Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich: creativity and a brief biography of Nabokov

The topic of this article will be a brief biography of Nabokov, a Russian and American writer, literary critic and entomologist. In the literature of the 20th century, this writer occupies a special place primarily because Nabokov wrote simultaneously in two languages ​​- Russian and English. He became a classic of both Russian and American literature, creating many works in various genres.

In addition, the writer Nabokov exists only in America. In Russia, it was published before emigration under the pseudonym V. Sirin. Despite the differences in the books of the writer, the work of Nabokov is characterized by the integrity and unity of artistic issues.

Childhood

A brief biography of Nabokov begins on April 24, 1899 in St. Petersburg. It was on this day that the future writer was born. His father was a hereditary nobleman, a prominent politician and a liberal lawyer. The writer’s mother, Elena Ivanovna, came from the kind of gold miners of the Rukavishnikovs. Vladimir Vladimirovich’s childhood passed in St. Petersburg, in the summer the family left for Batovo estate.

Shortly before the October Revolution, Nabokov graduated from the Tenishev School with honors not only in his studies, but also in sports.

Emigration

Nabokov’s short biography continues in 1918, when he and his family flee to Crimea, and then, after a year, leave Russia forever. The Nabokovs settled in Berlin. Here, Vladimir Vladimirovich entered Cambridge University and graduated in 1922.

After studying Nabokov from 1922 to 1937 he lived in Berlin, and then moved to France. However, he spent two years here and already in 1940, with his wife and son, who later became a singer of the Milan Opera, crossed the Atlantic, settled in the USA, where he spent the next 20 years. Here he was engaged in writing and taught Russian and foreign literature at Cornell University. Thus, the biography of Nabokov is rich in travels.

A summary of the dates can be supplemented by 1945, when the writer received American citizenship. In America, the writer also became famous as an entomologist. Interest in collecting butterflies was inherent in Nabokov since childhood.

Russia in the works of Nabokov

A brief biography of Nabokov tells that in 1959 the writer returned to Europe. Here he settled in Switzerland, where he remained until the end of his days.

Nabokov very quickly took a special position in the circles of the Parisian and Berlin literary diasporas. This is mainly due to the fact that Vladimir Vladimirovich’s Russia is completely different from the one depicted by I. Bunin, B. Zaitsev. I. Shmelev and A. Kuprin.

There are no recognizable cities or villages in Nabokov Russia. His characters are not typical of Russian literature, they cannot be attributed to any class. Surprisingly, in the Nabokov writings there is no reflection of the October Revolution, which turned the whole familiar life of the Russian nobility.

In the writer's works, Russia appears as an image of a lost childhood. Nabokov gives her innocence and harmonious world order. An idyllic world of happiness and bliss. There is neither destruction, nor pain, nor dirt in it. For Nabokov, the world of his homeland appears frozen in its beauty and grandeur.

Artworks in Russian

A brief biography of V.V. Nabokov is impossible without an assessment of his work. The writer himself considered the most important virtue of his works to be an impeccable language. This applies to both his Russian and foreign works. However, an impeccable letter in English required a lot of effort from Nabokov, since for a long time he wrote only in his native language. Mastering another language helped Nabokov not only in composing his works, but also in translating classical Russian literature (Lermontov, Pushkin, Tyutchev).

However, the works of Nabokov in different languages ​​are very different from each other. Thus, the following features are characteristic of his Russian-language novels: Russia is recalled by heroes as a lost paradise; opposition of an independent creative person to all attempts to take away his freedom. This is true for the following works: “Gift”, “Despair”, “Luzhin's Defense”.

Principles of creativity

More than anything, Vladimir Nabokov (a brief biography is presented above) could not stand vulgarity. With this word he called too simple content. Vulgarity is also the bourgeoisie in the form in which Flaubert still understood it. That is, this is the situation when philosophy, history or morality encroach on art. That is why Nabokov condemned Andre Malraux, Thomas Mann and Dostoevsky. And Gogol revered not for the endowment of social vices and the description of the "little man", but for his language and beautiful style.

