Librarian for English
Reference Works for Consultation
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics (4th ed.) by Call Number: E-book - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9780691133348Publication Date: 2012Through three editions over more than four decades, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics has built an unrivaled reputation as the most comprehensive and authoritative reference for students, scholars, and poets on all aspects of its subject: history, movements, genres, prosody, rhetorical devices, critical terms, and more. Now this landmark work has been thoroughly revised and updated for the twenty-first century.
- Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature This link opens in a new windowThe Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature contains over 400 articles and aims to map, over time, the world’s entire landscape of literary expressions and criticism, weaving together the various fields and approaches that make up literature.
- Oxford English Dictionary This link opens in a new windowHas definitions for most of the words in the English language but also information on their origins and quotations showing their range of meanings from the time they entered the language to the present.
Special Collections: Pale Fire: A Poem in Four Cantos by John Shade (2011)
Pale Fire: A Poem in Four Cantos [by] John Shade by ISBN: 9781584234319Publication Date: 2011Many think Pale Fire Vladimir Nabokov's greatest novel. At its heart beats the 999-line poem, "Pale Fire," penned by the distinguished American poet John Shade. This first-ever facsimile edition of the poem shows it to be not just a fictional device but a masterpiece of American poetry, albeit by an invented persona -- "the greatest of invented poets," according to Nabokov's own accurate evaluation. This attractive box contains two booklets, the poem "Pale Fire" in a handsome pocket edition and the book of essays by renowned Nabokov authority Brian Boyd and poet R.S. Gwynn, as well as facsimiles of the index cards that John Shade (like his maker, Nabokov) used for composing his poem, printed exactly as Vladimir Nabokov described them. Artist Jean Holabird, who conceived the project, illustrates key details of the poem's pattern and pathos. 40 Pages in Book 1 "Pale Fire," 48 Pages in Book 2 "Pale Fire" Reflections, 80 Index Cards 2 Paperback Books in a deluxe box
Researching Vladimir Nabokov and Pale Fire
The resources on this guide will help you as you undertake research related to Vladimir Nabokov and his novel Pale Fire. This page includes information for finding Nabokov-related critical scholarship and biographical information as well as resources for researching the reception of Pale Fire and interviews with Nabokov. The other tabs on this guide provide guidance on citing works you use in your research papers and tools for making off-Grounds access to our resources easier.
Finding Nabokov-related critical scholarship - library databases
The MLA International Bibliography (MLAIB) indexes the broadest range of resources about literature in all languages. Not everything in the MLA Bibliography is full-text, meaning that you may only see a description of an article, rather than the text of the article. To get full text of an article, click on “Find article @ UVa Libraries”, or look up the journal title in Virgo, the library catalog. If the citation is for a book or an essay/chapter in a book, look for the book title in Virgo.
** Exception 1: For articles in The Nabokov Online Journal go to the journal's website to look for full text (you may need to create a free account and wait for password for access, or you can try Interlibrary Loan). **
**Exception 2: Part of the Virgo record for Nabokov Studies says we stop online access in 2008, but you should be able to access more recent years through Project Muse. **
ProQuest One Literature contains 3 million literature citations from thousands of journals, monographs, and dissertations. It also includes more than 500,000 primary works – including rare and obscure texts, multiple versions, and non-traditional sources like comics, theatre performances, and author readings.
JSTOR includes older issues of scholarly journals, from their beginnings to 3-5 years ago, so this may be another good database to look for articles related to your novel or work. Articles in JSTOR should be full-text, if we subscribe to the journal.
Google Scholar allows you to find articles from many online scholarly journals plus some books and Web sites. Use Advanced Search if you get too many results; use Preferences to turn on links to Find@UVa.
Project MUSE includes searchable full text of nearly 600 scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, and more, mostly from North American university presses.
Finding print and ebooks - critical scholarship
Virgo is UVA Library's catalog. Search Virgo for scholarship about Nabokov and his works. Use subject headings to help you find resources that meet your research needs. You can use a general subject to get started, like: Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich -- 1899-1977 -- Criticism and interpretation or Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich -- 1899-1977 -- Pale fire.
You can also run an advanced search and pair a search for Nabokov with a search for keywords that relate to themes/topics of interest. For example, you might search for a keyword of Nabokov AND butterflies or Nabokov AND lemniscate curve. If you don't find any books under the Catalog option, look under Articles for possible articles of interest.
If you find a book that includes a subject heading that relates to your topic of interest, click on the subject heading in the item record to find other items marked with that subject.
