The Referential Mania of 'Signs and Symbols' Reading Nabokov's Short Story
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26754/ojs_misc/mj.199511681Abstract
Nabokov's parody has been most influential to many postmodern writers of fiction. The criticism of his work as well as his own autobiographical elucidations show an intimate dependence on a modernist assumption that there is a transcendental founding meaning in literature and existence which should be suggested by the creator and unveiled by the reader. This is apparently the impression that tautens his beautiful tale "Signs and Symbols." Nevertheless, a close reading —playing with some devices borrowed from deconstructive criticism— will emphasize the existence of intimate contradictions in the writing of that assumption. This paper also tries to illustate the exciting effects of deconstructive devices as well as my inability to accomplish such a reading.
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