THE SELF-CONSCIOUS NARRATOR IN DONALD BARTHELME 

AND VLADIMIR NABOKOV 

by 

DONALD HUTTON STANLEY 

B.A., Honours, University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1969 

M.A., State University of New York at Binghamton, 1972 

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF 

THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF 

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY 

i n 

THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES 

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH 

We accept t h i s thesis as conforming 
to the required standard 

THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA 

October, 1978 

(c) Donald Hutton Stanley, 1978 



In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t of the 
requirements f o r an advanced degree a t the U n i v e r s i t y 
of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree t h a t the L i b r a r y s h a l l 
make i t . f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e and study. I 
f u r t h e r agree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e copying 
of t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y purposes may be granted 
by the Head of my department or h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e . 
I t i s understood t h a t copying or p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s 
t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l not be allowed without 
my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . 

(Donald Hutton Stanley) 



ABSTRACT 

The l i t e r a r y d e v i c e of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s p r e v a l e n t 

i n the works of Donald Barthelme and V l a d i m i r Nabokov. However, 

the themes and world view of the works are not predetermined by 

any q u a l i t i e s i n h e r e n t i n the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . D e s p i t e 

a c u r r e n t c r i t i c a l tendency to suppose t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s 

n e c e s s a r i l y i m p l i e s a p r o b l e m a t i c or s o l i p s i s t i c stance towards 

both r e a l i t y and t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m , the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

remains a m a l l e a b l e d e v i c e which can be used i n c o n j u n c t i o n with 

t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m , and which can be shaped a c c o r d i n g to the 

unique purposes of a p a r t i c u l a r author. 

A tendency among c e r t a i n contemporary t h e o r i s t s -- Robert 

A l t e r , Susan Sontag, Maurice Beebe and o t h e r s — would make 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s , r a t h e r than r e a l i s m , c e n t r a l to the t r a d i t i o n 

of the n o v e l . T h i s tendency r e p r e s e n t s a phase i n the h i s t o r i c a l 

p a t t e r n by which the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r goes i n and out of 

f a s h i o n . In the e i g h t e e n t h century E n g l i s h novel he appeared to 

be a s p r i g h t l y v a r i a n t of the formal r e a l i s m of Defoe and R i c h a r d -

son, i n t h a t he i n t e r r u p t e d the n a r r a t i v e to comment on n a r r a t i v e 

technique, and to emphasize the a r t i f i c i a l or c o n t r i v e d aspect 

of what were otherwise presented as r e a l events. D e s p i t e an 

e a r l y f r u i t i o n i n Sterne, the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ' s p o p u l a r i t y 

d e c l i n e d , and c r i t i c s came to regard him as an a b e r r a t i o n , and 

an impediment to the novel's " i m p l i c i t methods." He r e v i v e d 

i n the modern e r a , and a t present s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i t s e l f i s 

assumed by some c r i t i c s to be "at the h e a r t of the modernist 



consciousness i n a l l the a r t s . " T h i s somewhat exaggerated s t a t u s 

of l i t e r a r y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s leads to a corresponding condes-

c e n s i o n towards t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m , a condescension which i s 

r e v e a l e d i n the c r i t i c a l response to Nabokov's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r . 

Some of the c r i t i c i s m of Nabokov i s v i t i a t e d by the s i m p l i s t i c 

assumption t h a t Nabokov, the wizard of m i r r o r s and word games, 

has banished from h i s novels a l l t r a c e s of the r e a l world. In 

f a c t , however, Nabokov's n a r r a t o r s c o n t r i b u t e to a unique world 

view i n which there i s an i m p l i e d i d e n t i t y between the f i c t i o n a l 

world of a r t and the r u l e s of the u n i v e r s e . The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r emphasizes the a r t i f i c e of the n a r r a t i v e , but a t the 

same time he p e r s o n i f i e s , as i t were, c e r t a i n n a r r a t i v e conven-

t i o n s , and adds what C h a r l e s Kinbote c a l l s a "human r e a l i t y . " 

His ongoing d i a l o g u e with the reader helps the reader to r e c o g n i z e 

the f a l s e a r t i f i c e of t o t a l i t a r i a n s t a t e s and t o t a l i t a r i a n a r t , 

and teaches the reader to regard f i c t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r s w i t h a 

sympathetic eye. In the words of A l b e r t Guerard, "Within Nabokov's 

i n v o l u t i o n s , behind h i s many screens, l i e r e a l people." 

Donald Barthelme's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s might a t f i r s t 

appear to be r a t h e r t y p i c a l spokesmen f o r c e r t a i n c l i c h e s of avant 

garde theory: o n t o l o g i c a l chaos, the breakdown of language and 

meaning, e x i s t e n t i a l dread. But the n a r r a t o r s are a l s o s a t i r i s t s 

of avant garde theory, p a r t i c u l a r l y the theory t h a t the l i t e r a r y 

past has been d i s c r e d i t e d and language no longer communicates. 

Rather than i n t i m i d a t i n g the reader, the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

sometimes a c t s as h i s a l l y , i n v i t i n g the reader to check the f i c t i o n 

a g a i n s t c o n d i t i o n s i n the reader's own world ("Look f o r y o u r s e l f , " 



i v 

says one n a r r a t o r ) . S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s shown to be p a r t of 

a malaise i n s o c i e t y i t s e l f , a malaise t h a t i s o c c a s i o n e d not 

so much by e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l breakdown as by moral f a i l u r e . S e l f -

consciousness i s a symptom of a s o c i e t y t h a t i s a t h e a r t e v i l 

and murderous. 

Barthelme and Nabokov employ t h e i r s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s 

to d i f f e r e n t ends: Nabokov's g i f t e d s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

c o n t r i b u t e s to Nabokov's serene sense of an i d e n t i t y between 

a r t and r e a l i t y ; Barthelme d i s c o v e r s a moral f a i l u r e a t the 

heart of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s o c i e t y . The works and world views 

of each author are made p o s s i b l e by a unique t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of 

a t r a d i t i o n a l n a r r a t i v e convention. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 1 

CHAPTER I 
THE PEDIGREE OF THE SELF-CONSCIOUS NARRATOR 20 

I n t r o d u c t i o n I 20 
N a r r a t i v e S e l f - C o n s c i o u s n e s s Defined ' 22 
The S e l f - c o n s c i o u s 'Narrator I l l u s t r a t e d 24 
The S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r i n the E i g h t e e n t h Century 34 
The D e c l i n e of the S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r 39 
The Inhuman N a r r a t o r 46 
S o c i a l Realism 55 
The Breakdown of S o c i a l Realism 61 
The Return of the S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r 65 

CHAPTER I I 
THE "GIFT" OF THE SELF-CONSCIOUS NARRATOR: 

THE FICTION OF VLADIMIR NABOKOV 7 5 

I n t r o d u c t i o n 75 
Nabokov's P r i v a t e L i f e 80 
The I n t r u s i v e N a r r a t o r 90 
The S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r as A r t i s t 98 
The M u l t i p l e S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r 109 
The P e r s u a s i v e S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r 123 
The Metaphysics of S e l f - C o n s c i o u s n e s s 132 

CHAPTER I I I 
THE MURDEROUS SELF-CONSCIOUS NARRATOR: 

THE FICTION OF DONALD BARTHELME 139 

I n t r o d u c t i o n 139 
The Urban N e u r o t i c 143 
The Philosophy of Chaos 148 
Language Problems: The L i s t 154 
Language Problems: M a l f u n c t i o n 161 
Language Problems: The Loss of Emotion 167 
S e l f - C o n s c i o u s L i t e r a t u r e 172 
The Other Side of the Avant Garde 185 
The N a r r a t o r as Plain-Speaker 191 
The O r i g i n a l , A u t h e n t i c S e l f as a D i r t y 

Great V i l l a i n 204 
C o n c l u s i o n 215 

CONCLUSION 217 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 221 

v 



ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 

I wish to acknowledge the a s s i s t a n c e of my d i s s e r t a t i o n 

committee, J e r r y Wasserman ( s u p e r v i s o r ) , Roger Seamon and Graham 

Good. 

v i 



INTRODUCTION 

My s u b j e c t i s the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i n the f i c t i o n of 

V l a d i m i r Nabokov- and Donald Barthelme. N e i t h e r of these w r i t e r s 

has e s t a b l i s h e d a monopoly on the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , whose 

presence i n contemporary American l i t e r a t u r e has become p e r v a s i v e . 

His u b i q u i t y i s a symptom of a change i n the t r a d i t i o n of the n o v e l , 

a change characterized by the d i m i n i s h i n g c r i t i c a l s t a t u s of r e a l i s m . 

The long t r a d i t i o n t h a t r e a l i s m i s c e n t r a l to the novel 

has been r e v i s e d ; as i s usual with r e v i s i o n i s t t h e o r i e s , t h e r e i s 

an element of d i s t o r t i o n . Contemporary t h e o r i s t s tend to argue 

t h a t the presence of d e l i b e r a t e a r t i f i c e and n a r r a t i v e s e l f -

consciousness w i t h i n a work i m p l i e s a r e j e c t i o n of t r a d i t i o n a l 

r e a l i s m , and, perhaps, a s o l i p s i s t i c stance towards both language 

and meaning. Joyce C a r o l Oates, w r i t i n g i n r e a c t i o n to the new 

t h e o r i e s , asks, q u e r u l o u s l y , "Why i s i t t h a t our c l e v e r e s t w r i t e r s , 

pushed forward by e d i t o r s , c r i t i c s and f e l l o w - w r i t e r s a l i k e , have 

f o l l o w e d so e a g e r l y the s o l i p s i s t i c examples of Nabokov, Beckett 

and, more r e c e n t l y and most p o w e r f u l l y , Borges?""^ 

Oates o v e r - g e n e r a l i z e s , but her f r e t f u l q u e s t i o n i s germane; 

w i t h r e f e r e n c e to our p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t , the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r , i t i s c l e a r t h a t some c r i t i c s c o n s i d e r him the bearer 

of o v e r t l y a r t i f i c i a l and c o n t r i v e d f i c t i o n , f i c t i o n which, to 

(1) Joyce Carol Oates, "Whose Side Are You On?/The Guest Word," 
New York Times Book Review, 4 June 1972, p. 63. 



2 

evoke Page Stegner on Nabokov, escapes i n t o a e s t h e t i c s . Contem-

porary c r i t i c s , p a r t i c u l a r l y c r i t i c s w i t h a l l e g i a n c e s to the avant 

garde, tend to smuggle t h e i r preconceptions a c r o s s the border 

of a g i v e n work by means of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ; but 

the n a r r a t o r , l i k e the c r i t i c , i s j u s t a t o u r i s t w i t h i n the abso-

l u t e d i c t a t o r s h i p of the author. Hence the t h e s i s of the p r e s e n t 

work: The p h i l o s o p h i c and a e s t h e t i c e f f e c t of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r i n a g i v e n work by Barthelme or Nabokov i s determined 

by the author, and not by any i n h e r e n t and i n e s c a p a b l e q u a l i t y 

of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d e v i c e i t s e l f . Barthelme and Nabokov bend 

the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i n the d i r e c t i o n of t h e i r own unique 

aims and o b s e s s i o n s . They e x e r c i s e complete c o n t r o l over t h e i r 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d e v i c e s , i n c l u d i n g the e f f e c t of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r on r e a l i s m ; they do not f o n d l y suppose t h a t i f the 

n a r r a t o r ' s i m a g i n a t i o n i s s t r o n g , the h o l d on r e a l i t y must be 

weak. 

Since i t might seem s e l f - e v i d e n t to argue t h a t authors 

are masters of the a v a i l a b l e techniques, l e t me d e s c r i b e i n some-

what more d e t a i l c e r t a i n contemporary a t t i t u d e s towards s e l f -

conscious f i c t i o n . I t should be remembered t h a t when the novel 

had the a u t h e n t i c i t y of h i s t o r y or biography, the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r was thought to be an e x c e s s i v e l y p e r s o n a l and even amat-

e u r i s h i n t r u s i o n i n t o the novel's c a r e f u l v e r i s i m i l i t u d e ; to quote 
2 

Henry James, the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r seemed " i n a r t i s t i c . " 

(2) Henry James, "Anthony Trollope," in The Future of the Novel, 
ed. Leon Edel (New York: Random House, 1956), p. 248. 



3 

But i n contemporary theory the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s o f t e n 

taken to be the a r t i s t i c s a l v a t i o n of what would otherwise be 

h o p e l e s s l y p e d e s t r i a n r e a l i s m . 

For example, Maurice Beebe remarks t h a t many c r i t i c s have 

been w r i t i n g "about the r e f l e x i v e and s o l i p s i s t i c q u a l i t y of 

Modernist l i t e r a t u r e , the way i n which i t t u r n s inward and con-
3 

s i d e r s i t s e l f . " From the I m p r e s s i o n i s t s on, "most of our s i g -

n i f i c a n t a r t i s t s have i m p l i e d t h a t t h e i r v i s i o n of t h i n g s i s 

more important than the t h i n g s themselves" (p. 14), and, adds 

Beebe, i n a trendy t r u i s m , the " c r e a t i o n of a r t i s almost always 

a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a c t " (p. 15). Beebe i s c a r e f u l not to take a 

s i d e , and h i s argument i s f u l l of c a r e f u l q u a l i f i c a t i o n s ; neverthe-

l e s s there i s a d i s c e r n i b l e tendency to t h i n k of the novel as 

e s s e n t i a l l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s . The same c o u l d be s a i d f o r Robert 

A l t e r ' s book, as one might gather from the s u b t i t l e : P a r t i a l  

Magic: The Novel as a S e l f - C o n s c i o u s Genre. 

A l t e r says he i s b a l a n c i n g a c r i t i c a l b i a s f o r r e a l i s m : 
E s p e c i a l l y w i t h i n the sphere -of E n g l i s h c r i -
t i c i s m of the n o v e l , there has been a r e c u r -
r e n t e x p e c t a t i o n t h a t " s e r i o u s " f i c t i o n 
be an i n t e n t , v e r i s i m i l a r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n 
of moral s i t u a t i o n s i n t h e i r s o c i a l con-
t e x t s ; and, w i t h ; few e x c e p t i o n s , t h e r e has 
been a lamentable l a c k of c r i t i c a l a p p r e c i -
a t i o n f o r the k i n d of novel t h a t expresses 
i t s s e r i o u s n e s s through p l a y f u l n e s s , t h a t i s 
a c u t e l y aware of i t s e l f as a mere s t r u c t u r e 
of words even as i t t r i e s to d i s c o v e r ways of 
going beyond words to the experiences words 
seek to indicate.,. 

(3) Maurice Beebe,"Refleeti ve- and Reflexive Trends in Modern L i t e r a t u r e , " 
in Twentieth-Century Poetry, F i c t i o n , Theory, ed. Harry R. Garvin (Lewisburg, 
Penn.: Bucknell Univ. Press, 1977), p. 13. 

(4) Robert Alter, P a r t i a l Magic (Berkeley: Univ. of C a l i f . Press, 1975), 
p. ix. 



4 

The t r a d i t i o n of the novel i s informed by a " c r i t i c a l - p h i l o s o p h i c a l 

awareness" i n which ontology i s " e s s e n t i a l l y p r o b l e m a t i c , " 

and the novel i s " l e s s c l o s e l y l i n k e d w i t h the s o l i d assurances 

and m a t e r i a l views of bourgeois s o c i e t y than some observers 

have imagined" (pp. x, x v ) . Those same p u r b l i n d observers have 

missed the importance to the novel of " r e s t l e s s s e l f - q u e s t i o n i n g " 

(p. x v ) . 

However, A l t e r stops s h o r t of p r o c l a i m i n g t h a t the novel 

i s e s s e n t i a l l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , or t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s c h a r a c t -

e r i z e s what he f a c e t i o u s l y terms "The Other Great T r a d i t i o n " 

(p. i x ) . Other c r i t i c s have been l e s s circumspect; c o n s i d e r , 

f o r example, John D i t s k y ' s a n a l y s i s of the W i l l i a m Gass n o v e l , 

W i l l i e Masters' Lonesome Wife. D i t s k y says the novel's patron 

s a i n t i s Laurence Sterne, 

a reminder t h a t the t r a d i t i o n a l n o v e l has had 
a v a i l a b l e f o r c e n t u r i e s the model i t has now 
chosen to f o l l o w up, and a f i g u r e whose e x i s -
tence makes p o s s i b l e the d i s t u r b i n g suggestion 
t h a t the n o v e l form has been s i d e t r a c k e d s i n c e 
long b e f o r e Austen. 

D i t s k y here a r t i c u l a t e s a concept dear to some contemporary 

c r i t i c s , t h a t Sterne's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s more c e n t r a l than 

Austen's r e a l i s m , t h a t the novel as a genre has u n t i l r e c e n t l y 

been " s i d e t r a c k e d . " When c r i t i c s begin to d i s t i n g u i s h h i g h roads 

as opposed to s i d e t r a c k s , and p l a y the p a r l o r game of Great T r a d i t -

ions i n which o n l y approved works q u a l i f y , the unique v a l u e s of a 

p a r t i c u l a r work tend to be s l i g h t e d . I t i s the s i g n of a s h i f t 

(5) John Ditsky, "The Man on the Quaker Oats Box: Characteristics 
of Recent Experimental Fiction," Georgia Review, 26 (1972), 305. 



