Anatomy of a Short Story: Nabokov's Puzzles, Codes, "Signs and Symbols"

by Yuri Leving (Editor)

Overview

Since its first publication in 1948, one of Vladimir Nabokov's shortest short stories, "Signs and Symbols," has generated perhaps more interpretations and critical appraisal than any other that he wrote. It has been called "one of the greatest short stories ever written" and "a triumph of economy and force, minute realism and shimmering mystery" (Brian Boyd, Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years).

Anatomy of a Short Story contains:

- the full text of "Signs and Symbols," line numbered and referenced throughout
- correspondence about the story, most of it never before published, between Nabokov and the editor of The New Yorker, where the story was first published
- 33 essays of literary criticism, bringing together classic essays and new interpretations
- a round-table discussion in which a screenwriter, a theater scholar, a mathematician, a psychiatrist, and a literary scholar bring their perspectives to bear on "Signs and Symbols"

Anatomy of a Short Story illuminates the ways in which we interpret fiction, and the short story in particular.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441142634
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	06/07/2012
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	796,490
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Yuri Leving is Professor and Chair in the Department of Russian Studies, Dalhousie University, Canada. He is the author of three books, including Train Station - Garage - Hangar. Vladimir Nabokov and the Poetics of Russian Urbanism (2004) and Keys to The Gift. A Guide to V. Nabokov's Novel (2011), and has also co-edited three volumes, including Empire N: Nabokov and His Heirs (2006) and Goalkeeper: The Nabokov Almanac (2010). Leving has published over seventy scholarly articles on various aspects of Russian and comparative literature. He served as a commentator on the first authorized Russian edition of The Collected Works of Vladimir Nabokov in five volumes (1999-2001), and was the curator for the exhibition "Nabokov's Lolita: 1955-2005" in Washington, D.C., which celebrated the 50th anniversary of the publication of Lolita.

Table of Contents

ContributorsAcknowledgmentsINTRODUCTION
 
Breaking the Code: Nabokov and the Art of Short FictionYuri LevingA PRIMARY TEXT:Heart"Signs and Symbols"Vladimir NabokovFORUM: High pressurePsychosis, Performance, Schizophrenia, LiteratureHal Ackerman, Murray Biggs, John Crossley, Wayne Goodman, Yuri Leving, and Frederick White
 
CRITICISMPART ONE: Bone StructureFrameworks Vladimir Nabokov's Correspondence with The New Yorker regarding "Signs and Symbols," 1946-1948Olga VoroninaLost in Revision: The Editing of "Signs and Symbols" for The New YorkerJohn MorrisConsulting the OracleMichael WoodPART TWO: Vascular SystemSignsArbitrary Signs and SymbolsAlexander N. DrescherThe Patterns of DoomBrian QuinnWays of Knowing in "Signs and Symbols"Terry J. MartinA Funny Thing about "Signs and Symbols"John B. LaneNamesYuri LevingPART THREE: Muscles of the StoryObjectsFive Known JarsCarol M. DoleFive Missing JarsGennady BarabtarloThe Last JarJoanna TrzeciakTrees and BirdsLarry R. AndrewsPhotographsMaria-Ruxanda BontilaCardsPekka TammiTelephoneAndrés Romero JódarPART FOUR: Nervous systemThe Importance of Reader ResponsePaul J. RosenzweigThe Jewish QuestYuri LevingSymbolsSigns of Reference, Symbols of DesignGeoffrey GreenSacred Dangers: Nabokov's Distorted ReflectionDavid FieldNumbersThe Mysticism of CircleMary TookeyThe Semiotics of ZeroMeghan Vicks
 
PART FIVE: DissectionWeb of Contexts"Signs and Symbols" in and out of ContextsLeona Toker"Breaking the News" and "Signs and Symbols": SilentologyJoanna TrzeciakPnin and "Signs and Symbols": Narrative EntrapmentDavid H. RichterPnin and "Signs and Symbols": Narrative StrategiesWilliam CarrollPale Fire and "Signs and Symbols"Vladimir Mylnikov
 
PART SIX: DNA TestingCracking the CodeThe Signs and Symbols in Nabokov's "Signs and Symbols"Alexander DolininThe Castling Problem in "Signs and Symbols"Yuri LevingReading MadlyIrving MalinDeciphering "Signs and Symbols"Larry R. AndrewsDecoding "Signs and Symbols"John V. HagopianThe Referential Mania: An Attempt of the Deconstructivist ReadingÁlvaro Garrido MorenoA Referential Reading of Nabokov's "Signs and Symbols"Charles W. MignonAn AfterwordJohn BanvilleAlternative Tables of ContentsChronological KeyAlphabetical KeyCreditsBibliographyIndex

Editorial Reviews

"Anatomy of a Short Story" contains:

"Anatomy of a Short Story" illuminates the ways in which we interpret fiction, and the short story in particular.

a round-table discussion in which a screenwriter, a theater scholar, a mathematician, a psychiatrist, and a literary scholar bring their perspectives to bear on "Signs and Symbols"

correspondence about the story, most of it never before published, between Nabokov and the editor of The New Yorker, where the story was first published"

the full text of "Signs and Symbols," line numbered and referenced throughout"

Since its first publication in 1948, one of Vladimir Nabokov's shortest short stories, "Signs and Symbols," has generated perhaps more interpretations and critical appraisal than any other that he wrote. It has been called "one of the greatest short stories ever written" and "a triumph of economy and force, minute realism and shimmering mystery" (Brian Boyd, "Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years").

33 essays of literary criticism, bringing together classic essays and new interpretations"

Since its first publication in 1948, one of Vladimir Nabokov's shortest short stories, "Signs and Symbols," has generated perhaps more interpretations and critical appraisal than any other that he wrote. It has been called "one of the greatest short stories ever written" and "a triumph of economy and force, minute realism and shimmering mystery" (Brian Boyd, "Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years").

"Anatomy of a Short Story" contains:

- the full text of "Signs and Symbols," line numbered and referenced throughout
- correspondence about the story, most of it never before published, between Nabokov and the editor of The New Yorker, where the story was first published
- 33 essays of literary criticism, bringing together classic essays and new interpretations
- a round-table discussion in which a screenwriter, a theater scholar, a mathematician, a psychiatrist, and a literary scholar bring their perspectives to bear on "Signs and Symbols"

"Anatomy of a Short Story" illuminates the ways in which we interpret fiction, and the short story in particular.

From the Publisher

The critical anthology is called "Anatomy of a Short Story" not accidentally. What we have here is not a marauding or exhuming of a senseless body, but a study of a living artistic organism. Collective dissection presupposes using various methods, diversified optics and descriptive procedures… Yuri Leving's own array of scholarly interests turns "Anatomy" from a potentially dull registrar's compendium into a collection of peculiar and often unexpected utterances about Nabokov's text… This book will prove handy to anyone interested both in Nabokov as well as in studying literary texts in general.

Mikhail Efimov

Signs or symbols, satire or realism, closure or no closure, soluble or insoluble riddle? Responding to the challenge presented by this enigmatic short story, aware that Nabokov did not believe in what he called 'the symbolism racket', the contributors to this excellent collection of articles have mobilized a wide spectrum of hermeneutics. Convinced, with John V. Hagopian, that 'no legitimate artist produces randomness', they gamely attempted to quiz the author's elusive figure, developing a brand of creative paranoia, yet never claiming, except in one case (Dolinin), to play the part of the oracle. The result is a challenging exercise of 'Practical Criticism' which touches upon the bone and structure of Nabokov's work.

Maurice Couturier