An Emigre's Representation Of Reality

As one of Nabokov's most controversial novels, Lolita has attracted wide attention since its publication in 1955. The controversy mainly lies in its theme, its artistic form and style, among which Nabokov's employment of parodies particularly draws divided responses from the critics. Based on previous studies and close reading of Lolita, this paper examines parody from two aspects:Nabokov's parody of Marcel Proust's involuntary memory, and his parody of classic detective fiction. By doing so, the author of this paper intends to explore Nabokov's representation of reality. This paper argues that Nabokov has sought to evoke individual reality and individualistic approaches to dealing with reality. Through parodying Proust, Nabokov deconstructs the involuntary memory of the past, introducing the interwoven combination of voluntary memory and imagination to fill up the blankness and rupture caused by exile and emigration; meanwhile he intends to establish individual consciousness which is considered the master key to the riddle of reality. Moreover, through parodying classic detective fiction, Nabokov probes into the various interpretations of what the world means to each individual.Admittedly, this research is not the first attempt to address Nabokov's employment of parodies in his work. However, it differs from previous studies in that it examines in detail the use of parodies in Lolita, and integrates it with Nabokov's representation of reality. This thesis starts with defining parody as a writing technique, which is essential given that the use of parody has undergone substantial changes in the development of English literature. It then proceeds to discuss Nabokov's parody of Proust's representation of memory. Proust, who has never suffered exile life, preserves his inner integrity through piecing together his memories of the past, sometimes at the expense of reality. However, as an emigre, Nabokov's sense of reality is ruptured by his exile in foreign countries. In new environment, he cannot resort to familiar scenes to bring back the past. What he can do is use imagination and voluntary memory to preserve and relive the past. Through deconstructing Proust's involuntary memory, Nabokov establishes his own way of dealing with reality on the basis of memory and imagination. Nabokov's representation of reality is further complicated by his parody of classic detective fiction. Since its birth, detective fiction has enjoyed a questionable reputation. Despite the debate, detective fiction has developed a relatively stable model which Nabokov parodies in Lolita from the following aspects:the questionable relationship between the detective and the criminal and the open ending. The questionable relationships between characters and the open ending show Nabokov's views on reality: one can get indefinitely close to reality with the accumulation of information but can not approach reality close enough to know all about reality. To sum up, by using the self-reflective feature of parodies, Nabokov establishes his own approaches to dealing with reality.