Below are a few examples of print books and ebooks that critically examine Nabokov and his works.
The Cambridge Companion to Nabokov by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9780521829571Publication Date: 2005Vladimir Nabokov held the unique distinction of being one of the most important writers of the twentieth century in two separate languages, Russian and English. Known for his verbal mastery and bold plots, Nabokov fashioned a literary legacy that continues to grow in significance. This 2005 volume offers a concise and informative introduction into the author's fascinating creative world. Specially commissioned essays by distinguished scholars illuminate numerous facets of the writer's legacy, from his early contributions as a poet and short-story writer to his dazzling achievements as one of the most original novelists of the twentieth century. Topics receiving fresh coverage include Nabokov's narrative strategies, the evolution of his world-view, and his relationship to the literary and cultural currents of his day. The volume also contains valuable supplementary material such as a chronology of the writer's life and a guide to further critical reading.
The Garland Companion to Vladimir Nabokov by Call Number: Print Shannon PG3476 .N3 Z668 1995ISBN: 9780815303541Publication Date: 1995This companion constitutes a virtual encyclopaedia of Nabokov, and occupies a unique niche in scholarship about him. Articles on individual works by Nabokov, including his short stories and poetry, provide a brief survey of critical reactions and detailed analyses from diverse vantage points. For anyone interested in Nabokov, from scholars to readers who love his works, this is an ideal guide. Its chronology of Nabokov's life and works, bibliographies of primary and secondary works, and a detailed index make it easy to find reliable information any aspect of Nabokov's rich legacy.
Vladimir Nabokov in Context by Call Number: Ebook (also owned in print - check Virgo)ISBN: 9781107108646Publication Date: 2018Vladimir Nabokov, bilingual writer of dazzling masterpieces, is a phenomenon that both resists and requires contextualization. This book challenges the myth of Nabokov as a sole genius who worked in isolation from his surroundings, as it seeks to anchor his work firmly within the historical, cultural, intellectual and political contexts of the turbulent twentieth century. Vladimir Nabokov in Context maps the ever-changing sites, people, cultures and ideologies of his itinerant life which shaped the production and reception of his work. Concise and lively essays by leading scholars reveal a complex relationship of mutual influence between Nabokov's work and his environment. Appealing to a wide community of literary scholars this timely companion to Nabokov's writing offers new insights and approaches to one of the most important, and yet most elusive writers of modern literature.
Nabokov's Pale Fire: The Magic Art of Discovery by Call Number: Ebook (also owned in print - check Virgo)ISBN: 9780691009599Publication Date: 1999Pale Fire is regarded by many as Vladimir Nabokov's masterpiece. The novel has been hailed as one of the most striking early examples of postmodernism and has become a famous test case for theories about reading because of the apparent impossibility of deciding between several radically different interpretations. Does the book have two narrators, as it first appears, or one? How much is fantasy and how much is reality? Whose fantasy and whose reality are they?
Find What the Sailor Has Hidden: Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire by Call Number: Print Shannon PS3527 .A15 P336 1988ISBN: 0819552062Publication Date: 1989Meyer (Wesleyan University) offers the first book-length study of Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire. Her thesis is that Pale Fire, set mostly in a mythic, northern Zembla, represents a synthesis of Russian and North Germanic cultural tradition with Shakespeare and William Wordsworth as major subtexts, and Goethe's poem "Erlkonig" (1781) as intermediary. Pale Fire is contrastively paired with Lolita, which synthesizes the Russian and American literary traditions with Alexander Pushkin's Eugene Onegin and E.A. Poe's works in general as the major subtexts, and Gottfried Burger's poem "Lenore" as intermediary. Lolita and Pale Fire reprise Nabokov's dual literary heritage. Pale Fire, the tale of mistaken assassination, is motivated by the 1992 murder of Nabokov's father in Berlin. Most of these points are arguable, but Meyer's boldly provocative book with its wide-ranging erudition is a treasure trove for future Nabokov scholars.
The European Nabokov Web, Classicism and T. S. Eliot: A Textual Interpretation of Pale Fire by Call Number: Ebook - Access online using link in VirgoISBN: 9781936235650Publication Date: 2011Robin Davies here demonstrates that Nabokov's Pale Fire has a classical unity and represents a direct attack on T.S. Eliot's philosophical position, particularly as given in The Waste Land and as represented by Eliot's later tendency for conservatism in literature, politics, and religion. After Nabokov was forced into exile from Germany and then France in the 1930s with his young son and Jewish wife, Eliot's passivism must have seemed to him the very antithesis of survival. The enigmatic Pale Fire and its surface triviality suggested that there could be self-consistent logic within the obvious commentary of Charles Kinbote and John Shade's poem. Davies places this work in its vast European context, forming a bridge between Russian and European literature which will be appreciated by scholars of both.
