Searching for the Author's Hand: Narrators, Readers, and the Fictive World In Vladimir Nabokov's Short Fiction

Laura Hampton

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Schatz, David

Keywords

Nabokov, Vladimir, Fiction, Memory, Patterns

Area of Concentration

Literature

Abstract

In this thesis I explore the various interactions between writing, narrators, and readers in Vladimir Nabokov's short fiction. In the first chapter I discuss "Mademoiselle O," and the narrator's attempt to retrieve the memory of his childhood governess from the past. By weaving detailed memories into a story, the narrator helps anchor her memory in the present, and achieves greater understanding of her character. The theme of writing lives continues in the second chapter on "Recruiting." The narrator tells a detailed story about a man who is actually an invented character, inspired by a stranger the narrator sees on a bench. Once this is revealed, the story can be read as a record of the narrator's creative process, and a guide for seeking artistic patterns within myriad details. In my third chapter, the search for patterns becomes problematic with "Signs and Symbols." Here, readers are tempted to engage in "referential mania" and follow seemingly blatant symbols which may indicate a character's impending death. This story highlights the difference between teasing out artistic patterns and expecting events to adhere to a fixed, pre-determined track.

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