5 

i n f a s h i o n , a new f a d , when c r i t i c s c o n t i n u o u s l y b r i n g Sterne 

on stage. We r e c o g n i z e h i s mischievous i n f l u e n c e i n D i t s k y ' s 

d e s c r i p t i o n of the "conscious presence of the c r e a t i v e i n t e l l i -

gence as a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a n t i n the reader's v i c a r i o u s experience 

of the f i c t i o n a l work's substance," and i n D i t s k y ' s b r e a t h l e s s 

announcement t h a t "the a r t i s t - a u d i e n c e - w o r k r e l a t i o n s h i p becomes 

one of a c t i v e and r a d i c a l c o n s p i r a c y — one not to be confused 

w i t h the p a t r o n i z i n g h o m i l y - s e s s i o n s of an e a r l i e r day" (p. 306). 

D i t s k y ' s own p a t r o n i z i n g d i s d a i n f o r the homily s e s s i o n s of an 

e a r l i e r day i s p a r t of a c r i t i c a l s t r a t e g y t h a t c a l l s f o r a 

" r a d i c a l " break w i t h the t r a d i t i o n a l n o v e l . Today's brash 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r must be d i s a s s o c i a t e d from h i s sedate 

n i n e t e e n t h century a n c e s t o r s . T h e o r i e s of a r a d i c a l break w i t h 

convention emphasize the n a r r a t o r ' s c r e a t i v e ( s o l i p s i s t i c ) 

i m a g i n a t i o n to the detriment of t r a d i t i o n a l mimesis. The f i r s t 

c a s u a l t i e s of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s f i c t i o n are t h i n g s as they are — 

a mercy k i l l i n g , a c c o r d i n g to some c r i t i c s . 

C h a r l e s R u s s e l l , f o r example, maintains t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

l i t e r a t u r e denies r e a l i t y , or evades r e a l i t y , or gets by without 

r e a l i t y , on the ground t h a t language i s i n c a p a b l e of e x p r e s s i n g 

anything about the r e a l world. Value and meaning are dead i s s u e s , 

says R u s s e l l , who assumes t h a t the authors he analyzes share h i s 

negations. He says c h e e r f u l l y t h a t , "as Saussure has shown, a l l 
g 

l i n g u i s t i c systems are fundamentally a r b i t r a r y . " "Language ... 

can never be more than a tenuous i m p o s i t i o n on a meaningless world. 

(6) Charles Russell, "The Vault of Language: S e l f - R e f l e x i v e A r t i f i c e 
in Contemporary American Fiction," Modern F i c t i o n Studies, 20 (1974), 351. 



6 

U l t i m a t e l y , meaning can r e f e r o n l y to i t s own l i n g u i s t i c system. 

I t has o n l y a s e l f - r e f e r e n t i a l s i g n i f i c a n c e . " T h e r e f o r e , " S e l f -

r e f l e c t i v e a r t r e v e a l s t h i s e x i s t e n c e centered upon i t s e l f " (p. 

351). R u s s e l l ' s c l o s e d c i r c l e surrounds the l i n e s of W i l l i a m H. 

Gass: 

On the other s i d e of a novel l i e s the v o i d . 
Think f o r i n s t a n c e , of a s t r i d i n g s t a t u e ; 
imagine the p u r p o s e f u l i n c l i n a t i o n of the 
t o r s o , the a l e r t and p e n e t r a t i n g gaze of the 
head and i t s eyes, the o u t s t r e t c h e d arm and 
p o i n t i n g f i n g e r ; e v e r y t h i n g would appear 
to d i r e c t us toward some g o a l i n f r o n t of 
i t . Yet our eye t r a v e l s o n l y to the f i n g e r ' s 
end, and not beyond. Though p o i n t i n g , the 
f i n g e r b i d s us stay i n s t e a d , and we journey 
s l o w l y back along the t e n s i o n of the arm. 
In our h e a r t s we know what a c t u a l l y surrounds 
the s t a t u e . The same surrounds every other 
work of a r t : empty space and s i l e n c e . ^ 

But, as we w i l l argue l a t e r , Donald Barthelme's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

f i c t i o n i s not s e l f - c o n t a i n e d ; h i s e x q u i s i t e l y - c a r v e d s t a t u e s 

p o i n t a f i n g e r d i r e c t l y a t the reader's world. When R u s s e l l 

c l a i m s t h a t V l a d i m i r Nabokov's novels are " t o t a l l y s e l f - a b s o r b e d , 

s e l f - r e f e r e n t i a l l i n g u i s t i c games c l a i m i n g no entrance i n t o , no 

involvement with, the phenomenal world" (p. 358), he i s t a k i n g 

no account of Nabokov's p a s s i o n f o r s c i e n t i f i c accuracy and f i d -

e l i t y to the n a t u r a l world. R u s s e l l i s f o r c e d to ignore such 

Nabokov s t o r i e s as "An A f f a i r of Honour," i n which the n a r r a t o r 

s a d l y d e f l a t e s the daydreams of the l e a d i n g c h a r a c t e r on the 
8 

ground' t h a t , "Such t h i n g s don't happen i n r e a l l i f e . " 

(7) William H. Gass, Fiction and the Figures of L i f e (New York: Random 

House, Vintage Books, 1972), as quoted i n Russell, p. 351. 

(8) Vladimir Nabokov, "An Affair of Honour," i n A Russian Beauty and 

Other Stories, trans. Dmitri Nabokov, Vladimir Nabokov and Simon Karlinsky 

(New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973), p . 115. 



7 

But to continue with R u s s e l l ' s argument. He i n s i s t s t h a t 

John Barth "comprehends t h a t a l l f i c t i o n s are u l t i m a t e l y about 

themselves, about the c r e a t i o n of the world by the word" (p. 358). 

Barth's i r o n y : i negates any demand of the contemporary a r t i s t t o 

c r e a t e a r a d i c a l l y new v i s i o n ..." (p. 359); i n f a c t , Barth and 

other contemporary w r i t e r s , i n the attempt to reach toward "the 

l a t e n t e x i s t e n c e of the world around us ... always r e t u r n t o the 

meaning of t h a t r e a c h i n g . I f we see, or c r e a t e , meaning, i t i s 

r e c o g n i z e d as one more a r t i f i c e " (p. 359). Anything t h a t resem-

b l e s meaning or t r u t h i s j u s t another i l l u s o r y l a y e r of a r t i f i c e , 

and t h i s s t a t e of a f f a i r s holds t r u e f o r most contemporary 

f i c t i o n , s i n c e R u s s e l l assures us t h a t "both the two main d i r -

e c t i o n s to contemporary l i t e r a t u r e " r e v e a l "the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y 

e x p l o r a t i v e nature of our a r t " (p. 352). 

The s h o r t term f o r such t h e o r i z i n g would seem to be s o l i p -

sism, although R u s s e l l 1 s sometimes opaque argument i s never q u i t e 

t h a t b l u n t . One i s t h a n k f u l , t h e r e f o r e , f o r the s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d 

candor.of A r l e n Hansen's t i t l e , "The C e l e b r a t i o n of S o l i p s i s m : A 

New Trend i n American F i c t i o n . " A f t e r d i s c o v e r i n g s o l i p s i s m i n 

Barth, Barthelme, Gass and o t h e r s , Hansen concludes t h a t contem-

porary w r i t e r s : 

began i n r e a c t i o n to the d e t e r m i n i s t s ' d e n i a l 
of the power or s i g n i f i c a n c e of man's c r e a t i v e 
i m a g i n a t i o n . In the end, some may t r y to 
deny the adjustmental aspect of experience, 
and thus t h e i r v i s i o n may become too h i g h l y 
s u b j e c t i v e and d e l u s o r y . But the moments 
of d e l u s i o n and p r e c i o u s n e s s might prove i n 
the f i n a l a n a l y s i s a small p r i c e to pay f o r 
a renewed a t t e n t i o n t o , and r e s p e c t f o r , man's 
i m a g i n a t i o n . Q 

(9) Arlen J. Hansen, "The Celebration of Solipsism," Modern F i c t i o n  
Studies, 19 (1973), 15. 



8 

Although Hansen i s more temperate than R u s s e l l , h i s c o n c l u s i o n 

r e s t s on the same assumption t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l i t e r a t u r e 

downplays the "adjustmental aspect of experience" (by which 

Hansen presumably means such hard f a c t s as s t i c k s and stones, 

f i r i n g squads and g r a v i t y ) . The c o r o l l a r y of h i s argument i s 

t h a t c o n v e n t i o n a l r e a l i s t i c novels f a i l to g i v e a t t e n t i o n t o , 

or l a c k r e s p e c t f o r , "man's i m a g i n a t i o n . " T h i s does a d i s s e r v i c e 

to the numerous contemporary w r i t e r s who employ n a r r a t i v e s t y l e s 

innocent of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s i n n o v a t i o n . Is i t f a i r to say t h a t 

A l i c e Munro, Mordecai R i c h l e r , L a r r y McMurtry, Saul Bellow and 

P h i l i p Roth l a c k r e s p e c t f o r man's imagination? When Graham 

Greene says, "What I would l i k e i s to achieve an u n n o t i c e a b l e 

s t y l e , " he r e p r e s e n t s a host of w r i t e r s who c r e a t e f i c t i o n t h a t 

r e s p e c t s the i m a g i n a t i o n without making use of the e x h i b i t i o n i s t i c 

and o v e r t l y s t y l i s h s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . 

Furthermore, the i m p l i c i t or e x p l i c i t p r e j u d i c e a g a i n s t 

c o n v e n t i o n a l r e a l i s t i c f i c t i o n i n the t h e o r i e s of R u s s e l l , Hansen' 

and o t h e r s r e s u l t s i n a p r e j u d i c e a g a i n s t the r e a d i n g p u b l i c t h a t 

borders on e l i t i s m . Realism remains e s s e n t i a l to the n o v e l , not 

j u s t . a s i d e t r a c k . Although some c r i t i c s might condemn the 

a t t r a c t i o n s of " l o c a l colour, 1 ' the reader, l i k e the movie-goer, 

continues to hunger f o r a sense of the t e x t u r e of the r e a l world. 

F a c t s are always welcome. 

Furthermore, the reader's a p p e t i t e f o r the commonplace, 

f o r f a c t u a l i n f o r m a t i o n and accuracy, i s shared by many of those 

w r i t e r s who are thought to be c e l e b r a t o r s of s o l i p s i s m . For 

(10) As quoted in "A Novel Sort of L i f e , " by E r i c Young and Louise 
Dennys, Weekend Magazine, 25 March 1978, p. 11. 



9 

example, R u s s e l l assures us t h a t Nabokov's novels are s e l f -

r e f e r e n t i a l l i n g u i s t i c games c l a i m i n g no involvement with the 

phenomenal world. Yet a p r e c i s e l y o p p o s i t e a e s t h e t i c i s advanced 

i n "A Guide to B e r l i n , " a s t o r y i n which, as Nabokov says i n a : 

note about i t s t r a n s l a t i o n , "two or three s c a t t e r e d phrases have 

been added f o r the sake of f a c t u a l clarity.""'"''" 

The horse-drawn tram has vanished, and so 
w i l l the t r o l l e y , and some e c c e n t r i c B e r l i n 
w r i t e r i n the twenties of the t w e n t y - f i r s t 
century, wishing t o p o r t r a y our time , w i l l 
go to a museum of t e c h n o l o g i c a l h i s t o r y and 
l o c a t e a hundred-year-old s t r e e t c a r , yellow, 
uncouth, w i t h o l d - f a s h i o n e d curved s e a t s , and 
i n a museum of o l d costumes d i g up a b l a c k , 
shiny-buttoned conductor's uniform. Then he 
w i l l go home and compile a d e s c r i p t i o n of 
B e r l i n s t r e e t s i n bygone days. E v e r y t h i n g , 
every t r i f l e , w i l l be v a l u a b l e and meaningful: 
the conductor's purse, the advertisement over 
the window, t h a t p e c u l i a r j o l t i n g motion which 
our g r e a t - g r a n d c h i l d r e n w i l l perhaps imagine --
e v e r y t h i n g w i l l be ennobled and j u s t i f i e d by 
i t s age. 

I t h i n k t h a t here l i e s the sense of l i t e r a r y 
c r e a t i o n : to p o r t r a y o r d i n a r y o b j e c t s as they 
w i l l be r e f l e c t e d i n the k i n d l y m i r r o r s of 
f u t u r e times; to f i n d i n the o b j e c t s around us 
the f r a g r a n t tenderness t h a t o n l y p o s t e r i t y 
w i l l d i s c e r n and a p p r e c i a t e i n the f a r - o f f 
times when every t r i f l e of our p l a i n everyday 
l i f e w i l l become e x q u i s i t e and f e s t i v e i n i t s 
own r i g h t ... (pp. .93-94). 

T h i s s t o r y , or m i l d manifesto, was w r i t t e n i n 1925, when Nabokov's 

audience was minimal, which p a r t l y e x p l a i n s the i m p l i c a t i o n t h a t 

h i s contemporary B e r l i n audience was i n c a p a b l e of a p p r e c i a t i n g 

r e a l i t y ' s " f r a g r a n t tenderness." The p o i n t remains t h a t h i s 

a e s t h e t i c depends on f i d e l i t y to the t r i f l e s of everyday l i f e , 

from buttons to s t r e e t c a r s . One can j u s t i f y a c e r t a i n s k e p t i c i s m 

(11) Vladimir Nabokov, "A Guide to B e r l i n , " in Details of a Sunset, 
trans. Dmitri Nabokov and Vladimir Nabokov (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976), 
p. 90. 



10 

when a c r i t i c announces c o y l y t h a t , 

The " r e a l " world, such as i t i s , such as i t 
i s rumored to be, has been i n c r e a s i n g l y 
s u b j e c t e d to abuse l a t e l y , both from the w r i t e r s 
of v a r i o u s s o r t s of " f i c t i o n s " and "new n o v e l s , " 
and a l s o from t h e i r defenders i n the new c r i t i c a l 
a n t i - w o r l d t h a t has grown up around such e x p e r i -
mentation. ^ 

C e r t a i n of these experimental new n o v e l i s t s are l e s s abusive 

towards the r e a l world than the c r i t i c s might t h i n k . Ronald Suken-

i c k , who humorously champions a new i n t e r n a t i o n a l s t y l e i n which 

one of the main q u a l i t i e s i s " o p a c i t y , " n e v e r t h e l e s s maintains 

t h a t "the movement of f i c t i o n should always be i n the d i r e c t i o n 
13 

of what we sense as r e a l . " A l a i n R o b b e - G r i l l e t , a noted 

exponent of the new n o v e l , has been known to speak f a v o u r a b l y of 

f i d e l i t y to the r e a l world: 
A l l w r i t e r s b e l i e v e they are r e a l i s t s . None 
ever c a l l s h i m s e l f a b s t r a c t , i l l u s i o n i s t i c , 
c h i m e r i c a l , f a n t a s t i c , f a l s i t i c a l .... And 
no doubt we must b e l i e v e them a l l , on t h i s 
p o i n t . I t i s the r e a l world which i n t e r e s t s 
them; each one attempts as best as can to 
c r e a t e "the r e a l . " ^ 

Even John Barth, o f t e n taken as the l e a d i n g exemplar of 

the contemporary s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n o v e l i s t , does not r e p r e s e n t a 

complete break w i t h the v a l u e s of the c o n v e n t i o n a l n o v e l , and w i t h 

the phenomenal world; a t l e a s t , he does not r e p r e s e n t as complete 

a break as some c r i t i c s would suggest. For example, Robert Scholes 

leans h e a v i l y on. B a r t h 1 s works i n h i s p r o p o s a l f o r a new n a r r a t i v e 
genre, which Scholes c a l l s " t a b u l a t i o n " : " D e l i g h t i n design, 

(12) Ditsky, p. 297. 
(13) Ronald Sukenick, "The New Tradition," Partisan Review, 39 

(1972), 587, 583. 
(14) Alain Robbe-Grillet, For A New Novel, trans. Richard Howard 

(New York: Grove Press, 1965), p. 157. 



.11 

and i t s concurrent emphasis on the a r t of the d e s i g n e r , w i l l 

serve i n p a r t to d i s t i n g u i s h the a r t of the f a b u l a t o r from the 

work of the n o v e l i s t or the s a t i r i s t . Of a l l n a r r a t i v e forms, 
15 

f a b u l a t i o n puts the h i g h e s t premium on a r t and j o y . " Scholes 

says h i s term " f a b u l a t o r " i s "an honest attempt to f i n d a word f o r 

something t h a t needs one." (We should note h i s disarming a s i d e 

t h a t the term i s "of course a gimmick, an a t t e n t i o n - g e t t e r " [ p . 6 ] . ) 

But i s i t t r u e t h a t a n a r r a t o r who d e l i g h t s i n n a r r a t i v e d e s i g n 

cannot be understood i n terms of both the novel genre and the 

long t r a d i t i o n of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ? " F a b u l a t i o n " 

might be merely a novel t h a t f e a t u r e s a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

i n a c h e e r f u l phase. Since l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m does not l a c k 

f o r c o n f u s i n g terminology, perhaps we should r e s i s t a t t e n t i o n -

g e t t i n g gimmicks p r e d i c a t e d on the n o t i o n t h a t contemporary 

w r i t e r s are so r a d i c a l t h a t the t r a d i t i o n a l c r i t i c a l terms no 

longer apply. John Barth h i m s e l f o f f e r s support f o r our r e s i s t a n c e 

i n a c o n v e r s a t i o n with Joe David Bellamy, i n which Bellamy des-

c r i b e s a type of f i c t i o n "which tends to s t a r t t a l k i n g about 

the formal nature of the s t o r y and the process of i t s d e s c r i p -

t i o n " (that i s , s e l f - c o n s c i o u s f i c t i o n ) . Bellamy asks Barth i f . 

there i s "a b a s i c c o n f l i c t between t h a t k i n d of a n t i - i l l u s i o n i s t i c 

w r i t i n g and the s t o r y - t e l l i n g impulse?": 
B a r t h : No, I don't t h i n k t h e r e ' s a c o n f l i c t , 
o n l y a k i n d of t e n s i o n , which can be used. 
When we t a l k about i t t h i s way i t a l l sounds 
d r e a d f u l l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , i n v o l u t e d , v e r t i -
ginous, d u l l . In the a c t u a l e x e c u t i o n i t 

(15) Robert Scholes, The Fabulators (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 
1967), p. 10. 



