Between Rhyme and Reason
Vladimir Nabokov, Translation, and Dialogue
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of Toronto Press
Published:28th May '19
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
The author of such global bestsellers as Lolita and Pale Fire, Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) is also one of the most controversial literary translators and translation theorists of modern time. In Between Rhyme and Reason, Stanislav Shvabrin discloses the complexity, nuance, and contradictions behind Nabokov’s theory and practice of literalism to reveal how and why translation came to matter to Nabokov so much.
Drawing on familiar as well as unknown materials, Shvabrin traces the surprising and largely unknown trajectory of Nabokov’s lifelong fascination with translation to demonstrate that, for Nabokov, translation was a form of intellectual communion with his peers across no fewer than six languages. Empowered by Mikhail Bakhtin’s insights into the interactive roots of literary creativity, Shvabrin’s interpretative chronicle of Nabokov’s involvement with translation shows how his dialogic encounters with others in the medium of translation left verbal vestiges on his own creations. Refusing to regard translation as a form of individual expression, Nabokov translated to communicate with his interlocutors, whose words and images continue to reverberate throughout his allusion-rich texts.
"Overall, Shvabrin has written an extremely thorough, learned, and ‘phenomenally useful’ book. While it perhaps does not entirely lift the ‘veil of mystery’ surrounding Nabokov’s baffling conversion to literalism and polemic dismissal of any alternate approach, it greatly advances our understanding of Nabokov’s evolution as a translator and highlights to what extent translations formed an integral and crucial part of his life and work."
-- Adrian Wanner, Pennsylvania State University * Slavic Review *"This book is a very useful addition to the already extensive list of considerations of Nabokov’s artistic interactions with his two major languages. One of Stanislav Shvabrin’s goals is to trace the logic of Nabokov’s development as a translator and the importance of Nabokov’s investment in translation for an understanding of his artistic history. The chapters on the early Sirin are particularly illuminating in their detailed considerations of aspects of his artistic evolution, especially his juvenilia."
-- Elizabeth K. Beaujour, Hunter College and the CUNY Graduate Center * The Russian Review, Vol 79, July 2020 *"When one reads Shvabrin’s monograph, it is clear that he is a great admirer of Nabokov in addition to being one of the most knowledgeable scholars on the smallest details of Nabokov’s life and art, all while never shying away from showing Nabokov’s contradictions, sometimes to redeem them, sometimes not."
-- Julie Loison-Charles, Université de Lille * Linguistica Antverpiensia- Winner of Jane Grayson Prize for Best First Book on Nabokov The International Vladimir Nabokov Society 2020 (Canada)
ISBN: 9781487502997
Dimensions: 235mm x 165mm x 32mm
Weight: 780g
440 pages