THE SEMANTICS OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE METAPHOR OF LITERARY ART IN “INVITATION TO A BEHEADING” BY VLADIMIR NABOKOV

Abstract

The article deals with the debatable issue of the interpretation of the novel “Invitation to a Beheading” by Vladimir Nabokov. The main attention is paid to the semantics of the metaphor of literary art as one of the main subtexts of the novel. On the basis of the comparison of the novel text and other literary works by V. Nabokov the associative series: square - zigzag - chess knight and circle - spiral - butterfly, reflecting the Nabokov’s concept of art and artist’s personality are revealed. Within one of the main versions of the novel’s content, a new interpretation of the key episodes and scenes is suggested.

Keywords

• metaphor of creation
• square
• circle
• spiral
• chess knight
• butterfly