12 

doesn't have to be t h a t a t a l l ; i t can be 
charming, e n t e r t a i n i n g ; i t can even be 
i l l u s i o n i s t . -. r 16 

S o r t i n g through the terms, i t seems t h a t Barth r e j e c t s 

the n o t i o n t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d e v i c e s p r e c l u d e r e a l i s m (the 

t r a d i t i o n a l i l l u s i o n i s t i c " s t o r y t e l l i n g impulse"). I t i s a 

mistake to t h i n k t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s novels have nothing i n 

common w i t h r e a l i s t i c n o v e l s , and i t i s a worse mistake to t h i n k 

t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s novels are s u p e r i o r i n k i n d to r e a l i s t i c 

n o v e l s . One must p r o t e s t what D i t s k y c a l l s "the l a t e s t French 

t h i n k i n g i n the l a t e s t Sontag abridgment," p a r t i c u l a r l y when i t 

l e a d s Susan Sontag (among o t h e r s , as we s h a l l see i n the t h i r d 

chapter) to argue t h a t our contemporary r e a l i s t i c novels " r e p r e -

sent b a r e l y noteworthy products of a r e t a r d e d or r e a c t i o n a r y 

17 

consciousness." In f a c t , however, both the r e a l i s t i c and the 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s novel must be f a i t h f u l to the s t o r y t e l l i n g impulse 

and the "adjustmental aspect of experience"; the s i g n of a 

" r e t a r d e d consciousness" would be a novel t h a t went too f a r i n 

the d i r e c t i o n of a r t i f i c e and s o l i p s i s m . In the words of A l b e r t 

Cook: 
A l l a r t , of course, envisages r e a l i t y : any 
work of a r t i s , among other t h i n g s , an i n t u i -
t i v e statement about our experience of the 
world. And any work of a r t , a t the same 
time, i n t e r e s t s i t s e l f ... i n i t s own appear-
ance, the a r t i f i c e i t c o n s t i t u t e s of p a i n t or 
sound or words • • • «]_g 

(16) Joe David Bellamy, "John Barth," in The New F i c t i o n , ed. Bellamy 
(Urbana: Univ. of I l l i n o i s Press, 1974), p. 10. 

(17) Ditsky, p. 298; Susan Sontag, Pref., Writing Degree Zero, by 
Roland Barthes, trans. Annette Lavers and Colin Smith (New York: H i l l and Wang, 
1968), p. ix. 

(18) Albert Cook, The Meaning of F i c t i o n (Detroit: Wayne State Univ. 
Press, 1960), p. 24. 



13 

Cook c a l l s t h i s a r t i f i c e " r e f l e x i v i t y , " which, l i k e any l i t e r a r y 

d e v i c e , 

does not, or should not operate i n a v o i d : 
a r t i f i c e s would be v a i n i f they c o u l d be p u r e l y 
a r t i f i c i a l ; they cannot because they must 
i n some way d e s i g n a t e the r e a l i t y from which 
they s p r i n g . When a novel uses r e f l e x i v i t y 
i t must d i s c o v e r a r e a l i t y . Otherwise we f e e l 
i t to be g r a t u t i o u s l y a r t i f i c i a l ..... (p. 25) . 

I t i s r e f r e s h i n g to f i n d i n Cook a c r i t i c who can d i s c o v e r 

r e f l e x i v i t y " i m p l i c i t i n the formalism of most well-made novels 

s i n c e F l a u b e r t " (p. 25), and y e t r e f r a i n from p r o c l a i m i n g t h a t 

the novel has been s i d e t r a c k e d i n t o f u t i l e r e a l i s m s i n c e Austen. 

S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s should be thought of as one more d e v i c e by 

which the a r t i s t can f a s h i o n h i s v i s i o n of the world, s i n c e i t 

by no means commits the a r t i s t to a s o l i p s i s t i c v i s i o n i n which 

l a y e r s of a r t i f i c e . i n f i n i t e l y r e g r e s s from the r e a l world; i n 

f a c t , s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d e v i c e s can strengthen the reader's sense 

of t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m . T h i s apparent paradox can be i l l u s t r a t e d 

by b r i e f l y r e f e r r i n g to the works of two American authors who 

are not u s u a l l y l i s t e d among the promoters of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

f i c t i o n . 

Consider t h i s passage from a s h o r t s t o r y by C h a r l e s 

Bukowski: 

So, reader, l e t ' s f o r g e t Mad Jimmy f o r a minute 
and get i n t o A r t h u r — which i s no b i g problem 
— what I mean i s a l s o the way I w r i t e : I can 
jump around and you can come r i g h t along and 
i t won't matter a b i t , y o u ' l l s e e . , Q 

(19) Charles Bukowski, "Nut Ward Just East of Hollywood," in Erections, 
Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (San Francisco: 
City Lights, 1972), p. 264. 



14 

Bukowski here uses what we w i l l see i n the next chapter are some 

of the e s s e n t i a l d e v i c e s of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r : the 

n a r r a t o r c a l l s a t t e n t i o n to h i m s e l f , and emphasizes the a r t i f i c e 

of h i s n a r r a t i v e . But, taken i n the l a r g e r context of Bukowski 1 s 

f i c t i o n , the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d e v i c e s have the p a r a d o x i c a l e f f e c t 

of making the n a r r a t i v e seen n a t u r a l and r e a l i s t i c , the o p p o s i t e 

of c o n t r i v e d . 

Bukowski's n a r r a t o r s g e n e r a l l y pretend to p r e s e n t t r u e 

s t o r i e s from the slums and the mean s t r e e t s ; the form of Bukowski's 

f i c t i o n i s l i t t l e d i f f e r e n t from the o s t e n s i b l e n o n - f i c t i o n 

i n h i s columns i n a now defunct underground newspaper. The 

n a r r a t o r i s o f t e n named Bukowski, or some t r a n s p a r e n t pseudonym, 

adding to the i l l u s i o n t h a t the n a r r a t i v e i s the r e c o r d of 

an a c t u a l occurrence. The n a r r a t o r i s c a r e f u l to d i s t i n g u i s h 

h i m s e l f from those American a r t i s t s who, i n Bukowski*s o p i n i o n , 

are e l i t i s t s preoccupied w i t h a r t i f i c e to the detriment of 

meaning and communication: 

poetry i s s t i l l the b i g g e s t snob-racket i n 
the A r t s ... i n essence, the g e n e r a l l y 
accepted p o e t r y of today has a k i n d of g l a s s 
o u t s i d e to i t , s l i c k and s l i d i n g , and sunned 
down i n s i d e t h e r e i s a j o i n i n g of word to 
word i n a r a t h e r m e t a l l i c inhuman summation 
or semi-secret angle. t h i s i s a poetry f o r 
m i l l i o n a i r e s and f a t men of l e i s u r e so i t 
does get backing and i t does s u r v i v e because 1 
the s e c r e t i s i n t h a t those.who belong really belong 
and to h e l l with the r e s t , but the p o e t r y i s 
d u l l , very d u l l , so d u l l t h a t the d u l l n e s s i s 
taken f o r hidden meaning — the meaning i s 
hidden, a l l r i g h t , so w e l l hidden t h a t there 
i s n ' t any meaning. but i f YOU can't f i n d i t , 
you l a c k s o u l , s e n s i t i v i t y and so f o r t h , so 
you BETTER FIND IT OR YOU DON'T BELONG, and 
i f you don't f i n d i t , KEEP QUIET.„ n 

(20) Charles Bukowski, :'Eyes Like the Sky," in Erections, p. 417. 



15 

Thus the n a r r a t o r e s t a b l i s h e s a r h e t o r i c a l bond w i t h the reader. 

He i s the reader's f r i e n d (and f e l l o w ignoramus), and t h e i r 

r e l a t i o n s h i p w i l l bypass the formidable f o r m a l i t y of contem-

porary l i t e r a t u r e . For example, "Non-Horseshit Horse Advice" 

says, " f o r those of you u n f a m i l i a r w i t h the b a s i c p r i n c i p l e s of 
21 

horse-wagering, a l l o w me to d i v e r t you •with a few b a s i c s . " 

"Allow me to d i v e r t you" -- the n i n e t e e n t h century i n g r a t i a t i n g 

tone, combined w i t h l o w l i f e s u b j e c t matter and a d e l i b e r a t e l y 

u n s o p h i s t i c a t e d s t y l e , r e s u l t i n s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s which i s 

anything but s o l i p s i s t i c . The n a r r a t o r attempts to convince 

the reader t h a t he i s the o n l y a r t i s t s t i l l connected with r e a l i t y 

i n America; he and the readers are a l l i e s a g a i n s t s o p h i s t r y and 

a r t i f i c e . 

Joyce C a r o l Oates employs a s i m i l a r technique i n her 

Expensive People. In t h i s c u r i o u s novel a f i r s t - p e r s o n n a r r a t o r 

d e s c r i b e s the unhappy c h i l d h o o d i n which he may or may not have 

murdered h i s mother. The n a r r a t o r i s extremely s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

i n the novel's opening pages, and i n s c a t t e r e d l a t e r passages — 

f o r example, he d i s c u s s e s h i s l i t e r a r y i n f l u e n c e s , which i n c l u d e 

an a r t i c l e i n the Amateur Penman, " J u s t What Is R e a l l y Necessary 

i n Your W r i t i n g ? " He asks p e r m i s s i o n to use " c e r t a i n r h e t o r i c a l 

f l o u r i s h e s and t r i c k s , and the p a t h e t i c M e l v i l l i a n d e v i c e of 
22 

enormous b u i l d - u p s f o r f l a b b y walk-ons . . . . " Yet long s t r e t c h e s 

(21) Charles Bukowski, "Non-Horseshit Horse Advice," in Erections, p. 99. 
(22) Joyce Carol Oates, Expensive People (1968; rpt. New York: 

Fawcett, 1970), pp. 89-90. 



16 

of the novel are not s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a t a l l , as though the 

n a r r a t o r had f o r g o t t e n about h i m s e l f i n the e f f o r t of producing 

a t a l e of h i g h emotion and melodrama. The remaining s e l f -

consciousness does not c o n t r i b u t e to a theme o f a r t i f i c e and 

l i t e r a r y e x h i b i t i o n ; on the c o n t r a r y , the n a r r a t o r argues t h a t 

h i s s t o r y i s not f i c t i o n , but t r u t h . He says h i s "memoir" 

i s not "well rounded or hemmed i n by f a t e i n the shape of n o v e l -

i s t i c a r c h i t e c t u r e . I t c e r t a i n l y i s n ' t w e l l planned. I t has 

no c o n c l u s i o n but j u s t d r i b b l e s o f f , i n much the same way i t 

begins. T h i s i s l i f e " (p. 6). The n a r r a t o r , l i k e Bukowski's 

n a r r a t o r , wants to "minimize the t e n s i o n between w r i t e r and 

r e a d e r . . . . You t h i n k I am t r y i n g to put something over on you, 

but t h a t i s n ' t t r u e . I t i s n ' t t r u e . I am honest and dogged and 

e v e n t u a l l y the t r u t h w i l l be t o l d ..." (pp. 6-7). The f a c t i s , 

says the n a r r a t o r , " t h i s i s not f i c t i o n . T h i s i s l i f e " (p. 7). 

The context of an a r t i s t ' s work governs the e f f e c t s of a 

p a r t i c u l a r l i t e r a r y d e v i c e . The p r e v a l e n c e of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

d e v i c e s i n contemporary w r i t e r s has l e d to c e r t a i n g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s 

about the p h i l o s o p h i c b a s i s f o r s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s , and of 

course these g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s are p a r t l y t r u e ; but the percentage 

of t r u t h i s g r e a t l y attenuated when the g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s are 

a p p l i e d to a p a r t i c u l a r w r i t e r , p a r t i c u l a r l y a w r i t e r of any 

o r i g i n a l i t y . One suspects t h a t a work which corresponded i n 

every r e s p e c t to the s t r i c t u r e s of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s would be, 

i n Barth's words, " i n v o l u t e d , v e r t i g i n o u s , d u l l . " Instead of 

conforming to the a l l e g e d r u l e s of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s , however, 

the a r t i s t causes a metamorphosis of h i s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d e v i c e s 



17 

u n t i l they c o n t r i b u t e to the unique context o f a g i v e n work. 

Whatever i n h e r e n t q u a l i t i e s these s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d e v i c e s may 

c o n t a i n i n theory, the a r t i s t transforms them i n the e x e c u t i o n . 

The f i r s t chapter d e f i n e s the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , 

and i l l u s t r a t e s the d e f i n i t i o n w i t h examples taken from s e v e r a l 

contemporary w r i t e r s ; the examples w i l l i n d i c a t e t h a t the s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r s vary as much as the authors they r e p r e s e n t . 

The chapter argues t h a t the t r a d i t i o n of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r goes back a t l e a s t as f a r as the e i g h t e e n t h century; 

i t i s p o s s i b l e t h a t a g r e a t e r f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h the antecedents 

of the contemporary s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r might have prevented 

c r i t i c s from t r y i n g to c a s t him i n the r o l e of the r e v o l u t i o n a r y 

l e a d e r of a r a d i c a l a e s t h e t i c . The b r i e f h i s t o r i c a l survey 

w i l l a l s o show t h a t c r i t i c s i n past eras have managed to f i n d 

what seemed to them good and s u f f i c i e n t reasons f o r j u s t i f y i n g 

t h e i r preconceptions about the n a r r a t o r ' s r o l e . The chapter 

concludes by s k e t c h i n g i n some of the themes t h a t r e c u r i n 

contemporary f i c t i o n ; these i n c l u d e the image of the i s o l a t e d 

a r t i s t , the use of experimental language, and the s t r e s s on 

i n n o v a t i v e n a r r a t i v e techniques. 

The second chapter, on V l a d i m i r Nabokov, argues t h a t 

Nabokov transforms h i s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s i n t o agents f o r 

Nabokov's own f i e r c e l y i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c a e s t h e t i c . The s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r becomes the exponent of the g l o r y of the 

human i m a g i n a t i o n , d e s p i t e such c o n s t r a i n t s on the i m a g i n a t i o n 

as p o l i c e s t a t e s and l i t e r a r y conventions. However, Nabokov's 



18 

n a r r a t o r s a r e n o t e x p o n e n t s o f h e r m e t i c a l l y s e a l e d w o r d - w o r l d s . 

The n a t u r a l w o r l d r e t a i n s a n h o n o u r e d p l a c e i n N a b o k o v ' s f i c t i o n 

( w i t n e s s h i s s c r u p u l o u s , s c i e n t i f i c d e s c r i p t i o n s o f n a t u r e ) , 

and t h e n a r r a t o r i s p a r t o f a p h i l o s o p h i c s y s t e m t h a t i n c o r p o r -

a t e s b o t h a r t i f i c e and r e a l i t y ; i n ' f a c t , t h e n a r r a t o r ' s i m a g -

i n a t i v e f o r a y s o f t e n c o r r e s p o n d i n a m y s t e r i o u s manner t o t h e 

l a w s o f t h e u n i v e r s e . The c o r r e s p o n d e n c e i s d i f f i c u l t t o d e f i n e 

( a l l N a b o k o v ' s w o r k s m i g h t be t h o u g h t o f a s p a r t i a l adumbra-

t i o n s ) , b u t i t i s c l e a r l y n o t a n a r t i f i c i a l e n v i r o n m e n t f o r 

c r o s s w o r d p u z z l e p u p p e t s : " W i t h i n N a b o k o v ' s i n v o l u t i o n s , 
23 

b e h i n d h i s many s c r e e n s , l i e r e a l p e o p l e . " 

The t h i r d c h a p t e r d e a l s w i t h D o n a l d B a r t h e l m e . I n 

B a r t h e l m e ' s w o r k s , a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s o c i e t y h a s a d e b i l i t a t i n g 

e f f e c t o n t h e i n d i v i d u a l . I n "What To Do N e x t , " a c h a r a c t e r 

i s s a i d t o be " h o p e l e s s l y c o m p r o m i s e d " by " l i s t e n i n g t o t h e 

i n s t r u c t i o n s o f o t h e r s , o r t o t h e w h i s p e r s o f y o u r h e a r t , w h i c h 

i s i n i t s e l f s u s p e c t , i n t h a t i t h a s b e e n t a u g h t t o b e h a v e ... 
24 

by t h e v e r y c u l t u r e t h a t h a s p r o d u c e d t h e d e s p e r a t e s i t u a t i o n . " 

The i n d i v i d u a l f i n d s h i m s e l f s o c i a l l y programmed f o r s e l f -

c o n s c i o u s f u t i l i t y . 