Nabokov vulgarity - requirements in the literature of citizenship. Therefore, the revolutionary democratic criticism of Russia so hated him. This idea was most fully reflected in the novel “Gift”. Nabokov devoted one of the chapters of the work to the description of the life of Nikolai Chernyshevsky, a famous revolutionary democrat.

The writer believed that the main thing in art was aesthetic pleasure, and not any practical benefit. Nabokov also considered manifestation of vulgarity totalitarian regimes, for example, Hitler and Stalin. This protest was reflected in the novels Under the Sign of the Illegitimate Births, Invitation to the Execution, the play The Invention of Waltz, the stories The Extermination of Tyrants, The Kinglet, etc.

The hero of the Nabokovsky world is an artist, a person endowed with a creative gift. For example, Fedor Godunov-Cherdyntsev, Alexander Luzhin, Cincinnatus, etc. Such a character often finds himself in a situation where he is forced to confront the whole world, defending his right to freedom.

American literature

Transferred many of the ideas of his work in the English-language literature Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov. A brief biography of the writer includes his entire career, so we cannot but mention the works that were created abroad.

The main character of his works - language, is preserved throughout the entire work of Nabokov. A stylist and verbal balancing act - that is what Vladimir Vladimirovich was really proud of.

Nabokov’s American novels (The White Fire, The True Life of Sebastian Knight, Memory, Speak, Other Shores, Under the Sign of the Illegitimate Births, etc.) are characterized by the contrast of art as true reality and reality as gloomy sanity and kingdom vulgarity.

Lolita (Nabokov)

Biography and creativity, briefly described here, are impossible without mentioning the most scandalous and famous novel of Nabokov - "Lolita" (1955). This is the only work of the author, which he himself translated into Russian.

The plot of the Lolita story was the love story of an adult master and a twelve-year-old girl. However, the plot is just a decoration for the image of existential longing. The originality of the work lies in the mixing of proportions. In the previous creations of Nabokov, the difference between vulgarity and real talent was clearly visible. But in Lolita these two worlds mix, it is impossible to separate from each other.

The main character, Lolita, on the one hand, is embodied vulgarity. However, in the same girl sometimes appears "inexplicable, immaculate tenderness."

“Lolita”, despite its shocking, allows you to see the true art world of Nabokov. This world is intended for the same connoisseurs of aesthetics as the author himself.

Myths about Nabokov

There is an entrenched opinion that is completely unlike other Russian writers V. Nabokov. A brief biography in the table easily confirms this. However, this is not entirely true. Firstly, the continuity of the writer in relation to Russian literature, and more precisely to M. Yu. Lermontov and A. S. Pushkin, cannot be denied. Secondly, Nabokov himself always with great respect and reverence for the work of Leo Tolstoy. When Vladimir Vladimirovich lectured about this writer, he made the main emphasis on the fact that Tolstoy often found deep symbolic images.

It is also incorrect to say that Nabokov is a cold esthete, ready to accept immoralism and who is alien to warmth. On the contrary, the writer actively opposes despotism and violence in all its manifestations. Ultimately, Nabokov’s position is highly moral.

Hell

This is the last novel written by Nabokov. This work is very different from everything the writer has created hitherto. In addition, “Hell” is considered to be a postmodern novel, since the work is built on the main technique of this direction - the intertext.

It is also important that Nabokov mixed various genres and stylistic traditions in his creation. With the post-modern work “Adu”, the presence of a bright parody and game principle also combines. It is no coincidence that Nabokov used various linguistic styles, ranging from the high syllable to almost street slang - all in order to enhance the effect on the reader and emphasize the unusual character of his work.

The biography of Nabokov came to an end. Briefly about the main thing was said above, but it remains to mention the death of the writer. V.V. Nabokov died on July 3, 1977 in Switzerland.