Vladimir Nabokov: creativity and brief biography of Nabokov

The subject of this article will be a brief biography.Nabokov, 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.

Кроме того, писатель Набоков существует только в America In Russia, it was published before emigration under the pseudonym of V. Sirin. Despite the differences in the writer's books, the work of Nabokov is characterized by the integrity and unity of artistic issues.

Childhood

Brief biography of Nabokov begins April 241899 in St. Petersburg. It was on this day that the future writer was born. His father was a hereditary nobleman, a prominent political figure and a liberal lawyer. The writer's mother, Elena Ivanovna, was descended from the kind of gold-minded Rukavishnikovs. Vladimir Vladimirovich's childhood passed in St. Petersburg, in the summer the family left for the Batovo estate.

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

Emigration

Краткая биография Набокова продолжается в 1918 year, when he and his family flee to the Crimea, and then, a year later, he leaves Russia forever. Nabokov settled in Berlin. Here Vladimir Vladimirovich entered the University of Cambridge and graduated in 1922.

After studying Nabokov from 1922 to 1937 he lived inBerlin, and then moved to France. However, he spent here two years and already in 1940, together 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 a writer and taught Russian and foreign literature at Cornell University. Thus, the biography of Nabokov is rich in travels.

Summary of dates can be supplemented 1945the year when the writer received American citizenship. In America, the writer is also famous as an entomologist. The interest in collecting butterflies was inherent in Nabokov since childhood.

Russia in the works of Nabokov

A short biography of Nabokov tells us 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 inParis and Berlin literary diaspora circles. This is mainly due to the fact that Vladimir Vladimirovich’s Russia is completely different from the one depicted by I. Bunin and B. Zaitsev. I. Shmelev and A. Kuprin.

In Russia, Nabokov no recognizable cities orvillages. His characters are not typical for Russian literature, they can not be attributed to any class. What is surprising, but not in the works of Nabokov and the display of the October Revolution, which turned all the usual life of the Russian nobility.

In the works of the writer Russia appears asimage of lost childhood. Nabokov gives it innocence and harmonious world order. The idyllic world of happiness and bliss. There is no destruction, no pain, no dirt in it. For Nabokov, the world of his homeland appears frozen in its beauty and grandeur.

Works in Russian

Short biography of V. Nabokovimpossible without an assessment of his work. The writer himself considered the impeccable language to be the main advantage of his works. This applies to both his Russian and foreign creativity. However, an impeccable letter in English required a lot of effort from Nabokov, as he had been writing only in his native language for a long time. 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 languagesvery different from each other. So, for his Russian-language novels are characterized by the following features: Russia is remembered by heroes as a lost paradise; opposition of an independent creative person to any attempts to take away his freedom. This is true for the following works: "The Gift", "Despair", "The Protection of Luzhin."

Principles of creativity

More than anything, Vladimir Nabokov (biographythe brief is presented above) could not tolerate vulgarity. This word he called too simple content. Vulgarity is also the bourgeoisie in the form in which Flaubert understood it. That is, this is the situation when philosophy, history or morality encroaches on art. That is why Nabokov condemned Andre Malraux, Thomas Mann and Dostoevsky. And Gogol honored not for the endowment of social evils and the description of the “little man”, but for his language and excellent style.

Vulgarity by Nabokov - requirements in the literaturecitizenship. Therefore, he was so disgusted by the revolutionary-democratic criticism of Russia. This idea is most fully reflected in the novel "The Gift." Nabokov devoted one of the chapters of the work to describing the life of Nikolai Chernyshevsky, the famous revolutionary democrat.

The writer believed that the main thing in art -aesthetic pleasure, and not any practical use. Nabokov considered totalitarian regimes, such as Hitler and Stalin, to be a manifestation of vulgarity. This protest was reflected in the novels “Under the Sign of the Illegitimate,” “Invitation to the Execution,” the play “The Invention of the Waltz,” the stories “The Extermination of Tyrants,” “The King”, etc.

The hero of Nabokov's world is an artist, a manendowed with a creative gift. For example, Fyodor Godunov-Cherdyntsev, Alexander Luzhin, Cincinnatus, and others. Such a character often finds himself in a situation when he is forced to confront the whole world, defending his right to freedom.

American literature

Перенес многие идеи своего творчества и в English literature Nabokov Vladimir Vladimirovich. A brief biography of the writer includes his entire creative path, so we can not fail to mention those works that were created abroad.

The main character of his works, the language, is preserved throughout Nabokov’s work. A stylist and verbal balancing act - this is what Vladimir Vladimirovich was truly proud of.

Для американских романов Набокова («Белый огонь», “The true life of Sebastian Knight”, “Memory, speak”, “Other shores”, “Marked by illegitimate”, etc.) is characterized by contrasting art as true reality and reality as gloomy sanity and the kingdom of vulgarity.

"Lolita" (Nabokov)

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

The story of love has become the basis of the Lolita plot.adult mister and twelve year old girl. However, the plot - just a decoration for the image of existential angst. The originality of the work lies in the mixing of proportions. In the former creations of Nabokov, the difference between vulgarity and real talent was clearly visible. And in the "Lolita" these two worlds are mixed, impossible to separate from each other.

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

"Lolita", despite its shocking, allows you to see the true artistic world of Nabokov. This world is designed for the same connoisseurs of aesthetics, as the author himself.

Myths about Nabokov

Существует укоренившееся мнение о том, что it is completely different from other Russian writers Nabokov V. A brief biography in the table easily confirms this. However, this is not entirely true. First, it is impossible to deny the continuity of the writer in relation to Russian literature, and more specifically to M. Yu. Lermontov and A. S. Pushkin. Secondly, Nabokov himself always treated Leo Tolstoy with great respect and piety. When Vladimir Vladimirovich lectured about this writer, he placed the main emphasis on the fact that Tolstoy often had deep symbolic images.

Also wrong is the proposition that Nabokovis a cold esthete, ready to accept amoralism and to whom warmth is alien. On the contrary, the writer actively opposes despotism and violence in all its manifestations. Ultimately, Nabokov’s position turns out to be highly moral.

"Ada"

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

It is also important that Nabokov mixed inhis work various genres and stylistic traditions. With the postmodern work "Adu" unites and the presence of a bright parody and game began. It is not by chance that Nabokov used various language styles, ranging from high syllable to almost street slang, all in order to increase the effect on the reader, to emphasize the unusual nature of his work.

The end of Nabokov’s biography. Briefly about the main point was said above, however, it remains to mention the death of the writer. V. Nabokov died on July 3, 1977 in Switzerland.