engages in its own way with central Nabokovian concerns: the role of fate in human affairs; the relationship between art and life; the experience of exile; the perception of time; the workings of memory; the nature of cruelty; and the possibility of an otherworldly dimension to existence. Above all, they return again and again to one of Nabokov’s most enduring questions: whether art can bridge the gap between oneself and others. How close, if at all, can it bring us to knowing what is in another person’s head? The course does not presume any familiarity with Russian history and culture, which will be supplied in brief lectures or supplemental readings. All readings are in English. There is an additional half-course available to students who would like to read and discuss Nabokov in Russian.

Fall semester. Professor Gershkovich.