Nabokov's Shakespeare by Call Number: Print Ivy PG3476 .N3 Z8628 2014ISBN: 9781628924268Publication Date: 2014Nabokov's Shakespeare is a comprehensive study of an important and interesting literary relationship. It explores the many and deep ways in which the works of Shakespeare, the greatest writer of the English language, penetrate the novels of Vladimir Nabokov, one of the finest English prose stylists of the twentieth century. As a Russian youth, Nabokov read all of Shakespeare, in English. He claimed a shared birthday with the Bard, and some of his most highly regarded novels (Lolita, Pale Fire and Ada) are infused with Shakespeare and Shakespeareanisms. Nabokov uses Shakespeare and Shakespeare's works in a surprisingly wide variety of ways, from the most casual references to deep thematic links.Schuman provides a taxonomy of Nabokov's Shakespeareanisms; a quantitative analysis of Shakespeare in Nabokov; an examination of Nabokov's Russian works, his early English novels, the non-novelistic writings (poetry, criticism, stories), Nabokov's major works, and his final novels; and a discussion of the nature of literary relationships and influence.
Nabokov at the Limits: Redrawing Critical Boundaries by Call Number: Print Shannon PS3527.A15 Z835 1999ISBN: 9780815328957Publication Date: 1999The eleven contributors to this volume investigate the connections between Nabokov's output and the fields of painting, music, and ballet. See, for example, chapter on music in Lolita, Pale Fire, and Ada.
Style Is Matter: The Moral Art of Vladimir Nabokov by Call Number: Ebook (also owned in print - check Virgo)ISBN: 9780801445637Publication Date: 2007See, for example, the chapter "The Figure in the Magic Carpet" for a discussion of the bird the waxwing in Pale Fire.
The Novels of Vladimir Nabokov by Call Number: Print Ivy PG3476 .N3 Z6 1984ISBN: 9780333280508Publication Date: 1984See especially Chapter 12 "Mirrors: Pale Fire"
Worlds in Regression: Some Novels of Vladimir Nabokov by Call Number: Print Shannon or Ivy PG3476 .N3 Z696 1985ISBN: 9780882339085Publication Date: 1985Relevant section includes Section 2: Nabokov as Anagrammist. Also sections on Chess, Alphabets, and Mazes (may discuss other novels, but could still be relevant).
Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Play by Call Number: Print Shannon PG3476 .N3 Z697 2011ISBN: 9780199603985Publication Date: 2011Thomas Karshan argues that play is Nabokov's signature theme, and indeed that Nabokov's novels form one of the most sophisticated treatments of play ever achieved
See especially, section 6: "Pale Fire and the Genre of the Literary Game"- Nabokov's Lepidoptera: Genres and Genera by Call Number: Print Shannon PS3527.A15 Z74 1985ISBN: 9780882339108Publication Date: 1985
Finding biographical information about Nabokov
In addition to critical content and primary sources, ProQuest One Literature contains Author Pages where you can find a biographical essays on key authors like Nabokov.
Literature Resource Center (LRC) includes the full text of important literary reference works. Among them are articles from the Dictionary of Literary Biography, which is a terrific source for finding detailed biographies and profiles of authors, illustrators, publishers, and other literary figures. Run a search for a person's name and then choose the Biographies tab if available (though other articles - critical or otherwise -- could be useful, too!)
There are also many book-length works on Nabokov and his family and associates. Find them using a Virgo catalog search. A few examples:
Vladimir Nabokov by Call Number: Print Shannon PG3476.N3 Z672 2002ISBN: 9781585672639Publication Date: 2003History seemed to pursue Vladimir Nabokov. In the Russian Revolution and the Second World War he lost his homeland, social position and family, and was even forced to abandon working in his native language. Despite the shadow of exile, Nabokov's work exudes a tremendous vivacity and joy. Even at its darkest it has an inventiveness and a richness of perception that has rarely been surpassed. The photographs and illustrations in this volume, many previously unpublished, range from early photographs of the Nabokovs' estates in Russia to hand-corrected manuscript pages, first edition book jackets, and examples of Nabokov's lifelong passion for butterflies. Acclaimed scholar Jane Grayson provides fresh insight into the celebrated author's life, making this volume a unique glimpse into the life of the modernist master.
Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years by Call Number: Print Shannon PS3527.A15 Z646 1991ISBN: 9780691067971Publication Date: 1991The story of Nabokov's life continues with his arrival in the United States in 1940. He found that supporting himself and his family was not easy--until the astonishing success of Lolita catapulted him to world fame and financial security.
The Secret History of Vladimir Nabokov by Call Number: Print Ivy PG3476 .N3 Z825 2013ISBN: 9781605984117Publication Date: 2013A startling and revelatory examination of Nabokov's life and works--notably Pale Fire and Lolita--bringing new insight into one of the twentieth century's most enigmatic authors. Novelist Vladimir Nabokov witnessed the horrors of his century, escaping Revolutionary Russia then Germany under Hitler, and fleeing France with his Jewish wife and son just weeks before Paris fell to the Nazis. He repeatedly faced accusations of turning a blind eye to human suffering to write artful tales of depravity. But does one of the greatest writers in the English language really deserve the label of amoral aesthete bestowed on him by so many critics? Using information from newly-declassified intelligence files and recovered military history, journalist Andrea Pitzer argues that far from being a proponent of art for art's sake, Vladimir Nabokov managed to hide disturbing history in his fiction--history that has gone unnoticed for decades. Nabokov emerges as a kind of documentary conjurer, spending the most productive decades of his career recording a saga of forgotten concentration camps and searing bigotry, from World War I to the Gulag and the Holocaust. Lolita surrenders Humbert Humbert's secret identity, and reveals a Nabokov appalled by American anti-Semitism. The lunatic narrator of Pale Fire recalls Russian tragedies that once haunted the world. From Tsarist courts to Nazi film sets, from CIA front organizations to wartime Casablanca, the story of Nabokov's family is the story of his century--and both are woven inextricably into his fiction.
The Tender Friendship and the Charm of Perfect Accord: Nabokov and his Father by Call Number: Ebook (also owned in print - check Virgo)ISBN: 9780472119189Publication Date: 2014Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), a writer of world renown, grew up in a culturally refined family with diverse interests. Nabokov's father, Vladimir Dmitrievich (1870-1922), was a distinguished jurist and statesman at the turn of the twentieth century. He was also a great connoisseur and aficionado of literature, painting, theater, and music as well as a passionate butterfly collector, keen chess player, and avid athlete. This book, the first of its kind, examines Vladimir Nabokov's life and works as impacted by his distinguished father. It demonstrates that V. D. Nabokov exerted the most fundamental influence on his son, making this examination pivotal to understanding the writer's personality and his world perception, as well as his literary, scholarly, and athletic accomplishments. The book contains never heretofore published archival materials. It is appended with rare articles by Nabokov and his father and is accompanied by old photographs. In addition, the book constitutes a survey of sorts of Russian civilization at the turn of the twentieth century by providing a partial view of the multifaceted picture of Imperial Russia in its twilight hours. The book illumines the historical background, political struggle, juridical battles, and literary and artistic life as well as athletic activities during the epoch, rich in cultural events and fraught with sociopolitical upheavals. Cover illustration: Vladimir Nabokov and his father, 1906. The Nabokov family photographs. Copyright © The Estate of Vladimir Nabokov, used by permission of The Wylie Agency, LLC; and of The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations.
Researching reception history
There are many different ways to approach finding both contemporary and newer reviews of Nabokov's novels and works. This section will highlight a few.
Ebook
Vladimir Nabokov: The Critical Heritage by Call Number: E-book: Use link in Virgo record to access (also own 1982 copy in print, see Virgo)ISBN: 9780415849661Publication Date: 2000See reviews #29-34 - McCarthy, MacDonald, Steiner, Dennis, and Burgess on Pale Fire in 1962.
2. Secondary Source Databases
You might find articles or books listed in MLA International Bibliography that discuss the reception or review of a particular title.
3. Primary Source Databases
Finally, you can access some of our primary source periodical and newspaper databases to look for contemporary reviews of Nabokov's novels and other works. For a list of other newspaper and periodical collections of possible interest, see the Primary Sources - Find Historical Newspapers, Periodicals, Diaries, & More tab of the English Language & Literature Guide.
PAO: Periodicals Archive Online allows you to search the full text of nearly 400 international humanities and social sciences journals published from 1770 to the 1990s.
JSTOR also includes historical publications, so run a search in this database and limit your results to the time period just after the work was published to find contemporary reviews.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers includes key newspapers such as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Defender, Chicago Tribune, Norfolk Journal and Guide, Pittsburgh Courier, NY Amsterdam News, Baltimore Afro-American, Washington Post, and The Guardian & The Observer.