However, t h e s t o r i e s do n o t c e l e b r a t e t h e s o l i p s i s t i c 

i n t e l l e c t . They r e v e a l t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s r o o t e d 

i n s o m e t h i n g d e e p e r , w h i c h i s t h e g e n e r a l m o r a l f a i l u r e : b a r -

b a r i t y , g r e e d , m u r d e r o u s n e s s . A l t h o u g h B a r t h e l m e ' s n a r r a t o r s 
(23) Albert J. Guerard, "Notes on the Rhetoric of A n t i - R e a l i s t F i c t i o n , " 

TriQuarterly, No. 30 (1974), p. 25. 
(24) Donald Barthelme, "What to Do Next," in Amateurs (New York: 

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1976), p. 81. 



19 

appear to be p l a y f u l l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s a t i r i s t s , they are 

g r a d u a l l y r e v e a l e d to be p a r t i c i p a n t s i n a grave moral drama; 

i t seems "the c e n t r e of your d i f f i c u l t i e s ... i s the f a c t t h a t 

you are no good" (p. 84). 

Ours i s a c o n s e r v a t i v e argument. Although both Nabokov 

and Barthelme are i n n o v a t i v e a r t i s t s , Barthelme h a r d l y p r o v i d e s 

t i d y textbook examples f o r avant garde t h e o r i s t s , and Nabokov's 

works r e s t on an understanding o f , and even a reverence f o r , 

l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n . Thus the i n t r o d u c t i o n has attempted to 

discourage c e r t a i n preconceptions t h a t would, perhaps, make i t 

a l l too easy to e x p l a i n the use of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . 

The chapters t h a t f o l l o w attempt to be i n d u c t i v e r a t h e r than 

d e d u c t i v e ; the f a c t t h a t Barthelme and Nabokov c r e a t e 

f i c t i o n a l worlds so different from one another, d e s p i t e u s i n g 

s i m i l a r s e l f - c o n s c i o u s methods, suggests t h a t the i n d u c t i v e 

method i s p r e f e r a b l e . At any r a t e , we should be able to a v o i d 

the mistake of c o n f u s i n g what the a r t i s t c r e a t e d w i t h what he 

was expected to c r e a t e . 



I 

THE PEDIGREE OF THE SELF-CONSCIOUS NARRATOR 

I n t r o d u c t i o n 

The argument i s t h a t the p h i l o s o p h i c and a e s t h e t i c import 

of the works of Barthelme and Nabokov i s not predetermined by-

c e r t a i n i n h e r e n t q u a l i t i e s of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . On 

the c o n t r a r y , the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s a m a l l e a b l e d e v i c e 

which the authors bend i n the d i r e c t i o n of t h e i r own s p e c i a l 

l i t e r a r y aims. The f u n c t i o n of t h i s f i r s t chapter i s to show t h a t 

the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s not a commanding f i g u r e on the 

l i t e r a r y scene, but r a t h e r a f a m i l i a r f i g u r e who has gone i n and 

out of l i t e r a r y f a s h i o n . At one time he wore the sedate vestments 

of the n i n e t e e n t h century gentleman, and d u r i n g the era of n o v e l -

i s t i c i m p e r s o n a l i t y he was so drab as to appear almost i n v i s i b l e . 

His s t a r t l i n g , avant garde, and indeed r e v o l u t i o n a r y appearance 

i n contemporary l i t e r a t u r e i s due mainly to the s t a r t l i n g , avant 

garde, and r e v o l u t i o n a r y wardrobe a f f o r d e d him by contemporary 

c r i t i c s . 

The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s d e f i n e d as a n a r r a t o r who 

i n t r u d e s on the n a r r a t i v e to comment on h i s n a r r a t i v e techniques, 

and to emphasize the a r t i f i c i a l and c o n t r i v e d q u a l i t y of what are 

otherwise presented as r e a l events. The d e v i c e developed i n step 

with the development of the E n g l i s h novel i n the e i g h t e e n t h century. 

20 



21 

Most of the r a m i f i c a t i o n s of the contemporary novel are r e p r e -

sented i n the c y c l e t h a t began w i t h Defoe's v e r i s i m i l i t u d e and 

ended w i t h Sterne's v e r y o b t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r . Sterne i s of 

course now c o n s i d e r e d c e n t r a l to the n o v e l , but f o r c e n t u r i e s 

the novel was much c l o s e r to the formal r e a l i s m of Defoe and 

Richardson. Although n i n e t e e n t h century novels c o n t a i n Shandean 

elements, the i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r operates w i t h i n c e r t a i n l i m i t -

a t i o n s , and the t y p i c a l n i n e t e e n t h century omniscient n a r r a t o r was 

e a s i l y d i s c a r d e d when the novel s e t t l e d i n t o the mold of imper-

s o n a l i t y and s o c i a l r e a l i s m . There was l i t t l e need f o r a s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r when t h e o r i s t s c a l l e d f o r a dehumanized a r t 

and: an a u t h o r i a l v o i c e r e f i n e d out of e x i s t e n c e . The s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r went i n t o e c l i p s e , an e c l i p s e which i n a sense 

has never ended. C e r t a i n l y i n the American n o v e l , our s p e c i a l 

i n t e r e s t , a case c o u l d be made t h a t the r e a l i s t i c novel ( o f t e n 

c h a r a c t e r i z e d by an o b j e c t i v e and impersonal, r a t h e r than a s e l f -

c o n s c i o u s , n a r r a t o r ) has remained the dominant mode, i n both 

c r i t i c a l and popular terms, s i n c e James. 

However, i n r e c e n t American l i t e r a t u r e , the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r has r e t u r n e d . The eventual breakdown of s o c i a l r e a l i s m 

o f f e r e d him new o p p o r t u n i t i e s . Authors used him to dramatize the 

l o n e l y i n t e g r i t y of the a r t i s t , and to experiment with language 

and w i t h n a r r a t i v e techniques. Consequently, i t i s now t y p i c a l 

of a growing number of contemporary works t h a t the n a r r a t o r of 

Barthelme's Snow White should i n t e r r u p t the n a r r a t i v e t o ask the 

reader, "Have you understood, i n r e a d i n g to t h i s p o i n t , t h a t Paul 

i s the prince-figure?"''" I n e v i t a b l y , the c r i t i c s conclude t h a t 

(1) Donald Barthelme, Snow White (New York: Atheneum, 1967), p. 82. 



22 

the times "demand" s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s : 

The modernist s e n s i b i l i t y does indeed demand a 
degree of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s , an o v e r t acknowledg-
ment on the p a r t of the a r t i s t of h i s awareness 
of the i d e n t i t y of h i s m a t e r i a l , techniques and 
p r o c e s s e s . That a r t i s i l l u s i o n , and the r e v e l -
a t i o n of the nature of t h i s i l l u s i o n ... are a t 
the h e a r t of the modernist consciousness i n a l l 
the a r t s . 2 

"The age demanded an image/ Of i t s a c c e l e r a t e d grimace," says the 
3 

s a r d o n i c speaker i n Pound's "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley," which should 

c a u t i o n us a g a i n s t an e n t h u s i a s t i c and u n c r i t i c a l acceptance of the 

new s t a t u s of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , who now stands "at 

the heart of the modernist consciousness i n a l l the a r t s . " The 

purpose of t h i s chapter i s to keep the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

i n h i s t o r i c a l p e r s p e c t i v e , even i f p e r s p e c t i v e d i m i n i s h e s h i s 

p h i l o s o p h i c s t a t u s . 

N a r r a t i v e S e l f - C o n s c i o u s n e s s Defined 

In "The S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r i n Comic F i c t i o n Before T r i s t - 
ram Shandy," Wayne Booth analyzes what he c a l l s the " i n t r u d i n g " 

4 

n a r r a t o r . Booth says a l l n a r r a t o r s are i n t r u s i v e i n the sense 

t h a t they choose what they t a l k about, and t h a t t h i s primary form 

of i n t r u s i o n should not be t r e a t e d as a s i n g l e d e v i c e . Booth 

d e f i n e s a second c l a s s o f n a r r a t i v e i n which the n a r r a t o r i s the 

hero or main t o p i c of h i s own account; t h i s second c l a s s i s almost 

(2) Barbara Rose, "Wolfeburg," The New York Review of Books, 26 June 
1975, p. 26. 

(3) Ezra Pound, "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley," in Selected Poems (New York: 
New Directions, 1957), p. 61. 

(4) Wayne Booth, "The Self-Conscious Narrator in Comic F i c t i o n Before 
Tristram Shandy," PMLA, 67 (1952), 163. 



23 

as general and variable as the f i r s t : "Indeed, a l l f i r s t - p e r s o n 

narrators ... 'intrude' quite e x p l i c i t l y ..." (p. 164). A t h i r d 

type of narrator "indulges i n ' r h e t o r i c a l ' commentary on the 

characters or events of his story, i n order to induce appropriate 

attitudes i n the reader. These comments may range from the simplest 

kind of weighted language ... to f a i r l y extended commentary on 

the i n t e l l e c t u a l issues involved ...." Refining t h i s t h i r d class 

one step further, Booth arrives at the "self-conscious narrator," 

"who intrudes into his novel to comment on himself as a writer, 

and on his book, not simply as a series of events with moral 

implications, but as a created l i t e r a r y product" (pp. 164, 165). 

The self-conscious narrator comments on himself as a writer, 

and comments on his narrative as a created l i t e r a r y product. 

Booth's d e f i n i t i o n was designed to f i t the works surrounding the 

eighteenth century's Tristram Shandy, but i t i s very useful i n 

terms of contemporary self-consciousness as well. However, there 

are two s a l i e n t features of contemporary self-consciousness which 

are perhaps i m p l i c i t i n Booth's d e f i n i t i o n , but which for our 

purposes need to' be emphasized. 

F i r s t , the self-conscious narrator i n contemporary l i t e r a t u r e 

has developed i n reaction to the p r e v a i l i n g impersonality of the 

novel during the modern period (broadly defined as James to the 

Second World War). James, Flaubert, and others had reacted i n 

t h e i r turn against sentimentality and overt moralizing, and had 

developed an impersonal and objective narrative voice. This new 

modernist s p i r i t would, i n the words of Stephane Mallarme, 

minimize the author's " o r a t o r i c a l presence" and d i s c r e d i t "the 



2 4 

o l d l y r i c a l a s p i r a t i o n or the e n t h u s i a s t i c p e r s o n a l d i r e c t i o n 
5 

of the sentence." T h e r e f o r e the contemporary s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r o f t e n adopts a q u i r k y , i d i o s y n c r a t i c , all-too-human v o i c e , 

which i s a t times g u i l t y of a d o c t r i n a i r e s u b j e c t i v i t y . 

A second f e a t u r e o f the contemporary s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

i s h i s a s s o c i a t i o n with metaphysical u n c e r t a i n t y . The n o t i o n of 

a p r o b i n g , i r o n i c n a r r a t o r a t odds w i t h l i t e r a r y convention and 

bourgeois epistemology i s perhaps i m p l i c i t i n both Booth's theory 

and Sterne's p r a c t i c e , but i n contemporary f i c t i o n the p r o b l e m a t i c 

aspect has been exaggerated. 

But r a t h e r than c o n t i n u i n g to speak i n t h e o r e t i c a l terms, 

l e t us c o n s i d e r s e v e r a l i l l u s t r a t i v e examples of the contemporary 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . The examples are designed to i n d i c a t e 

the v a r i e t y of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s ( d e s p i t e the p r e s c r i p t i v e 

t h e o r i e s surrounding them), and a l s o to show, w i t h i n the l i m i t s 

of b r i e f examples, t h a t the n a r r a t o r s tend to conform to the 

s p e c i f i c purposes of a s p e c i f i c author i n a s p e c i f i c work. 

The S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r I l l u s t r a t e d 

John Fowles' p s e u d o - V i c t o r i a n narrative, The French Lieutenant's  

Woman, p r o v i d e s a u s e f u l l y b l a t a n t example of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r . One scene ends i n a c l o s e - u p of the h e r o i n e , Sarah, 

her face wet w i t h s i l e n t t e a r s . "Who i s Sarah?" asks a disem-

bodied v o i c e . "Out of what shadows does she come?" 

(5) Mallarme, as quoted in Erich Kahler, The Disintegration of Form in  
the Arts (New York: George B r a z i l l e r , 1968), pp. 75,76. 



25 

Chapter 13 answers the q u e s t i o n as f o l l o w s : 

I do not know. T h i s s t o r y I am t e l l i n g i s a l l 
i m a g i n a t i o n . These c h a r a c t e r s I c r e a t e never 
e x i s t e d o u t s i d e my own mind. I f I have pretended 
u n t i l now to know my c h a r a c t e r s ' minds and i n n e r -
most thoughts, i t i s because I am w r i t i n g i n ( j u s t 
as I have assumed some of the vocabulary and 
" v o i c e " of) a convention u n i v e r s a l l y accepted a t 
the time of my s t o r y : t h a t the n o v e l i s t stands 
next to God .... But I l i v e i n the age of A l a i n 
R o b b e - G r i l l e t and Roland Barthes; i f t h i s i s a n o v e l , 
i t cannot be a novel i n the modern sense of the 
word. 

So perhaps I am w r i t i n g a transposed auto-
biography; perhaps I now l i v e i n one of those houses 
I have brought i n t o the f i c t i o n ; perhaps C h a r l e s 
i s myself d i s g u i s e d . Perhaps i t i s o n l y a game. 
... Or perhaps I am t r y i n g to pass o f f a concealed 
book of essays on you.^ 

Fowles' s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r conforms to our d e f i n i t i o n i n 

t h a t he i n t r u d e s on the n a r r a t i v e to comment on h i s problems 

as a w r i t e r , and to comment on h i s n a r r a t i v e as a l i t e r a r y . 

c r e a t i o n . In the process of c h a l l e n g i n g the conventions of the ' 

V i c t o r i a n novel he addresses the reader d i r e c t l y , over the heads 

of the c h a r a c t e r s , as i t were. Note the n a r r a t o r ' s symptomatic 

c l a i m t h a t the innocent V i c t o r i a n technique of omniscience i s 

no longer v a l i d i n the age of profound French t h e o r i z i n g . Now 

t h a t the age of innocence i s over, the n o v e l i s t must f a l l i n 

l i n e with newly d i s c o v e r e d o n t o l o g i c a l t r u t h s : "The n o v e l i s t i s 

s t i l l a god ...; what has changed i s t h a t we are no longer the 

gods of the V i c t o r i a n image, omniscient and d e c r e e i n g ; but i n the 

new t h e o l o g i c a l image, w i t h freedom our f i r s t p r i n c i p l e , not 

a u t h o r i t y " (p. 97). In order to f r e e h i m s e l f , the n a r r a t o r 

must g i v e h i s c h a r a c t e r s t h e i r freedom: "There i s o n l y one good 

(6) John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman (Boston: L i t t l e , Brown, 
1969), pp. 94-95. 



26 

d e f i n i t i o n of God; the freedom that allows other freedoms to 

e x i s t . And I must conform to that d e f i n i t i o n " (p. 97). 

The narrator's notions of God and r e a l i t y are not very i n t e r -

esting i n themselves; what i s interesting i s the way i n which 

the ponderous theory a f f e c t s the self-conscious device. This 

p a r t i c u l a r self-conscious narrator seems to be grey-haired with 

r e s p o n s i b i l i t y , and the s t r a i n shows as he develops something of 

a whining tone: "Perhaps you suppose that a n o v e l i s t has only to 

p u l l the r i g h t strings and his puppets w i l l behave i n a l i f e l i k e 

manner ..." (p. 95). The tone suggests that Bellamy's fears about 

an impediment to t r a d i t i o n a l s t o r y t e l l i n g are j u s t i f i e d . The 

narrator's troubled musings about the narrative rules (Is the novel 

a concealed book of essays, a disguised autobiography, a game?) 

are indeed what Barth c a l l e d "vertiginous," not to mention involuted 

and d u l l , although one of the factors that made t h i s novel a best 

s e l l e r , aside"from the endless marketability of h i s t o r i c a l romance, 

was the i n t e r e s t of some readers i n the behind-the-scenes, workshop 

chatter. Presumably these same readers enjoyed the figure of the 

a r t i s t i n the rather tedious second part of The C o l l e c t o r. At 

any rate, Fowles' fascination with n o v e l i s t i c theory r e s u l t s i n 

a serious and sober self-conscious narrator. 

He can be contrasted with the narrator of John Updike's 

novel, A Month of Sundays. The narrator, a promiscuous- c l e r i c , 

sneaks from his wife's bed to snoop on his mistress: 

[He] made his way down oaken staircases flayed 
with moonbeams to a front door whose f a n l i g h t 
held i n Byzantine r i g i d i t y the ghosts of i t s 
Tiffany colors .... [He] pressed his thumb 
upon the concussive l a t c h , eased the towering 



27 

giant of a parsonage portal towards his twitter-
ing- chest, stepped outside, onto granite, and 
bathed his legs i n the wintery a i r . 

