The Models of Space, Time and Vision in V. Nabokov’s Fiction: Narrative Strategies and Cultural Frames

Abstract

Introduction: Models and metaphors Possible worlds and modeling systems Time, space, and point of view as constitutive elements of the textual world Nabokov as a writer and a scientist: natural and artificial patterns Part I. The Models of Time The specious present: time as a hollow The spiral or the circle: Mary 1. Involution and metamorphosis 2. The triple dream 3. Nietzsche's circle of the eternal return 4. Time and double vision in Proust and Nabokov 5. Bergson's spiral of memory Tempus reversus Time and eternity: aevum Part II. The Model of the Observer The observer and the point of view Vision and word: the seat of a semiotic conflict 1. H. James: The Turn of the Screw 2. V. Nabokov: The Eye 3. A. Hitchcock: Rear Window Frame, motion and the observer Part III. The Models of Vision Automatism and disturbed vision Inhibition and artistic failure Camera obscura Nabokov's visual devices Part IV. The Doubles and Mirrors PartV. Multidimensional Worlds The outside and the inside Bend Sinister as a multilayer dream The worlds of seduction: Lolita Conclusion Bibliography Index