The Philosophy Of Aesthetic Bliss: A Marxist Reading Of Nabakov's Lolita

In this thesis I will demonstrate, that, far from being entirely removed from social or political ideologies, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is actually a very emphatic cultural statement. Using the theories of Fredric Jameson, I will examine the novel in terms of what it has to say about social relations, uncovering the inescapable political agenda. Lolita is a Modernist novel further rooted in the tradition of Russian Symbolism, both movements lending it a backward-looking desire for an older and more readily defined social order. Nabokov was essentially a conservative elitiest, encouraging the MOdernist separation of popular aret and "great art" possessing the verities of Truth, Beauty, and Art. In addition to Jameson, I will make use of Nabokov's own writings and the long and varied body of criticism on Lolita, althought most often to either contradict them (in Nobokov's case) or to explain why they do not go far enough or serve any real purpose (as is the case with the majority of the criticism).

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts in English

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

English

Year

1996

Author dc:creator

• Pascoe, Dustin Coppock

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wayne Blackmon

• English Language and Literature

Statement dc:rights

• © Dustin Coppock Pascoe

Repository record dc:identifier

https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/988

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:bearworks.missouristate.edu:theses-1989