Description
Book SynopsisUsing Vladimir Nabokov as its “case study,” this volume approaches translation as a crucial avenue into literary history and theory, philosophy and interpretation. The book attempts to bring together issues in translation and the shift in Nabokov studies from its earlier emphasis on the “metaliterary” to the more recent “metaphysical” approach. Addressing specific texts (both literary and cinematic), the book investigates Nabokov’s deeply ambivalent relationship to translation as a hermeneutic oscillation on his part between the relative stability of meaning, which expresses itself philosophically as a faith in the beyond, and deep metaphysical uncertainty. While Nabokov’s practice of translation changes profoundly over the course of his career, his adherence to the Romantic notion of a “true” but ultimately elusive metaphysical language remained paradoxically constant.
Trade ReviewWinner of The Samuel Schuman Prize for the Best First Book on Nabokov (International Vladimir Nabokov Society)“The Translator’s Doubts is a striking departure from the traditional studies of Nabokov’s work as a translator. Not only does it mark a significant shift in critical perspective, but it also uses Nabokov as a means to a greater end — a meditation on “literary history and theory, philosophy and interpretation” (11) — with value far beyond the world of Nabokov criticism. . . .Each chapter, even taken separately, adds hugely to the corpus of Nabokov criticism, from philology and archival scholarship to new theoretical perspectives. [Trubikhina’s] sophisticated and insightful work will surely become one of the touchstone texts on Nabokov and translation for years to come.”
— Bryan Karetnyk, University College London, Nabokov Online Journal, Vol. X–XI (2016/2017)Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1: Nabokov’s Beginnings: “Ania” in Wonderland or “Does Asparagus Grow in a Pile of Manure?”
- Chapter 2: The Novel on Translation and “über-Translation”: Nabokov’s Pale Fire and Eugene Onegin
- Chapter 3: “Cinemizing” as Translation: Nabokov’s Screenplay of Lolita and Stanley Kubrick’s and Adrian Lyne’s Cinematic Versions
- Conclusion: Vladimir Nabokov within the Russian and Western Traditions of Translation
- Selected Bibliography
- Index
