A Projected Place of Past Perfection: Reading Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita through a Jungian Literary Lens
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Authors
Barrera, Sara E.
Issue Date
2023-12-07
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Academic theses , English literature , Jungian psychology , Lolita (Nabokov, Vladimir Vladimirovich)
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Abstract
Vladimir Nabokov’s controversial novel Lolita has always been known to scholars as parodying psychoanalytical concepts. Nevertheless, recent scholarship has shown how psychologically indepth and penetrating Nabokov’s novels are. As Brian Boyd, an eminent Nabokovian scholar, states in the chapter, “The Psychological Work of Fictional Play,” “Nabokov’s psychology, like his ethics and metaphysics, is another dimension of his work that I think we cannot separate from his work as literature” (109). Consequently, contemporary scholarship has analyzed Nabokov’s Lolita through many psychological angles and theories. Yet, none so far has seen Lolita through the psychological process of projection and shown how the narration of Lolita reveals the unconscious projection at work through Nabokov’s acute understanding of the psyche. Furthermore, there is a lack of Jungian literary perspective being applied to Lolita in Lolita’s literary criticism. Thus, this thesis aims at applying, well-known Jungian analyst James Hollis’ projection process, discussed in his book, The Eden Project in Search of the Magical Other, to Humbert Humbert’s relationship with Dolores, and how this prompts an individuation journey for Nabokov’s self-deceptive narrator.
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This dissertation is protected by the Copyright Laws of the United States (Public Law 94-553, revised in 1976). Consistent with fair use as defined in the Copyright Laws, brief quotations from this material are allowed with proper acknowledgement. Use of the materials for financial gain with the author's expressed written permissions is not allowed.