Mapping the Impermissible in Vladimir Nabokov

• In Event: Liberating Nabokov: From Critical Approaches to Textual Discoveries

Abstract

Nabokov’s defense of freedom is a well-known aspect of his biography, but he was also invested in differentiating between freedom and license, freedom and anarchy. In my paper, I will examine the limits of Nabokov’s commitment to freedom by focusing on key moments in his personal history and his most controversial works of fiction. Mapping the impermissible in the life and work of a writer so ardently devoted to freedom is more than an academic exercise at a time when the relationship between freedom and responsibility is passionately contested.

Author

• Dana Dragunoiu, Carleton U (Canada)