This i s fun! F i r s t you whittle the puppets, 
then you move them around.^ 

Unlike Fowles1 narrator, Updike's narrator seems to enjoy manip-

ulating his puppets. Since Tristram Shandy, i n fact, self-conscious 

narrators have been associated with comic narratives. John 

Barth says he prefers "a kind of f i c t i o n that, i f i t ' s going to 

be self-conscious, i s at least comic about i t s own s e l f -
8 

consciousness," and we noted Scholes' attempt to describe a 

comically self-conscious narrative as a c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of a new 

a r t form. But the self-conscious narrator i n a cheerful phase , 

whether or not he puts "the highest premium on art and joy," 

i s merely one of the variables of the self-conscious narrator 

open to the s k i l f u l n o v e l i s t . John Updike i s not necessarily 

a happy " f a b u l i s t . " In the following passage he uses a s e l f -

conscious narrator, but i n t h i s case the narrator i s not A Month  

of Sundays' c h e e r f u l l y naive amateur (writing as part of a pro-

gram of psychological therapy), but, i t seems, a professional 

author: 
A blue jay l i g h t s on a twig outside my window. 

Momentarily sturdy, he stands astraddle, his dingy 
rump towards me, his head a l e r t l y frozen i n s i l h o u -
ette, the predatory curve of his beak stamped on 
a sky almost white above the misting tawny marsh. 
See him? I do, and, snapping the chain of my 
thought, I have reached through glass and seized 
him and stamped him on t h i s page. Now he i s gone. 
And yet, there, a few l i n e s above, he s t i l l i s , 

(7) John Updike, A Month of Sundays (New York: Knopf, 1975), p. 12. 
(8) "John Barth," in Bellamy, p. 11. 



28 

" a s t r a d d l e , " rump " d i n g y , " h i s h e a d " a l e r t l y 
f r o z e n . " A c u r i o u s t r i c k , p o s s i b l y u s e l e s s , 
b u t m i n e . -y 

The, n a r r a t o r o f " L e a v e s " i s a t t e m p t i n g t o come t o t e r m s w i t h 

n a t u r e , h i s l i t e r a r y g i f t s , a n d , n o t l e a s t i n i m p o r t a n c e , h i s 

r e c e n t d i v o r c e . A l t h o u g h t h e p a s s a g e i s h i g h l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , 

t h e r e i s n o t a s e n s e o f " a r t a n d j o y , " b u t a r t and f u t i l i t y : "A 

c u r i o u s t r i c k , p o s s i b l y u s e l e s s 

One s h o u l d a l s o n o t e t h e e m p h a s i s on m i m e s i s i n t h e U p d i k e 

p a s s a g e , a n d c o n t r a s t i t w i t h t h e f o l l o w i n g f r o m J o r g e L u i s B o r g e s : 

F o r y e a r s now, I h a v e b e e n t e l l i n g p e o p l e I 
g r e w up i n t h a t p a r t o f Buenos A i r e s known a s P a l -
ermo. T h i s , I ' v e come t o r e a l i z e , i s mere l i t e r -
a r y b r a v a d o ; t h e t r u t h i s t h a t I r e a l l y g r e w up 
on t h e i n s i d e o f a l o n g i r o n p i c k e t f e n c e i n a 
h o u s e w i t h a g a r d e n and w i t h my f a t h e r ' s and h i s 
f a t h e r ' s l i b r a r y . The P a l e r m o o f k n i f e f i g h t s 
a n d o f g u i t a r p l a y i n g l u r k e d ( s o t h e y s a y ) o n 
s t r e e t c o r n e r s a n d down b a c k a l l e y s . I n 1 9 3 0 , I 
w r o t e a s t u d y o f E v a r i s t o C a r r i e g o , a n e i g h b o r 
o f o u r s , a p o e t a n d g l o r i f i e r o f t h e c i t y ' s o u t -
l y i n g s l u m s . A l i t t l e a f t e r t h a t , c h a n c e b r o u g h t 
me f a c e t o f a c e ^ i t h E m i l i o T r S p a n i . I was o n 
t h e t r a i n t o M o r o n . T r a p a n i , who was s i t t i n g 
n e x t t o t h e window, c a l l e d me by name. F o r some 
t i m e I c o u l d n o t p l a c e h i m , so many y e a r s h a d 
p a s s e d s i n c e we'd b e e n c l a s s m a t e s i n a s c h o o l 
o n Thames S t r e e t . R o b e r t o G o d e l , a n o t h e r c l a s s -
m a t e , may remember h i m . 

... R i d i n g a l o n g , we s t r u c k up one o f t h o s e 
t r i v i a l c o n v e r s a t i o n s t h a t f o r c e y o u t o u n e a r t h 
p o i n t l e s s f a c t s a n d t h a t l e a d up t o t h e d i s c o v e r y 
o f t h e d e a t h o f a f e l l o w - s c h o o l m a t e who i s no 
l o n g e r a n y t h i n g more t h a n a name. T h e n , a b r u p t l y , 
T r a p a n i s a i d t o me, "Someone l e n t me y o u r C a r r i e g o 
b o o k , w h e r e y o u ' r e t a l k i n g a b o u t h o o d l u m s a l l t h e 
t i m e . T e l l me, B o r g e s , what i n t h e w o r l d c a n y o u 
know a b o u t h o o d l u m s ? " He s t a r e d a t me w i t h a k i n d 
o f w o n d e r . 

" I ' v e done r e s e a r c h , " I a n s w e r e d . 

'.(9) J o h n U p d i k e ' , " L e a v e s , " - i n T h e M u s i c S c h o o l (1966; r p t . New Y o r k : 
F a w c e t t , 1967), p . 44. 



29 

Not l e t t i n g me go on, he said, "Research i s 
the word, a l l r i g h t . Personally, I have no use 
for research — I know these people inside out." 
After a moment's silence, he added, as though he 
were l e t t i n g me i n on a secret, "I'm Juan Murana's 
nephew." 

Of a l l the men around Palermo famous for 
handling a knife way back i n the nineties, the 
one with the widest .reputation was Murana. Trapani 
went on, "Florentina -- my aunt -- was his wife. 
Maybe y o u ' l l be interested i n t h i s story." 

Certain devices of a l i t e r a r y nature and one 
or two longish sentences led me to suspect that 
t h i s was not the f i r s t time he had t o l d the story. 

In one sense, of course, Borges i s following a convention at 

l e a s t as old as self-consciousness, that of distancing the narrator 

from his narrative by means of convenient intermediaries. The 

purpose of t h i s distancing i s to make the narrative more r e a l i s t i c . 

One thinks of the Gothic novelists who i n s i s t e d that t h e i r man-

uscripts had been found i n trunks with squeaky l i d s , written i n 

anonymous blood; of Cervantes, who bought the manuscript of Don  

Quixote from a r e l i a b l e Arabic h i s t o r i a n i n the Toledo marketplace; 

of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, which, said Pym, was not 

f i c t i o n but fact.'*'"'" 

Borges s i m i l a r l y distances his narrative from the narrator 

by means of the convenient Emilio Trapani, but the self-conscious 

note i s s i g n i f i e d by the narrator's consciousness of himself as an 

(10) J.L. Borges, "Juan Murana," in Doctor Brodie's Report, trans. 
Norman Thomas di Giovanni and J.L. Borges (New York: E.P. Dutton, 1972),pp. 81-82. 

(11) Pym was afraid to publish his memoirs, for fear they would be mis-
interpreted as "merely an impudent and ingenious f i c t i o n . " He applied to "Edgar 
Allen Poe," then the editor of the Southern L i t e r a r y Messenger, who advised him 
to publish the narrative, just as i t was, and trust the "shrewdness and common 
sense of the public." Pym decided, however, to dupe the public by publishing 
his adventures as f i c t i o n , and "that they might c e r t a i n l y be regarded as f i c t i o n , 
the name of Mr. Poe was affixed to the a r t i c l e s in the table of contents of 
the magazine." The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym (1838; rpt. New York: H i l l 
and Wang, 1960), pp. 1,2. 



30 

a r t i s t . We l e a r n , f o r example, t h a t the b i o g r a p h i c a l i n f o r m a t i o n 

i n the f i r s t l i n e i s " l i t e r a r y bravado." Borges appears i n 

person i n the r a i l r o a d c a r but i s t h i s the r e a l Borges? Borges 

t a l k s elsewhere of "working i n imaginary and r e a l people i n 

the same s t o r y . For example, i f I quote an apocryphal book, then 

the next book to be quoted i s a r e a l one, or perhaps an imaginary 

one, by a r e a l w r i t e r , no? When a man w r i t e s he f e e l s r a t h e r 
12 

l o n e l y , and then he has to keep h i s s p i r i t s up, no?" 

U n l i k e Updike's more or l e s s s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d n a r r a t o r i n 

"Leaves," Borges' n a r r a t o r emphasizes n a r r a t i v e ambiguity and 

d e c e p t i v e n e s s ; the "Borges" of the s t o r y i s somewhat removed 

from a l i t e r a l s e l f - p o r t r a i t , and T r a p a n i , the o s t e n s i b l e eye-

witness, who pretends to b e l i e v e i n the v i r t u e of f a c t u a l , f i r s t -

hand r e p o r t i n g , i s a l s o a n a r r a t o r who i n t r o d u c e s a r t i f i c e i n t o 

the o s t e n s i b l e r e c o r d of t r u e events: " C e r t a i n d e v i c e s of a 

l i t e r a r y nature ... l e d me to suspect t h a t t h i s was not the f i r s t 

time he had t o l d the s t o r y . " 

The Borges example demonstrates n a r r a t i v e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s 

a t a f a r remove from r e a l i s m . C e r t a i n l y those c r i t i c s who argue 

t h a t n a r r a t i v e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s leads to s o l i p s i s m and r e g r e s s i v e 

l a y e r s of a r t i f i c e would have a good argument i f they r e s t r i c t e d 

themselves to Borges. And y e t , i t might be more accurate to say 

t h a t Borgesian s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s leads not to s o l i p s i s m , or 

indeed any standard p h i l o s o p h i c p o s i t i o n , but to paradox, and 

(12) Richard Burgin, Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges (New York: 
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969), p. 50. 



31 

to u n i q u e l y Borgesian paradox a t t h a t . Consider the c o n c l u s i o n 

to "Borges and I " : 

. Years ago I t r i e d to f r e e myself from him and 
went from the mythologies of the suburbs to the 
games with time and i n f i n i t y , but those games 
belong to Borges now and I s h a l l have to- imagine 
other t h i n g s . Thus my l i f e i s a f l i g h t and I 
l o s e e v e r y t h i n g and e v e r y t h i n g belongs to o b l i -
v i o n , or to him. 

I do not know which of us has w r i t t e n t h i s 
p a g e . 1 3 

I t seems t h a t Borges uses the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r as a means 

towards s e l f - d i s c o v e r y , and although i t might be d i f f i c u l t f o r 

the reader to i n t e r p r e t the f i n d i n g s , s u r e l y the s t o r i e s r e v e a l 

something more s u b t l e than s o l i p s i s m . Nabokov and Borges go i n 

d i f f e r e n t d i r e c t i o n s of course, w i t h Nabokov much more c l o s e l y 

a l l i e d w i t h the r e a l world, but both t r a n s f o r m the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r i n t o something l i t e r a l l y u n i q u e ^ The f o l l o w i n g d e s c r i p -

t i o n of S e b a s t i a n Knight might remind us of the n a r r a t i v e s of 

both Nabokov and Borges: 

[He] was aware of h i s i n a b i l i t y to f i t i n t o 
the p i c t u r e — i n t o any k i n d of p i c t u r e . When 
a t l a s t he thoroughly understood t h i s and g r i m l y 
s t a r t e d to c u l t i v a t e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s as i f 
i t had been some r a r e t a l e n t or p a s s i o n , o n l y 
then d i d S e b a s t i a n d e r i v e s a t i s f a c t i o n from i t s 
r i c h and monstrous growth ••••^5 

The f o r e g o i n g examples should be s u f f i c i e n t to make the 

(13) J.L. Borges, "Borges and I," trans. James E. Irby, in Labyrinths: 
Selected Stories and'Other Writings-, ed. Donald A. Yates and James E. Irby, 
trans. J.E. Irby et al. (New York: New Directions, 1964), pp. 246-47. 

(14) See P a t r i c i a Merivale, ''The Flaunting of A r t i f i c e in Vladimir 
Nabokov and Jorge Luis Borges," Wisconsin"Studies in Contemporary L i t e r a t u r e , 8 
(1967), 294-309; rpt. in Nabokov: The Man and His Work, ed. L.S. Dembo (Milwaukee: 
Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1967), pp. 209-24. Subseguent references to the 
several a r t i c l e s on Nabokov in the Wisconsin Studies issue w i l l be attributed 
to Dembo. 

(15) Vladimir Nabokov, The Real L i f e of Sebastian Knight (1941; rpt. 
Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1959), p. 44. 



32 

d e f i n i t i o n of the self-conscious narrator clear; however, i t 

might s t i l l be objected that a l l narrators are to a c e r t a i n 

extent self-conscious. The answer to t h i s objection, as Booth 

points out, i s that what appears to be self-consciousness i s 

the root intrusiveness of the f i r s t - p e r s o n narrator. Furthermore, 

one could admit a degree of self-consciousness i n every narrator, 

but s t i l l i n s i s t that the l a b e l "self-conscious narrator" i s use-

f u l when applied to works i n which the self-consciousness inher-

ent i n narration i s emphasized, or brought to the reader's 

perhaps unwilling attention. Consider, for example, the contrast 

i n the opening paragraphs of Larry McMurtry's The Last Picture Show 

and Sasha Sokolov's A School for Fools, respectively: 

Sometimes Sonny f e l t l i k e he was the only human 
creature i n town. It was a bad f e e l i n g , and i t 
usually came on him i n the mornings early, when 
the streets were completely empty, the way they 
were one Saturday morning i n late November. The 
night before Sonny had played his l a s t game of 
f o o t b a l l 

16 
A l l r i g h t , but how do you begin, what words do 
you use? It makes no difference, use the words: 
there, at the station pond. At the station pond? 
But that's incorrect, a s t y l i s t i c mistake.^ 

The Sokolov passage has c e r t a i n a f f i n i t i e s with the previous 

examples, whereas the McMurtry passage seems impersonal, p l a i n , 

straightforward — unself-conscious. Sokolov's narrator i s aware 

of himself as a writer, and aware that he i s creating a l i t e r a r y 

e f f e c t with words. By contrast with McMurtry, who i s obviously 

beginning a t r a d i t i o n a l narrative about a young man i n a r u r a l 

(16) Larry McMurtry, The Last Picture Show (New York: Dial, 1966), p. 1. 
(17) Sasha Sokolov, A School for Fools, trans. Carl R. Proffer (Ann 

Arbor, Michigan: Ardis, 1977), p. 11. 



33 

t o w n , S o k o l o v seems t o be r a t h e r a r t i f i c i a l , a l t h o u g h one h e s -

i t a t e s t o u s e t h a t t e r m when a l l w o r k s o f a r t a r e b y d e f i n i t i o n 

a r t i f i c i a l ; y e t t h e c l u m s y t e r m s t i l l e x p r e s s e s t h e i d e a t h a t 

t h e r e a d e r m u s t n o t e x p e c t l i t e r a r y t r o m p e l ' o e i l , o r t r a d i t i o n a l 

r e a l i s m . I n s t e a d , d e s p i t e t h e l o n g t r a d i t i o n o f t h e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r , t h e o r d i n a r y r e a d e r w i l l be somewhat t h r o w n o f f by t h e 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s t y l e . As t h e b l u r b on t h e j a c k e t p h r a s e s i t , 

" S o k o l o v p u r p o s e l y s t u n s t h e r e a d e r i n t h e w h i m s i c a l o p e n i n g 

p a g e s . The r e - r e a d e r w i l l s e e t h a t t h e n o v e l c o n t a i n s a s much 

p l a n a s p a s s i o n . B u t S o k o l o v o u t d o e s S t e r n e w i t h d i g r e s s i o n s 

The q u e s t i o n i s ; why s h o u l d S o k o l o v ' s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s m e t h o d s 

" s t u n " t h e r e a d e r , when t h e r e a d e r h a s h a d t h e two c e n t u r i e s s i n c e 

S t e r n e t o a s s i m i l a t e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s t e c h n i q u e s ? The a n s w e r l i e s 

i n t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e n o v e l . D e s p i t e t h e c o n c u r r e n c e o f b o t h 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s f i c t i o n a n d w h a t i s now t h o u g h t o f a s t r a d i t i o n a l 

r e a l i s t i c f i c t i o n i n t h e e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y , r e a l i s m p r e v a i l e d . 

A l t h o u g h b o t h F i e l d i n g and S t e r n e c o m b i n e d s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s 

w i t h r e a l i s m , t h e t r a d i t i o n p a s s e d o n t o t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y 

was t h e r e a l i s t i c t r a d i t i o n ; p o o r s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s d i d a b o u t 

a s w e l l a s t h e G o t h i c . 

T h e r e w e r e o f c o u r s e c r i t i c s p r e p a r e d t o a r g u e t h a t w h a t d i d 

i n f a c t h a p p e n was w h a t s h o u l d h a v e h a p p e n e d ; t h e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r was e v e n t u a l l y b a n n e d f r o m w h a t was t h o u g h t t o be t h e 

r e a l i s t i c m a i n s t r e a m o f t h e n o v e l . C o n s e q u e n t l y , t h e c o n t e m p o r a r y 

r e s u r g e n c e o f t h e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r h a s l e d t o e x a g g e r a t e d 

and e n t h u s i a s t i c n o t i o n s t h a t he i s a r e v o l u t i o n a r y f i g u r e t o be 

a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t h e b r e a k d o w n o f l a n g u a g e , p h i l o s o p h i c c h a o s , 



34 

l i t e r a t u r e as s o l i p s i s t i c escapism -- a l l those notions based on 

the idea that self-consciousness and realism are somehow mutually-

exclusive. This notion i s of course f a l s e , and leads to exagger-

ations on the order of Ditsky 1 s that "the novel form has been 

sidetracked since Austen." 

