Nabokov and Banville: Hidden Stories in Despair and The Book of Evidence

IF 0.4 4区文学 0 LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM Partial Answers-Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas Pub Date : 2019-12-27 DOI:10.1353/pan.2020.0005

Irena Księżopolska

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Abstract

Abstract:References to Vladimir Nabokov's texts are frequent in the works of contemporary British writers, but it is John Banville who seems to be engaged in an unceasing conversation with Nabokov. As this essay will argue, in Banville's comments on Nabokov's sophisticated structures the readers can glimpse a hint of Banville's own practice. The essay discusses Banville's celebrated ethical thriller, The Book of Evidence, which not only resembles Nabokov's Despair and Lolita in its theme and structure, or borrows phrases and images from these books, but also creates intimations of a hidden story, which remains decipherable though not conclusive, thus reproducing Nabokov's textual model. Using a heuristic comparative approach, this essay treats Despair as a case study of Nabokov's method of concealment of a storyline beneath flamboyant narration, and then studies Banville's novel with particular attention to the signals of unreliability, which, keeping in mind the deceptions of Despair, can be seen as evidence of untold story. The essay proposes a reinterpretation of the plot in The Book of Evidence by analogy with Despair, as well as a rereading of Despair under the influence of Banville's novel.

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《纳博科夫和班维尔:绝望中的隐藏故事》和《证据之书》

摘要:在当代英国作家的作品中，对纳博科夫文本的引用屡屡出现，但与纳博科夫对话不断的似乎是约翰·班维尔。正如本文将论证的那样，在班维尔对纳博科夫复杂结构的评论中，读者可以瞥见班维尔自己的实践的一丝暗示。本文讨论了班维尔著名的伦理惊悚小说《证据之书》，它不仅在主题和结构上类似于纳博科夫的《绝望》和《洛丽塔》，或者借用了这些书中的短语和图像，而且还创造了一个隐藏故事的暗示，尽管不是结论性的，但仍然可以破译，从而再现了纳博科夫的文本模式。本文采用启发性比较的方法，将《绝望》作为纳博科夫在华丽的叙述下隐藏故事情节的方法的案例研究，然后研究班维尔的小说，特别注意不可靠的信号，记住《绝望》的欺骗，可以被视为不为人知的故事的证据。本文拟以《绝望》为例重新解读《证据之书》的情节，并在班维尔小说的影响下重新解读《绝望》。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Partial Answers-Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas LITERARY THEORY & CRITICISM-

CiteScore

0.30

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0.00%

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期刊介绍： Partial Answers is an international, peer reviewed, interdisciplinary journal that focuses on the study of literature and the history of ideas. This interdisciplinary component is responsible for combining analysis of literary works with discussions of historical and theoretical issues. The journal publishes articles on various national literatures including Anglophone, Hebrew, Yiddish, German, Russian, and, predominately, English literature. Partial Answers would appeal to literature scholars, teachers, and students in addition to scholars in philosophy, cultural studies, and intellectual history.