Authors
- Gromov Alexey V.
- Smirnova Alfia Islamovna D. Sc. (Philology), professor
Annotation
The article examines the specificity of the laughter element in such novels by V. V. Nabokov as «Despair», «King, Queen, Knave» and «Laughter in the Dark». The distinctive and common features of «divine» and black humor are described, reflecting the orientation toward creating an absurdist picture of the world. The forms of expression
of both types of humor are analyzed. «Divine humor» is characteristic of the Author-creator, who is an impersonal mask of V. V. Nabokov and controls the puppet heroes, who, in turn, are characterized by black humor, expressed both through cynical laughter and through irony and mockery of some heroes over others. It is argued that Homeric laughter in the early prose of V. V. Nabokov performs the following functions: a world-modeling, evaluative and aesthetic. Black humor performs only the last two functions, actualizing the absurdist picture of the world and evoking mixed emotions in the reader by debunking morality. It is concluded that Homeric laughter is the key to u derstanding the artistic reality of novels, since it marks the presence of the Author-creator, which reveals the puppetry of the figurative system and facilitates the perception of the text through the prism of a theatrical performance.
How to link insert
Gromov, A. V. & Smirnova, A. I. (2025). HOMERIC LAUGHTER AND BLACK HUMOR IN V. V. NABOKOV’S RUSSIAN NOVELS Bulletin of the Moscow City Pedagogical University. Series "Pedagogy and Psychology", 2 (58), 35. https://doi.org/10.24412/2076-913X-2025-258-35-48
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