‘The consonance of concepts’ bormochet [mumbles] - prorochit [prophesies] in V. Nabokov’s The Gift [Dar]

Abstract

The article sets out to reveal intertextual connections between Nabokov’s novel The Gift [Dar] and the theoretical and literary legacy of Russian futurism perceived through Heavy Lyre [Tyazhyolaya lira], a collection of verse by V. Khodasevich. To do so, the author attempts to demonstrate the implementation of the method called ‘the consonance of concepts’ in The Gift, with the example of the concepts bormochet [mumbles] — prorochit [prophesies], establish their intertextual links to Heavy Lyre, and define the constructive role of ‘the consonance of concepts’ in Nabokov’s works. The extract from the novel that proves crucial for the article’s objective describes F. Godunov-Cherdyntsev’s encounter with a blind beggar, who asks him for money. The extract reveals a reminiscence of the Futurist method of ‘the consonance of concepts’ with the example of the consonant words bos [barefoot] — bog [god], which, in turn, help to decipher the semantic implications of the bormochet — prorochit motifs. V. Cherkasov also identifies the method’s literary and critical functions: pointing to its constructive nature in Khodasevich’s Heavy Lyre, Nabokov reveals the book’s modernist origins.