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Poshlust and High Art: A Reading of Nabokov's Aesthetics
Author(s) -
Nyegaard Ole
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
orbis litterarum
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.109
H-Index - 8
eISSN - 1600-0730
pISSN - 0105-7510
DOI - 10.1111/j.0105-7510.2004.00812.x
Subject(s) - reading (process) , order (exchange) , focus (optics) , aesthetics , position (finance) , art , close reading , literature , philosophy , linguistics , physics , finance , optics , economics
This is a study of the philistine – or the poshlyak – in Nabokov's fiction with focus on Lolita . The concept of poshlost and philistinism holds a special position in his novels and essays. The Russian tradition from which Nabokov drew for his version of the concept is outlined and then compared with other related terms, in order to define it more sharply. The aim is to analyze how Nabokov deploys the concept, not so much as a cultural concept but more as a literary device and finally what this reveals about Nabokov's aesthetics. 1