The Self-Conscious Narrator i n the Eighteenth Century 

The conventional novel i s based on what Ian Watt c a l l s 
18 

formal realism. The use of a self-conscious narrator for years 

implied an anti-conventional departure from the norm, the norm 

having been established i n the eyes of theoreticians of the novel 

by Defoe and Richardson. A sense of norms and t r a d i t i o n s was 

quickly established despite the fact that the word "novel," 

as i s endlessly pointed out, implies something innovative and new. 

What was new about the novel i n the eighteenth century was that 

i t answered the middle class need for f a c t s . The lowest common 

denominator of the novel, Watt's formal realism, i n s i s t s o n the 

things of t h i s world. We are t o l d that the novel was stimulated 

by the new individualism of the competitive marketplace and free-

form Protestantism, or by trends i n philosophy towards nominalist 

language and the evidence of the senses, or by a new s c i e n t i f i c 

i n t e r e s t i n the quotidian; but i n any case the middle-class 

reading public desired information about t h e i r very r e a l world. 

These very r e a l wants were answered by Defoe, who i n 1722 

published A Journal of the Plague Year, a work of f i c t i o n that 

(18) See Ian Watt ), The Rise of the Novel (London, 1957; rpt. Berkeley 
and Los Angeles: Univ. of California Press, 1965), pp. 32-34. 



35 

d i s g u i s e d i t s e l f as an eye-witness, f i r s t - p e r s o n account of the 

Great Plague of London i n 1665. About two decades l a t e r R i c h a r d -

son wrote Pamela, f i c t i o n d i s g u i s e d as a conduct book f o r young 

g i r l s who might f i n d themselves r e s i s t i n g the somewhat unwelcome 

advances of lecherous gentlemen. Both Richardson and Defoe used 

n a r r a t o r s who were unconcerned about s t y l i s t i c virtuosity. M o l l , 

Robinson Crusoe and Pamela are not l i t e r a r y craftsmen. 

F i e l d i n g c h a l l e n g e d the conventions o f the n o v e l , which had 

b a r e l y begun, w i t h h i s p a r o d i e s Shamela and Joseph Andrews. Tom  

Jones i s the most r a d i c a l departure, as F i e l d i n g h i m s e l f announced: 

I s h a l l not look on myself as accountable to any 
c o u r t of c r i t i c a l j u r i s d i c t i o n whatever; f o r as I 
am, i n r e a l i t y , the founder of a new p r o v i n c e of 
w r i t i n g , so I am a t l i b e r t y to make what laws I 
p l e a s e t h e r e i n . ^ 

Even a t t h i s e a r l y stage of the novel's development, the s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r has an important p l a c e . We r e c o g n i z e h i s 

presence i n a chapter heading of Tom Jones — "A s h o r t h i n t of what 

we can do i n the sublime ...." — and i n the d e l i b e r a t e l y exagger-

ated mock-epic s t y l e of the passage t h a t p r o v i d e s a h i n t of the 

sublime: "Hushed be every ruder b r e a t h . May the heathen r u l e r 

of the winds c o n f i n e i n i r o n c h a i n s the b o i s t e r o u s limbs of n o i s y 

Boreas ..." (p. 129). 

But the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i n a l l h i s i n v o l u t e d g l o r y 

a r r i v e s w i t h Sterne's T r i s t r a m Shandy: 

(19) Henry F i e l d i n g , Tom Jones (London, 1749; rpt. New York: New 
American Library, 1963), p. 65. 



36 

We are now going to enter upon a new scene 
of events. — 

Leave we then the breeches i n the t a y l o r ' s 
hands, with my f a t h e r standing over him .... 

Leave we poor Le Fever to r e c o v e r , and get 
home from M a r s e i l l e s as he can. — And l a s t of 
a l l , -- because the hardest of a l l --

L e t us l e a v e , i f p o s s i b l e , myself: — But 
' t i s i m p o s s i b l e , — I must go along w i t h you to 
the end of the w o r k ^ g 

From Defoe's r e a l i s m to one of the most s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , a r t i f i c i a l , 

meddling n a r r a t o r s i n l i t e r a t u r e . A l i t e r a r y c r i t i c who was born 

i n 1700, and who attempted throughout h i s l i f e to s t a y up to date 

with the avant garde, would have thrown h i s hands up i n d e s p a i r 

when T r i s t r a m Shandy began to be p u b l i s h e d i n 1759. 

By 1759.the novel had combined s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s with formal 

r e a l i s m ; i t should be remembered t h a t n e i t h e r F i e l d i n g nor Sterne 

abandoned r e a l i s m . Sterne's n a r r a t o r might be s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

and whimsical, but h i s account of the siege of Namur i s a c c u r a t e . 

F i e l d i n g ' s n o v e l , l i k e many a r e a l i s t i c novel a f t e r i t , took a 

chance on i n s u l t i n g i t s audience by d e s c r i b i n g l i f e among the 

lower c l a s s e s ; and the complex, " a r t i f i c i a l " p l o t i s s a i d to 

c o r r e l a t e with the almanac of 174 5. N e v e r t h e l e s s , i t was the more 

s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d r e a l i s m o f Defoe and Richardson which came to be 

thought of as the c e n t r a l t r a d i t i o n of the n o v e l , and the s e l f -

conscious s t y l e of Sterne, i n p a r t i c u l a r , was c o n s i d e r e d a b l i n d , 

a l l e y o f f the novel's h e a l t h y highroad. Thus the loaded terms of 

E r n e s t Baker: 

The f r e a k i s h d e v i a t i o n s from the norm t y p i f i e d 
by T r i s t r a m Shandy and A Sentimental Journey were 

(20) Laurence Sterne, Tristram Shandy, ed. Ian Watt (Boston: Houghton 
M i f f l i n , 1965), p. 336. 



37 

not,however, a t h i n g e n t i r e l y new, but on the 
c o n t r a r y a r e v i v a l of n o n d e s c r i p t kinds of 
f i c t i o n t h a t had been common enough b e f o r e 
Richardson and F i e l d i n g took h o l d of the novel 
and put i t i n o r d e r . ^ 

Such p o l a r i z a t i o n of " f r e a k i s h d e r i v a t i o n " vs. the novel i n 

good order i s an impediment to understanding s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s 

i n Nabokov and Barthelme. S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s had i t s t u r n as 

the f r e a k i s h d e r i v a t i o n , but now i n much contemporary c r i t i c i s m 

r e a l i s m has to p l a y the v i l l a i n o u s r o l e of f r e a k i s h d e r i v a t i o n , 

or, as Sontag would have i t , the product of a r e t a r d e d c o n s c i o u s -

ness. Behind the mad pendulum swing of c r i t i c a l o p i n i o n the 

work i t s e l f tends to be obscured; the process of r e v i s i n g l i t e r -

ary h i s t o r y has a marked e f f e c t on our understanding of contem-

porary w r i t e r s who the c r i t i c s i n s i s t operate under Sterne's 

shadow. Joyce C a r o l Oates, f o r example, says i t i s a "commonplace 

of c r i t i c a l thought to p o i n t a l l the way back to T r i s t r a m Shandy 
22 

as a convention-breaking work"; a commonplace, t h a t i s , of 

r e c e n t c r i t i c a l thought, which i s dominated by the n o t i o n t h a t 

works which break with t r a d i t i o n are the most v a l u a b l e . 

. I t i s a f u r t h e r s i g n of Sterne's new c e n t r a l i t y t h a t Wayne 

Booth has p r o v i d e d T r i s t r a m w i t h h i s own t r a d i t i o n , beginning w i t h 

Don Quixote, "the f i r s t important novel u s i n g the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r " (p. 165). Sterne's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r suddenly 

develops a p e d i g r e e : Booth mentions i n h i s a r t i c l e F u r e t i ^ r e ' s 

Le Roman Bourgeois (1666), Scarron's Roman Comique ( i n two p a r t s , 

(21) Ernest Baker, The History of the English Novel, IV (London: H.F. 
and G. Witherby, 1930), p. 240. 

(22) Joe David Bellamy, "Joyce Carol Oates," in Bellamy, p. 27. 



38 

1651 and 1657), Congreve's I n c o g n i t a (1700), the important 

Pharsamon (1737) by Marivaux, and a mass of " f a c e t i a e " , a term t h a t 

i s probably subsumed under E r n e s t Baker's c r u e l phrase, "non-
23 

d e s c r i p t k i n d s of f i c t i o n . " We are now assured t h a t Sterne's 
times were p o s i t i v e l y c h a r a c t e r i z e d by s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s : 

[R]egardless of the h i s t o r i a n ' s d e c i s i o n as to 
the date of the o r i g i n of the novel as a l i t e r a r y 
form, the form i t s e l f ... became important i n 
the e i g h t e e n t h century concurrent w i t h the new 
s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s of western man about h i s need 
to hammer out f o r h i m s e l f the answers to h i s 
i n c r e a s i n g l y p r o b l e m a t i c and f r e n e t i c e x i s t e n c e . 
... And the major i s s u e s themselves are t r a n s -
formed i n t o fundamental q u e s t i o n s about the form 
i t s e l f and how to use i t ^ ^ 

Kaplan's v e r s i o n of l i t e r a r y h i s t o r y makes s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s 

and Sterne c e n t r a l to the e i g h t e e n t h century. In f a c t , however, 

the r e a l i s m of Defoe and Richardson p r e v a i l e d , which e x p l a i n s 

why the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r l a n g u i s h e d i n the f o l l o w i n g 

century. He s u r v i v e d o n l y i n a weakened c o n d i t i o n as p a r t of 

what i s known as e d i t o r i a l omniscience, which r e f e r s to a n a r r a -

t o r who knows as much about h i s c h a r a c t e r s as God, and who 

enjoys commenting on the a c t i o n as i t u n f o l d s . The omniscient 

n a r r a t o r d i f f e r s from the e i g h t e e n t h century s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r i n t h a t he g e n e r a l l y r e s t r i c t s h i m s e l f to m o r a l i z i n g 

commentary, r a t h e r than a e s t h e t i c debates t h a t would s i g n i f i c a n t l y 

d i s t u r b h i s novel's r e a l i s t i c s u r f a c e . 

The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r e x p i r e d , and the c r i t i c s gathered 

a t h i s s i c k b e d to say t h a t h i s death might be necessary to c l e a r 

(23) See also Booth's "Tristram Shandy and I t s Precursors: The Self-
Conscious Narrator," Diss. Univ. of Chicago 1950; and his The Rhetoric' of F i c t i o n 
(Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1961), p a r t i c u l a r l y pp. 211-40. 

(24) Fred Kaplan, " V i c t o r i a n Modernists: Fowles and Nabokov," The  
Journal of Narrative Technique, 3 (1973), 109. 



39 

the way f o r the p u r e l y r e a l i s t i c n o v e l . T h i s u n f o r t u n a t e c r i t i c a l 

b i a s has had an e f f e c t on our understanding of contemporary 

n o v e l i s t s , whose use of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s taken to 

be a r e p u d i a t i o n of r e a l i s m , w i t h a l l the accompanying p h i l o s -

o p h i c a l c o n n o t a t i o n s , r a t h e r than the r e j u v e n a t i o n of a l i t e r -

ary d e v i c e which can be used as a f u l l p a r t n e r of r e a l i s m r a t h e r 

than i t s p o l a r o p p o s i t e . But l e t us look a t the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r ' s d e c l i n i n g f o r t u n e s i n more d e t a i l . 

The D e c l i n e of the S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r 

I t i s t r u e t h a t s e v e r a l n i n e t e e n t h century n a r r a t o r s i n t r u d e 

to comment on the a c t i o n , and to a c e r t a i n extent make the reader 

aware of a c o n t r o l l i n g a r t i s t i c presence. For example, here 

i n the e a r l y p a r t of the century is: Jane Austen, g e n e r a l l y deemed 

"impersonal," n e v e r t h e l e s s commenting i n a f a c e t i o u s v e i n towards 

the end of M a n s f i e l d Park: "Let other pens d w e l l on g u i l t and 

misery. I q u i t such odious s u b j e c t s as soon as I can, impatient 

to r e s t o r e every body, not g r e a t l y i n f a u l t themselves, to 
25 

t o l e r a b l e comfort, and to have done with a l l the rest.," 
In Adam Bede, while the s t o r y "Pauses a L i t t l e , " George 

E l i o t chats w i t h a reader about her treatment of the clergyman, 
2 6 

Mr. Irwine. In V a n i t y F a i r , Thackeray promises t h a t once the 

c u r t a i n i s r a i s e d he w i l l bow to the audience and r e t i r e ; i n 

f a c t , however, he can't r e s i s t a f u r t h e r p e r s o n a l appearance, and 

(25) Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, ed. Reuben^'A. Brower (Boston: 
Houghton M i f f l i n , 1965), p. 350. 

(26) George E l i o t , Adam Bede (London, 1859; rpt. New York: Crowell-
Collier, 1962), p. 173. 



40 

t r a v e l s t o t h e D u c a l town o f P u m p e r n i c k e l , a t t e n d s t h e t h e a t r e , 

and p e r s o n a l l y w i t n e s s e s t h e s o c i a l e m b a r r a s s m e n t o f D o b b i n a n d 

Emmy: " I t was o n t h i s v e r y t o u r t h a t I , t h e p r e s e n t w r i t e r o f 

a h i s t o r y o f w h i c h e v e r y w o r d i s t r u e , h a d t h e p l e a s u r e t o ... 
27 

make t h e i r a c q u a i n t a n c e . " The r e t i c e n t ..and w i t h d r a w n N a t h -

a n i e l H a w t h o r n e s u r p r i s e d h i m s e l f i n t h e o p e n i n g t o The S c a r l e t  

L e t t e r : 
I t i s a l i t t l e r e m a r k a b l e , t h a t — t h o u g h 

d i s i n c l i n e d t o t a l k o v e r m u c h o f m y s e l f and my 
a f f a i r s a t t h e f i r e s i d e , and t o my p e r s o n a l 
f r i e n d s — a n a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l i m p u l s e s h o u l d 
t w i c e i n my l i f e h a v e t a k e n p o s s e s s i o n o f me, 
i n a d d r e s s i n g t h e p u b l i c . The f i r s t t i m e was 
t h r e e o r f o u r y e a r s s i n c e , when I f a v o r e d t h e 
r e a d e r — i n e x c u s a b l y , and f o r no e a r t h l y 
r e a s o n , t h a t e i t h e r t h e i n d u l g e n t r e a d e r o r t h e 
i n t r u s i v e a u t h o r c o u l d i m a g i n e — w i t h a d e s -
c r i p t i o n o f my way o f l i f e i n t h e d e e p q u i e t u d e 
o f a n O l d Manse. And now — b e c a u s e , b e y o n d 
my d e s e r t s , I was h a p p y e n o u g h t o f i n d a l i s t -
e n e r o r two on t h e f o r m e r o c c a s i o n — I a g a i n 
s e i z e t h e p u b l i c b y t h e b u t t o n , a n d t a l k o f my 
t h r e e y e a r s ' e x p e r i e n c e i n a Custom-House.2g 

B u t t h e r e i s a f u n d a m e n t a l d i f f e r e n c e b e t w e e n t h i s n i n e t e e n t h 

c e n t u r y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r a n d t h e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s 

o f B a r t h e l m e o r N a b o k o v o r S t e r n e . P a r a d o x i c a l l y e n o u g h , A u s t e n 

and H a w t h o r n e seem a n y t h i n g b u t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s ; t h e i r i n t r u s i o n s 

seem n a t u r a l , i n n o c e n t and u n s o p h i s t i c a t e d . T h e i r n a r r a t o r s a r e 

n o t s t r u g g l i n g w i t h d i f f e r e n t m e t h o d s o f n a r r a t i o n , a n d n o t h i n g 

i s p r o b l e m a t i c a b o u t t h e i r c h o i c e s ; i n s t e a d , t h e y r e s t w i t h i n t h e 

c o n v e n t i o n o f e d i t o r i a l o m n i s c i e n c e . The n a r r a t o r i s o m n i s c i e n t 

i n t h a t he h a s f u l l k n o w l e d g e o f e v e r y t h i n g t h a t p a s s e s i n t h e 

(27) Thackeray, Vanity Fair, ed. Geoffrey and Kathleen T i l l o t s o n 
(Boston: Houghton M i f f l i n , 1963), p. 602. 

(28) Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, ed. Sculley Bradley, 
Richmond Croom Beatty, and E. Hudson Long (New York: Norton, 1961), p. 6. 



41 

minds of h i s c h a r a c t e r s ; but i n r e t u r n f o r t h i s power, he must 

t r e a t the reader w i t h r e s p e c t . T h i s i s the era of Dear Reader. 

