Article

Name: «Other worlds» in the plots of prose by V. V. Nabokov and H. G. Wells

Authors: Antoshina Elena Vasilyevna

Tomsk Economics and Law Institute, Tomsk, Russian Federation

In the section Study of literature

Abstract: V. V. Nabokov listed many novels by H. G. Wells as his favourites books. The common theme of the works by V. V. Nabokov and H. G. Wells is «other worlds». «Other worlds» is the result of a comparative reception of space, time, language and culture. For the reception of an alternative reality in place of the existing one as well as a reality branching out via unpredictable passages it is necessary to have a consciousness adapted to the idea of the world multiplicity. That is the reason why V. V. Nabokov and H. G. Wells investigate the possibilities of human perception. If an event takes place simultaneously at several variants of time and space it is impossible to express this sense unambiguously. That is why the characters of V. V. Nabokov’s novel «Ada, or Ardor: a family chronicle» are forced to speak several languages including Russian and French words into their English speech. However, even this proves to be insufficient. For this reason the heroes of Nabokov’s novel focus on their sensory perceptions that are deprived of any “content” outside the feelings of happiness.

Keywords: v. v. nabokov, h. g. wells, russian literature of the 20th century, english literature of the 20th century, plot

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