An Analysis Of Indeterminacy In Lolita From The Perspective Of Aesthetics Of Reception

Vladimir Nabokov(1899-1977) is regarded as one of the most famous writers in the 20 th American literature. After his Lolita was published in 1958, Nabokov gained fame and fortune and became renowned internationally. The English writer Graham Greene regarded Lolita as one of the three best novels in the year of its publication. Lolita soon topped the New York Times Best-Seller list in May 1959. Lolita mainly narrates an abnormal love story between a middle-aged man and a thirteen-year-old girl. Since the publication, Lolita has attracted a lot of readers and critics. They analyze Lolita mainly from the perspectives of morality, writing skills, themes, modernism and so on. This thesis analyzes indeterminacy in Lolita from the perspective of the Aesthetics of Reception. The indeterminacy is discussed in three aspects: narration, plot and characterization. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how indeterminacy in Lolita motivates reader’s awareness and imagination to take part in the meaning construction. This thesis is divided into three parts: introduction, three chapters for the body and conclusion.The introduction mainly gives an introduction about Vladimir Nabokov’s life and his works; a brief summary of Lolita and literature reviews at home and abroad and research methodology- Aesthetics of Reception.Chapter one analyzes indeterminacy in Lolita from the narration perspective, including contradiction of narrators, shift of narrative point of view and overlap of narrative time. Indeterminate narration constantly challenges reader’s horizon of expectation and arouses their ability to grasp the main idea by adjusting their wandering viewpoint and integrating previous information.Chapter two discusses indeterminacy of the plots in Lolita from discontinuity of plot, blank of plot and openness of plot. The plots in the three parts generate indeterminacy for readers during reading. Indeterminate plots arouse reader’s imagination and invite readers to connect gap and fill the blank.Chapter three concerns the indeterminacy of characterization in Lolita. The indeterminacy of characterization is generated respectively by multiplicities, ambiguity and contrast in personality. The Indeterminacy in characters embodies the complexity of life and uneasiness of inner world.The last part is conclusion. In this part, the author gives a conclusion and indicates the implied meaning of indeterminacy. And the author holds the opinion that indeterminacy in a novel is a way to invite readers to participate in meaning construction and every good literary work is finally accomplished through the efforts of the writer, text and readers.