From Crisis Heterotopias To Deviant Heterotopia

This thesis argues that the doppelg ngers in Lolita, Despair and Pale Fireare actively created by the narrators. At the aid of artistic autonomy grantedby Nabokov, the narrators create the doppelg ngers to dissipate theirpsychological duress and moral ambivalence. To achieve a morecomprehensive study of the philosophical and psychological motivationsbehind the creation of doppelg ngers, this thesis would take Heterotopias—Michel Foucault’s critical legacy—as the point of departure, dissectingdoppelg nger’s evolution from heterotopia of crisis to heterotopia of deviation.Chapter One “Evil Doppelg ngers” explores the existing critical literature onthe demonic aspect of doppelg nger, and its function as evil alter-ego.Followed by an analyze of the narrator-heroes’ relationship to theirdoppelg ngers. Chapter Two “Humbert, Hermannn and Kinbote as Demiurges”expands the scope of the previous chapter by elaborating how thenarrator-heroes become the demiurges of the created visions by utilizing,sometimes abusing, the artistic freedom granted by Nabokov; by applyingindividual reality, mirror imagery and indicative colors, the narrator-heroesestablish subjective associations which engage the readers into a referentialhunt for doppelg ngers. Chapter Three “Doppelg ngers as Foucault’sHeterotopias” elaborates on the six principles of Foucault’s Heterotopias.Since Foucault merely rendered a brief explanation and the theory isunder-developed, the theory of Heterotopias itself is open to distinctinterpretations and leaves ample room for creative application. The firstsection of this chapter begins with a literature review on the interpretations ofmost critical receptions, and moves on to its various applications. With specialfocus on “Crisis Heterotopias” and “Deviant Heterotopias,” the second sectioninvestigates the transition of the functions of doppelg ngers. By tracing thetrajectory of pervious arguments, the thesis questions the ethical, philosophical and aesthetic conundrums that the thesis leaves behind; last butnot the least, the author of this thesis addresses the need of studyingNabokov’s metaphysics and philosophical stances.