America's Historical Newspapers (1690-1991) is a searchable full text collection of US newspapers.
Researching Nabokov's Letters & Interviews
If you are interested in researching what Nabokov had to say himself about Pale Fire and other literature, you may want to look at some of his letters or interviews. While some items may still be tucked away in archives, others have been published in book form or online and can be easily accessed. Here are a few examples:
Think, Write, Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor by Call Number: PrintISBN: 9781101874912Publication Date: 2019A rich compilation of the previously uncollected Russian and English prose and interviews of one of the twentieth century's greatest writers, edited by Nabokov experts Brian Boyd and Anastasia Tolstoy. "I think like a genius, I write like a distinguished author, and I speak like a child": so Vladimir Nabokov famously wrote in the introduction to his volume of selected prose, Strong Opinions. Think, Write, Speak follows up where that volume left off, with a rich compilation of his uncollected prose and interviews, from a 1921 essay about Cambridge to two final interviews in 1977. The chronological order allows us to watch the Cambridge student and the fledgling Berlin reviewer and poet turn into the acclaimed Paris émigré novelist whose stature brought him to teach in America, where his international success exploded with Lolita and propelled him back to Europe. Whether his subject is Proust or Pushkin, the sport of boxing or the privileges of democracy, Nabokov's supreme individuality, his keen wit, and his alertness to the details of life illuminate the page.
- "The Art of Fiction No. 40" Paris ReviewInterview with Nabokov in the Paris Review issue 41, Summer/Fall 1967.
Conversations with Vladimir Nabokov by Call Number: Print Shannon PG3476 .N3 Z46 2017ISBN: 9781496810953Publication Date: 2017This volume brings together candid, revealing interviews with one of the twentieth century's master prose writers. Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) was a Russian American scientist, poet, translator, and professor of literature. Critics throughout the world celebrated him for developing the luminous and enigmatic style which advanced the boundaries of modern literature more than any author since James Joyce. In a career that spanned over six decades, he produced dozens of iconic works, including Lolita, Pale Fire, Ada, and his classic autobiography, Speak, Memory. The twenty-eight interviews and profiles in this collection weredrawn from Nabokov's numerous print and broadcast appearances over a period of nineteen years. Beginning with the controversy surrounding the American publication of Lolita in 1958, he offers trenchant, witty views on society, literature, education, the role of the author, and a range of other topics. He discusses the numerous literary and symbolic allusions in his work, his use of parody and satire, as well as analyses of his own literary influences. Nabokov also provided a detailed portrait of his life-from his aristocratic childhood in pre-revolutionary Russia, education at Cambridge, apprenticeship as an émigré writer in the capitals of Europe, to his decision in 1940 to immigrate to the United States, where he achieved renown and garnered an international readership. The interviews in this collection are essential for seeking a clearer understanding of the life and work of an author who was pivotal in shaping the landscape of contemporary fiction.
The Letters of Vladimir Nabokov, 1940-1977 by Call Number: Print Shannon PG3476 .N3 Z48 1989ISBN: 9780151641901Publication Date: 1989Nabokoviana for fans of VN's every facet turns up throughout this comprehensive collection of letters gathered by the author's son and Bruccoli ( Some Sort of Grandeur). Extending from the author's 1940 arrival in America to his death in Switzerland in 1977, the letters are written mainly to publishers, literary friends and editors. They reveal Nabokov's sure sense of himself as a major literary figure (a reminder to publisher M. Girodias: ``I wrote LOLITA.''), provide glimpses of his politics (``I never have attended, nor ever will attend, any function to which Soviet agents are invited.''), his teaching career at Wellesley and Cornell, and his lepidopteran pursuits. Of particular interest is the anguished attention required to find publishers for Lolita ; he called the complex legalities surrounding that book ``lolitigating.'' Letters to New Yorker editor Katherine White evince a warm mutual regard; Nabokov's exasperated affection for Edmund Wilson is another theme. Revealing his spleenic side, his good humor and above all his wit (he said titling a translation of Gogol ' s Dead Souls as Home Life was ``like calling a version of ` Fleurs du Mal'--`The Daisychain.' ''), this collection presents an intimate, invaluable view of the writer writing.- The Nabokov-Wilson Letters by Call Number: Print Shannon or Ivy PG3476 .N3 Z548 1979ISBN: 9780060122621Publication Date: 1979Nabokov's correspondence with literary critic Edmund Wilson Jr.