The u n w r i t t e n c o n t r a c t demands g e n t e e l deference to the audience 

and to t r a d i t i o n a l methods of t e l l i n g a s t o r y ; although the n a r r a -

t o r has a b s o l u t e power, he must never break the r u l e s of v e r i s i m -

i l i t u d e . The n a r r a t o r r a r e l y e x p l o r e s h i s own p e r s o n a l i t y , or 

r e v e a l s h i s s t y l i s t i c and t e c h n i c a l problems; h i s a t t e n t i o n i s 

focused i n s t e a d on e n t e r t a i n i n g and e n l i g h t e n i n g h i s guest, the 

reader: 

I t i s the f i r s t n e c e s s i t y of [the n o v e l i s t ' s ] 
p o s i t i o n t h a t he make h i m s e l f p l e a s a n t . O Q 

Perhaps the reader — whom I cannot help con-
s i d e r i n g as my guest i n the Old Manse, and 
e n t i t l e d to a l l c o u r t e s y i n the way of s i g h t -
showing . . . . 

Omniscience w i t h i n gentlemanly l i m i t s becomes a k i n d of de-

p e r s o n a l i z e d omniscience, which means the death of a s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r who would i n s i s t on the v a g a r i e s of a e s t h e t i c 

methods and on h i s own p e r s o n a l i t y . Norman Friedman uses the 

u s e f u l term N e u t r a l Omniscience to d e s c r i b e the d e p e r s o n a l i z a t i o n 

of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s v o i c e . Whereas E d i t o r i a l Omniscience admits 

" a u t h o r i a l i n t r u s i o n s and g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s about l i f e , manners and 

morals," N e u t r a l Omniscience " d i f f e r s from E d i t o r i a l Omniscience 

o n l y i n the absence of d i r e c t a u t h o r i a l i n t r u s i o n s (the author 
31 

speaks i m p e r s o n a l l y i n the t h i r d person) . . . . " As the "author-

(29) Anthony Trollope, Autobiography, in Miriam Allott,Novelists  
on the Novel (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1959) p. 315. 

(30) Nathaniel Hawthorne, Mosses from an Old Manse (1846; rpt. 
Chicago: Rand, McNally, n.d.), p.8. 

(31) Norman Friedman, "Point of View in Fiction: The Development 
of a Critical Concept," PMLA, 70 (1955), 1171-72. 



42 

i a l i n t r u s i o n s " (more a c c u r a t e l y , the n a r r a t o r ' s i n t r u s i o n s ) 

dwindle and e v e n t u a l l y disappear, the n a r r a t o r drops from the 

reader's s i g h t , to be r e p l a c e d by an impersonal omniscient 

v o i c e which r a r e l y r e f e r s to the f a c t t h a t the s t o r y a t hand, " i n 

which every word i s t r u e , " i s a c r e a t e d work of a r t . 

T h i s d e p e r s o n a l i z a t i o n r e c e i v e d the i n f l u e n t i a l approval 

of Henry James, who c o n s i d e r e d i t s a c r i l e g i o u s f o r a n a r r a t o r 

to i n t r u d e on the s t o r y . Consider h i s remarks from an essay on 

Anthony T r o l l o p e : 

He took a s u i c i d a l s a t i s f a c t i o n i n reminding 
the reader t h a t the s t o r y he was t e l l i n g was 
o n l y , a f t e r a l l , a make-believe. He h a b i t u a l l y 
r e f e r r e d to the work i n hand ( i n the course of 
t h a t work) as a n o v e l , and to h i m s e l f as a 
n o v e l i s t , and was fond of l e t t i n g the reader 
know t h a t t h i s n o v e l i s t c o u l d d i r e c t the course 
o f events a c c o r d i n g t o h i s p l e a s u r e . A l r e a d y , 
i n B a r c h e s t e r Towers, he f a l l s i n t o t h i s per-
n i c i o u s t r i c k . . . . These l i t t l e s l a p s a t c r e d -
u l i t y (we might g i v e many more specimens) 
are v e r y d i s c o u r a g i n g , but they are even more 
i n e x p l i c a b l e ; f o r they are d e l i b e r a t e l y i n a r t -
i s t i c .... I t i s i m p o s s i b l e to imagine what 
a n o v e l i s t takes h i m s e l f to be u n l e s s he regards 
h i m s e l f as an h i s t o r i a n and h i s n a r r a t i v e as 
a h i s t o r y . . . . As a n a r r a t o r of f i c t i t i o u s 
events he i s nowhere.... T h e r e f o r e , when 
T r o l l o p e suddenly winks a t us and reminds us 
t h a t he i s t e l l i n g us an a r b i t r a r y t h i n g , we 
are s t a r t l e d and s h o c k e d . . . . ^ 

James p r e f e r r e d a s i n g l e , focused p e r s p e c t i v e r a t h e r than the 
33 

m u l t i p l e p e r s p e c t i v e of the omniscient n a r r a t o r . He p r e f e r r e d 
(32) James, pp. 247-48. 
(33) "To employ more perspectives than are necessary for the 'treat-

ment of the subject' i s seen by them [James and Percy Lubbock] as an a r t i s t i c 
f a i l u r e . (This judgment i s probably i t s e l f based on an analogy with the 
l o g i c a l p r i n c i p l e known as Occam's razor, which assigns a superior v a l i d i t y 
to the simpler of two arguments',} " Robert Scholes and Robert Kellogg, The  
Nature of Narrative (New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1966), p. 273. 



43 

to i n c o r p o r a t e the s i n g l e p e r s p e c t i v e as a c h a r a c t e r w i t h i n the 

p l o t ; hence, such c h a r a c t e r s as Lambert . S t r e t h e r , and " p o i n t of 

view" r a t h e r than a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . 

"As a n a r r a t o r of f i c t i t i o u s events he i s nowhere," suggests 

the scope of James' p r e j u d i c e a g a i n s t the o v e r t a r t i f i c e of the 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ; n e v e r t h e l e s s h i s t h e o r i e s were f u l l 

of q u a l i f i c a t i o n s and good sense. U n f o r t u n a t e l y , h i s t h e o r i e s 

were s i m p l i f i e d by Percy Lubbock i n the i n f l u e n t i a l C r a f t of  

F i c t i o n : 

Lubbock's account i s c l e a r e r and more s y s t e m a t i c 
than James's ; he g i v e s us a neat and h e l p f u l 
scheme of r e l a t i o n s h i p s among the terms panorama, 
p i c t u r e , drama and scene. I t i s a scheme t h a t 
James can be made to support, but i n James's 
account i t i s surrounded w i t h important q u a l i -
f i c a t i o n s which i n Lubbock are a l r e a d y beginning 
to be s l i g h t e d . 2 4 

James and h i s d i s c i p l e Lubbock c o n t r i b u t e d to the demise of the 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , an easy t a r g e t i n t h a t he u s u a l l y appeared 

i n the form of a surrogate f o r the m o r a l i z i n g author. Instead 

of f o c u s i n g the reader's a t t e n t i o n on the a e s t h e t i c s of the 

n a r r a t i v e , he o f f e r e d a running moral commentary; and i n s t e a d 

of f l a u n t i n g h i s q u i r k y , s u b j e c t i v e p e r s o n a l i t y , he e i t h e r mod-

u l a t e d towards a n e u t r a l and even i n v i s i b l e i m p e r s o n a l i t y , or 

e l s e presented h i m s e l f as a decorous gentleman, the w i l l i n g 

servant of h i s reader's e x p e c t a t i o n s . Such a t l e a s t were the 

tendencies of the n i n e t e e n t h century s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , 

and those who wanted a more impersonal and o b j e c t i v e novel were 

not about to advocate a r e t u r n to the more e x h i b i t i o n i s t i c 

(34) Booth, Rhetoric, pp. 24-25. 



44 

tendencies of a Sterne. Consequently, by 1928, and Point Counter 

Point, Aldous Huxley uses the notebook of a character named 

P h i l i p Quarles to complain about the disappearance of the s e l f -

conscious narrator i n his role as meddling author. Quarles 

muses on the former "god-like creative p r i v i l e g e " of the novel-

i s t , 

to consider the events of the story i n t h e i r 
various aspects — emotional, s c i e n t i f i c , 
economic, r e l i g i o u s , metaphysical, etc. He 
w i l l modulate from one to the other .... But 
perhaps t h i s i s a too tyrannical imposition 
of the author's w i l l . Some people would think 
so. But need the author be so r e t i r i n g ? I 
think we're a b i t too squeamish about these 
personal appearances nowadays. 

Ford Madox Ford wrote unequivocally that the n o v e l i s t 

"must not, by taking sides, exhibit his preferences." "No 

author would, l i k e Thackeray, today intrude his broken nose 

and myopic spectacles into the middle of the most t h r i l l i n g 

scene he ever wrote, i n order to t e l l you that though his 

heroine was rather a wrong 'un his own heart was i n the r i g h t 
3 6 

place." Joseph Warren Beach could j u s t i f i a b l y claim that, "In 

a bird's-eye view of the English novel from F i e l d i n g to Ford, 

the one thing that w i l l impress you more than any other i s the 
37 

disappearance of the author." Although Beach states a fact 

rather than making a judgment, other c r i t i c s stood ready to 

eleyate what _is to what should be. In a chapter of The World (35) Aldous Huxley, Point Counter Point (1928; rpt. Harmondsworth, 
Middlesex: Penguin, 1955), p. 298. 

(36) Ford Madox Ford, The English Novel ( P h i l a d e l p h i a and London: 
J.B. Lippincott, 1929), pp. 128, 144. 

(37) Joseph Warren Beach, The Twentieth Century Novel: Studies in  
Technique (New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1932), p. 14. 



4 5 

of F i c t i o n w i t h the apt t i t l e , "The I n v i s i b l e N o v e l i s t , " 

Bernard DeVoto d e c l a r e s t h a t the " i n t e r p o s i t i o n of the n o v e l -

i s t i n person i s d i s c o r d a n t " : 

C e r t a i n l y the sentiment i s not u n i v e r s a l ; there 
are many r e a d e r s who do not share i t and some 
n o v e l i s t s who do not observe i t . [Nevertheless] 
i t i s one of the determining p r i n c i p l e s of 
modern f i c t i o n and one of the refinements, or 
p u r i f i c a t i o n s , t h a t f i c t i o n has achieved on 
the way to i t s i m p l i c i t methods. 

DeVoto 1 s " i m p l i c i t methods" h i n t a t the s t e r i l e dogmatism o f 

New C r i t i c a l t h e o r i e s about the n o v e l . A n a r r a t o r commenting 

c a s u a l l y on h i s n a r r a t i v e i n a r e l a x e d , m o r a l i s t i c , o l d - f a s h i o n e d 

tone i s an embarrassment t o the c r i t i c engaged i n c l o s e r e a d i n g 

to e s t a b l i s h s t r u c t u r e , t e n s i o n , "pseudo-statement" and h o l i s t i c 

form. The author's biography was d e c l a r e d out of bounds (the 

i n t e n t i o n a l f a l l a c y ) , and h i s r h e t o r i c a l e f f e c t on the audience 

was deemed i r r e l e v a n t (the a f f e c t i v e f a l l a c y ) . Thus A l l e n Tate: 

The l i m i t e d and thus c r e d i b l e a u t h o r i t y f o r the 
a c t i o n , which i s gained by p u t t i n g the knower 
of the a c t i o n i n s i d e i t s frame, i s perhaps the 
d i s t i n c t i v e f e a t u r e of the modern n o v e l ; and i t 
i s , i n a l l the i n f i n i t e s h i f t s of focus of 
which i t i s capable, the s p e c i f i c f e a t u r e which 
more than any other has made i t p o s s i b l e f o r 
the n o v e l i s t to achieve an o b j e c t i v e s t r u c t u r e . 

There i s no p r o v i s i o n i n the " o b j e c t i v e s t r u c t u r e " f o r s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r s who might leave around the unsharpened pen-

c i l s o f t h e i r c r a f t , and o f f e r u n s o l i c i t e d o p i n i o n s r e g a r d i n g 

the m o r a l i t y of the c h a r a c t e r s , and perhaps c a l l i n t o q u e s t i o n 

(38) Bernard DeVoto, The World of F i c t i o n (Boston: The Writer, Inc., 
1956), p. 207. 

(39) Allen Tate, "The Post of Observation in F i c t i o n , " Maryland  
Quarterly, I (1944), p. 63. 



46 

the terms of e x i s t e n c e of the o b j e c t , the o b j e t d ' a r t . 

The r i g i d c r i t i c a l orthodoxy t h a t proclaimed the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r " d i s c o r d a n t " was p a r t of a l a r g e r c r i t i c a l tendency 

towards the impersonal and even the dehumanized. -By compar-

i s o n w i t h the sympathetic c l u c k i n g n o i s e s Thackeray makes over 

h i s f a v o u r i t e c h a r a c t e r s , F l a u b e r t ' s a t t i t u d e towards Madame 

Bovary seems inhuman and t h e r e f o r e c r u e l ( i n so f a r as the 

n a r r a t i v e v o i c e i n Madame Bovary has any human dimension a t a l l ) . 

There i s no longer any need f o r the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ' s 

tendency to meddle i n the p l o t , f o r h i s o v e r t a e s t h e t i c p r e -

occupations, h i s m o r a l i z i n g , o r , of course, h i s r h e t o r i c . 

I f the novel i s a p e r f e c t o b j e c t , there i s no need to c a j o l e 

the audience. 

T h e r e f o r e the next s e c t i o n examines the d e p e r s o n a l i z a t i o n 

of the n a r r a t i v e , which has r a m i f i c a t i o n s f o r the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r i n the contemporary n o v e l . When the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r f i n a l l y r e t u r n e d to the n o v e l , a f t e r being banished 

from h i s p a r t n e r s h i p i n the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of r e a l i t y f o r so 

long, he n a t u r a l l y enough appeared to be a s o l i p s i s t i c agent of 

chaos, designed to e l i m i n a t e any p o s s i b i l i t y of agreement between 

the a r t i s t and the audience about t h e i r common r e a l i t y . 

L e t us look f i r s t a t what Jose Ortega y Gasset would 

c a l l the dehumanization of a r t . 

The Inhuman N a r r a t o r 

There i s a famous passage r e l a t i n g to the d e p e r s o n a l i z a t i o n 

of the novel i n A P o r t r a i t of the A r t i s t as a Young Man: 



47 

The personality of the a r t i s t , at f i r s t a cry 
or a cadence or a mood and then a fluent and 
lambent narrative, f i n a l l y refines i t s e l f 
out of existence, impersonalizes i t s e l f , so 
to speak.... The a r t i s t , l i k e the God of the 
creation, remains behind or within or beyond 
or above his handiwork, i n v i s i b l e , refined out 
of existence, i n d i f f e r e n t , paring his finger-
n a i l s . 4 0 

P o r t r a i t was published i n 1916. Four years l a t e r T.S. E l i o t 

published The Sacred Wood, which includes the i n f l u e n t i a l essay, 

"Tradition and the Individual Talent." E l i o t also wants to 

minimize the a r t i s t ' s personality, or at least the c u l t of 

personality: " I t i s not i n his personal emotions, the emotions 

provoked by p a r t i c u l a r events i n his l i f e , that the poet i s i n 

any way remarkable or interesting." "Poetry i s ... not the expres-

sion of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of 

course, only those who have personality and emotions know what i t 

means to want to escape from these things."^"*" 

Given the i n t e l l e c t u a l climate, i t i s not surprising that a 

prejudice developed i n favor of impersonal "showing" over 

r h e t o r i c a l " t e l l i n g . " Wayne Booth has attempted to dispense 

with the d i s t i n c t i o n between showing and t e l l i n g once and for a l l . 

"Everything [the author] shows w i l l serve to t e l l ; the l i n e between 

showing and t e l l i n g i s always to some degree an a r b i t r a r y one." 

In short, "the author's judgment i s always present, always 
42 

evident to one who knows how to look for i t . " Booth i s reacting 

(40) James Joyce, A P o r t r a i t of the A r t i s t as a Young Man, ed. Chester 
G. Anderson (New York: Viking, 1968), p. 215. 

(41) T.S. E l i o t , "Tradition and the Individual Talent," in The Sacred  
Wood: Essays on Poetry and C r i t i c i s m (1920; rpt. London: Methuen, 1960), pp. 
57, 58. 

(42) Booth, Rhetoric, p. 20. 



48 

a g a i n s t a b i a s which i s d i s p l a y e d i n the f o l l o w i n g d i s c u s s i o n 

of the d i f f e r e n c e between Defoe (who we are to b e l i e v e i s a 

clumsy t e l l e r ) and Joyce (a s o p h i s t i c a t e d shower). John Peter 

compares a passage from Robinson Crusoe w i t h a passage from the 

P o r t r a i t : 

In the one case [Defoe] the t e x t u r e i s com-
p a r a t i v e l y opaque: we hear the v o i c e of the 
author speaking, n a r r a t i n g . In the o t h e r case 
the t e x t u r e i s comparatively t r a n s p a r e n t , so 
t h a t i t i s r a t h e r a matter of the s t o r y e n a c t i n g 
i t s e l f through an u n o b s t r u c t i v e medium of words. 

