“This Is Why I Like Writing my Stories and Novels on Index Cards…”: Systematization as V. Nabokov’s Life-Creating Project

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of the peculiarities of V. Nabokov’s creative thinking, to the search for the reasons for the formation of (meta)poetics of collecting and systematizing literary material in his works. In the 1930s, when the society of the Russian diaspora prevailed nostalgic attitude to Russia, and it became clear that previous strategies of self-legitimation in the literary field were losing their relevance, the feeling of fear was strengthened not only for one’s own life due to current social events, but also for the future of Russian culture. At that time, Nabokov changed a type of writing – he began to create works on cards. The practice of creating texts on cards was intensified in the literature of the 20th century and was found in the works of other writers, such as F. Sologub and L. Rubinstein. However, for Nabokov, “card writing” was not just textological practice, but became an integral part of his life-creating strategy as a systematizer and “cataloger”. This is evidenced by his returns to the writing on cards in his interviews, autobiographies, and fiction. Also, the author changed the technique of text construction, he processed documentary materials. Nabokov did not just communicate with his predecessors but collected his philological observations and systematized them in his own works. In our opinion, all new strategies began to be used by the writer because of the change of epistems and the peculiarities of the Nabokov’s worldview as a lepidopterologist.

Keywords

• nabokov
• émigré russian literature
• literary reputation
• systematization of literary material