... We a s s o c i a t e the undeveloped s t y l e with 
the use of the f i r s t person, and with v e r b o s i t i e s 
l i k e "I take up my pen" and "Gentle reader," 
and i t i s probably t r u e t h a t an e a r l y n o v e l i s t 
l i k e Richardson was p r e c l u d e d , by h i s use of 
the e p i s t o l a r y method, from a c h i e v i n g the f o r c e 
of a developed s t y l e . . . . [In many e a r l y novels] 
the n a r r a t o r , though not the author h i m s e l f , per-
mits him the l a t i t u d e of e x p a t i a t i o n and surmise, 
a s o r t of d a i r i a n ease, and here too the prose 
seldom transcends the l e v e l of i t s words....^ 

Peter confuses the author w i t h the n a r r a t i v e v o i c e . We do not 

have the author "speaking, n a r r a t i n g " i n Defoe's n o v e l , because 

i t i s a f i r s t person n a r r a t i o n by a c h a r a c t e r named Robinson 

Crusoe. A novel i s never n a r r a t e d by the author, but by a 

n a r r a t i v e v o i c e which i s as much a c r e a t i o n as the c h a r a c t e r s , 

and which can be f i r s t - p e r s o n or t h i r d - p e r s o n , o b j e c t i v e or 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , or whatever. Obviously Peter sees any i n t e r -

mediary between the events and the reader as a flaw r e v e a l i n g the 

amateurish presence of the author, and an impediment to the 

progress of the "developed" s t y l e . But whether the p e r p e t r a t o r 

i s the n a r r a t o r , or the author, or the "use of the f i r s t person," 

(43) John Peter, "Joyce and the Novel," Kenyon Review, 18 (1956), 622. 



49 

the s i n i s " l a t i t u d e of e x p a t i a t i o n and surmise, a s o r t of 

d a i r i a n ease"; s i n c e t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n c o u l d e a s i l y f i t T r i s t r a m 

Shandy, we can surmise t h a t -there i s no p l a c e f o r the "verbose" 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i n P e t e r ' s developed s t y l e . 

The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r would f a r e no b e t t e r i n what Jose 

Ortega y Gasset c a l l e d the " p r e s e n t a t i v e " n o v e l . Ortega says 

t h a t while the " p r i m i t i v e reader" may have enjoyed the n a r r a t i v e 

n o v e l , the modern s o p h i s t i c a t e d reader demands a novel " d i r e c t 
44 

and d e s c r i p t i v e . The b e s t word would be ' p r e s e n t a t i v e ' . " 

"During the n i n e t e e n t h century," Ortega says, " a r t i s t s proceeded 

i n a l l too impure a f a s h i o n . They reduced the s t r i c t l y 

a e s t h e t i c elements to a minimum and l e t the work c o n s i s t almost 

e n t i r e l y i n a f i c t i o n of human r e a l i t i e s " (p. 11). The p r e s e n t -

a t i v e novel would maximize a e s t h e t i c s and minimize human r e a l i t i e s . 

Such a novel would f i t the laws of the new "pure" a r t , which would 

meet the e x p e c t a t i o n s of what Ortega c a l l s "the most a l e r t young 

people of two s u c c e s s i v e g e n e r a t i o n s " (p. 13). The new "pure" 

a r t tends "(1) to dehumanize a r t , (2) to a v o i d l i v i n g forms, 

(3) to see to i t t h a t the work of a r t i s nothing but a work of 

a r t ..." (p. 14) . 

These formidable " a l e r t young people" p l a c e d t h e i r f a i t h 

i n the presented o b j e c t . There i s , of course/ an immense 

c r i t i c a l problem i n the dichotomy between the o b j e c t as a symbol 

f o r v a s t f o r c e s i n the e x t e r n a l world, i n the sense of a g r a i n of 

sand c o n t a i n i n g the u n i v e r s e , and the o b j e c t as supremely u n r e a l , 

(44) Jos? Ortega y Gasset, The Dehumanization of Art and Notes on the  
Novel, trans. Helene Weyl (1948; rpt. New York: Peter Smith, 1951), pp. 62,63. 



50 

with other works of a r t as i t s o n l y c o n t e x t . But i n e i t h e r 

case the emphasis i s on the o b j e c t , the " t h i n g " i n a l l i t s 

r e v e r b e r a t i o n s , and the n a r r a t o r i s s u p e r f l u o u s : 

The work of a r t i n i t s complete p u r i t y i m p l i e s 
the disappearance of the poet's o r a t o r i c a l 
presence. The poet leaves the i n i t i a t i v e to 
the words, to the c l a s h of t h e i r m o b i l i z e d 
d i v e r s i t i e s . The words i g n i t e through mutual 
r e f l e x e s l i k e a f l a s h of f i r e over jewels. 
Such r e f l e x e s r e p l a c e t h a t r e s p i r a t i o n ... 
p e r c e p t i b l e i n the o l d l y r i c a l a s p i r a t i o n or 
the e n t h u s i a s t i c p e r s o n a l d i r e c t i o n of the 
s e n t e n c e . ^ 

The n o v e l i s t was urged to present o b j e c t s : Ortega's 

" u l t r a - o b j . e c t s " (p. 22) or E l i o t ' s more famous o b j e c t i v e c o r r e l -

a t i v e . Thus the impersonal s t y l e of Hemingway, who waged war 

a g a i n s t r h e t o r i c : 

They whack-whacked the white horse on the 
l e g s and he kneed h i m s e l f up. The p i c a d o r 
t w i s t e d the s t i r r u p s s t r a i g h t and p u l l e d and 
hauled up i n t o the saddle. The horse's e n t r a i l s 
hung down i n a blue bunch and swung backward 
and forward as he began to c a n t e r , the monos 
whacking him on the back of h i s l e g s w i t h the 
rods. He cantered j e r k i l y along the b a r r e r a . 
He stopped s t i f f and one of the monos h e l d h i s 
b r i d l e and walked him forward. The p i c a d o r 
k i c k e d i n h i s spurs, leaned forward and shook 
h i s l a n c e a t the b u l l . Blood pumped r e g u l a r l y 
from between the horse's f r o n t l e g s . He was 
n e r v o u s l y unsteady. The b u l l c o u l d not make up 
h i s mind to c h a r g e . a , 

(45) Mallarme, as quoted in Kahler, Disintegration of Form, pp. 75-76. 
Perhaps Borges mocks t h i s tendency in one of the f i e r c e l y avant-garde mono-
graphs of Pierre Menard, "on the p o s s i b i l i t y of constructing a poetic vocab-
ulary of concepts which would not be synonyms or periphrases of those which 
make up our everyday language, 'but rather ideal objects created according 
to convention and e s s e n t i a l l y designed to s a t i s f y poetic needs 
(Labyrinths, p. 37). 

(46) Ernest Heminway, In Our Time (1925; rpt. New York: Scribner's, 
1958), p. 115. 



5 1 

Hemingway banishes the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ; i n f a c t , one 

b a r e l y senses the presence of a n a r r a t i v e v o i c e a t a l l . But 

there i s an i m p l i e d v o i c e , a moral v o i c e t h a t r e f u s e s to accept 

the world's h o r r o r s . R o b b e - G r i l l e t would do away with even the 

i m p l i e d presence of a human consciousness: 

In t h i s f u t u r e u n i v e r s e of the n o v e l , g e s t -
ures and o b j e c t s w i l l be there b e f o r e being 
something; and they w i l l s t i l l be there a f t e r -
wards, hard, u n a l t e r a b l e , e t e r n a l l y p r e s e n t .... 

... No longer w i l l o b j e c t s be merely the 
vague r e f l e c t i o n of the hero's vague s o u l , the 
image of h i s t o r r e n t s , the shadow of h i s d e s i r e s . 
Or r a t h e r , i f o b j e c t s s t i l l a f f o r d a momentary 
prop to human p a s s i o n s , they w i l l do so o n l y 
p r o v i s i o n a l l y , and w i l l accept the tyranny 
of s i g n i f i c a t i o n s o n l y i n appearance --
d e r i s i v e l y , one might say -- the b e t t e r to 
show how a l i e n they remain to man. 

... Whereas the t r a d i t i o n a l hero i s ... 
destroyed by these i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of the 
a u t h o r ' s , c e a s e l e s s l y p r o j e c t e d i n t o an immat-
e r i a l and u n s t a b l e elsewhere ... the f u t u r e 
hero w i l l remain, on the c o n t r a r y , t h e r e . I t 
i s the commentaries t h a t w i l l be l e f t elsewhere; 
i n the face of h i s i r r e f u t a b l e presence, they 
w i l l seem u s e l e s s , s u p e r f l u o u s , even i m p r o p e r l y 

Ortega's program of dehumanization i s f i n a l l y achieved i n Robbe-

G r i l l e t ' s novels; i n s t e a d of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r t h e r e i s 

a detached monotone which drones out the l i s t of o b j e c t s : 

In the second row [of banana t r e e s ] , s t a r t i n g 
from the f a r l e f t , there would be twenty-two 
t r e e s (because of the a l t e r n a t e arrangement) 
i n the case of a r e c t a n g u l a r patch. There 
would a l s o be twenty-two f o r a patch t h a t was 
b a r e l y t r a p e z o i d a l , the r e d u c t i o n being s c a r c e l y 
n o t i c e a b l e a t such a s h o r t d i s t a n c e from i t s 
base. And, i n f a c t , there are twenty-two t r e e s 
t h e r e . 

But the t h i r d row too has o n l y twenty-two 
t3T66S * * * * ii o 

(47) Alain Robbe-Grillet, For A New Novel, pp. 21-22. 
(48) Alain Robbe-Grillet, Jealousy, trans. Richard Howard (New York: 

Grove Press, 1959), p. 20. 



52 

A b i a s a g a i n s t emotional commentary i n f a v o r of impersonal 

a e s t h e t i c o b j e c t s denies the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r freedom 

to f u n c t i o n . A r e l a t e d f a c t o r m i l i t a t i n g a g a i n s t the s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r i s the novel of s o c i a l r e a l i s m , by which we 

mean novels t h a t focus on the s o c i e t y r a t h e r than the i n d i v i d u a l , 

and novels which emphasize s o c i a l f o r c e s , i d e o l o g i c a l and n a t u r a l , 

r a t h e r than s t y l e and a e s t h e t i c s . S o c i a l r e a l i s m i s p a r t i c u l a r l y 

important i n American f i c t i o n , our main i n t e r e s t i n t h a t B a r t h -

elme i s an American w r i t e r , and Nabokov, a d m i t t e d l y a d e l i c a t e , 

problem i n n a t i o n a l i s t i c c l a s s i f i c a t i o n , l i k e d to d e s c r i b e him-

s e l f as an American w r i t e r and taxpayer. 

When one t h i n k s of s o c i a l r e a l i s m i n the novel ;— o f , say, the 

s o c i a l e p i c s of Thackeray and T o l s t o y , - - one a l s o t h i n k s of the 

e a r l y c h a l l e n g e to s o c i a l r e a l i s m made by what are now c a l l e d 

the E n g l i s h modernists — Joyce, Woolf and Lawrence, f o r example. 

Yet d e s p i t e the f a c t t h a t these w r i t e r s , p a r t i c u l a r l y Joyce, 

c h a l l e n g e t r a d i t i o n a l forms of the novel and t r a d i t i o n a l world 

views, i t i s g e n e r a l l y t r u e to say t h a t t h e i r works are grounded 

i n r e a l i s t i c s t u d i e s of t h e i r s o c i e t i e s — Joyce's D u b l i n , 

Lawrence's study of c l a s s d i s t i n c t i o n s i n Lady C h a t t e r l e y ' s Lover, 

the s o c i a l mores of middle c l a s s London which l i e behind the 

epi-stefaologicai.;. f i r e w o r k s of Mrs. Dalloway. Furthermore, t h e i r 

departures from t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m do not g e n e r a l l y depend on 

a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . 

At any r a t e , d e s p i t e any i n f l u e n c e by the E n g l i s h modernists, 

American l i t e r a t u r e has been dominated by s o c i a l r e a l i s m u n t i l 

contemporary times. A case c o u l d be made t h a t r e a l i s m i s s t i l l 

the dominant mode, not o n l y among the b e s t s e l l i n g c h r o n i c l e s of 



53 

an A r t h u r H a i l e y or an Irwin Shaw (who, a f t e r a l l , r e p r e s e n t 

the contemporary n o v e l to most r e a d e r s ) , but among the more 

s o p h i s t i c a t e d n o v e l i s t s such as Bellow, Roth, and McMurtry. 

I t i s d i f f i c u l t to say why the l i t e r a t u r e o f s o c i a l f o r c e s has 

been so strong i n America, although one c o u l d s p e c u l a t e t h a t i t 

has something to do w i t h a young, f r o n t i e r s o c i e t y , i n which the 

f o r c e s t h a t a c t on s o c i e t y are more crude and apparent than they 

are i n the more t r a d i t i o n a l and perhaps more s u b t l e European 

s o c i e t y . S p e c u l a t i o n a s i d e , there i s i n d i s p u t a b l y a r e a l i s t i c 

t r a d i t i o n bounded a t one extreme by the refinements of Howells 

and James, and a t the o t h e r extreme by the b r u t a l i z e d r e a l i s m , 

or n a t u r a l i s m , of London and N o r r i s . A host of w r i t e r s f i t some-

where i n between: Wharton, F a r r e l l , Lewis, Dos Passos, D r e i s e r , 

Thomas Wolfe. There has been an accompanying t r a d i t i o n of 

d i s t r u s t f o r a e s t h e t i c s , p a r t i c u l a r l y ivory-tower a e s t h e t i c s i n 

which the n o v e l i s t would s e t h i m s e l f a p a r t from the commonality. 

W r i t e r s who might s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y d i s t i n g u i s h themselves from 

the b o u r g e o i s i e n e v e r t h e l e s s tend (with some e x c e p t i o n s , to be 

sure) to adopt an a n t i - i n t e l l e c t u a l , a n t i - a e s t h e t i c dandy, two-

f i s t e d stance. C h a r l e s Bukowski comes to mind, the bard of the 

u n l e t t e r e d . 

Because of the s t r e n g t h of the r e a l i s t i c t r a d i t i o n , the break 

w i t h i t has been a l l the more v i o l e n t . The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r , w i t h h i s i n d i v i d u a l i s m , h i s egotism and h i s a e s t h e t i c 

p r e o c c u p a t i o n s , has been embraced a l l too e a g e r l y as a counter-

t h r u s t to the r e a l i s t i c t r a d i t i o n , r a t h e r than as a d e v i c e by 

which the excesses o f r e a l i s m c o u l d be c o r r e c t e d . A r l e n Hansen, 



5 4 

f o r example, advocates the s o l i p s i s m of the " c r e a t i v e i m a g i n a t i o n 

as a necessary e v i l i n the b a t t l e a g a i n s t r e a l i s m , which he sees 

as p a r t l y c h a r a c t e r i z e d by "overt and d i s g u i s e d polemics on: 
4 9 

b e h a l f of empiricism and b e h a v i o r a l i s m . " 
So p r e v a l e n t i s the d e t e r m i n i s t i c c o l o r a t i o n 
of the r e s p e c t i v e v i s i o n s of Crane, D r e i s e r , 
Dos Passos, Cummings, Hemingway, F i t z g e r a l d , 
Faulkner, Wolfe, Warren, Bellow, Updike, H e l l e r , 
Malamud, Roth and M a i l e r t h a t there seems 
l i t t l e need to c i t e s p e c i f i c examples (p. 5, 
n. 2) . 

Perhaps the most a r t i c u l a t e c r i t i c of the o v e r - r e a c t i o n to the 

t r a d i t i o n of s o c i a l r e a l i s m i s Tom Wolfe, who argues t h a t con-

temporary n o v e l i s t s have embraced s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s and o t h e r 

a e s t h e t i c s i n s ( i n Wolfe's theology) to the p o i n t of s u r r e n d e r i n g 

the l i t e r a t u r e of s o c i e t y to the j o u r n a l i s t s . J o u r n a l i s t s , have 

s e i z e d the o p p o r t u n i t y , and have been r e p a i d by being read 

( u n l i k e most s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n o v e l i s t s ) . The o v e r - r e a c t i o n to 

s o c i a l r e a l i s m causes c r i t i c a l myopia w i t h r e s p e c t to Nabokov, 

whose repeated f i c t i o n a l a t t a c k s on t o t a l i t a r i a n s o c i e t i e s are 

e i t h e r ignored, or e l s e t r i v i a l i z e d as y e t another l a y e r or 

a r t i f i c e i n what are thought to be i n v o l u t e d crossword p u z z l e s . 

L e t us examine the development of the d e s t r u c t i v e dichotomy 

between s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l i t e r a t u r e and r e a l i s t i c l i t e r a t u r e by 

f i r s t r e t u r n i n g to the l a t e n i n e t e e n t h century n o v e l , and i t s 

journey from Europe to America. 

(49) Hansen, p. 5. 



55 

S o c i a l Realism 

As the novel gained i n p r e s t i g e as an a r t form, i t gained 

i n ambition; i n s t e a d of r e s t r i c t i n g i t s e l f to an i n d i v i d u a l 

i t took on s o c i e t y i n g e n e r a l : "the way we l i v e now," i n 

T r o l l o p e ' s phrase. Instead of Jane Austen's c h a r a c t e r study 

of a young woman i n Emma, t h e r e was George E l i o t ' s comprehensive 

c h r o n i c l e of an e n t i r e p r o v i n c i a l town i n Middlemarch. The 

tendency was more pronounced i n France, where Balzac attempted to 

r e c o r d a h a l f century of French l i f e i n h i s s e r i e s , the Human  

Comedy, and where Z o l a produced a s o c i o l o g i c a l s e r i e s of twenty 

novels w i t h the imposing t i t l e , Les Rougon-Macquart. H i s t o i r e  

n a t u r e l l e e t s o c i a l e d'une f a m i l l e sous l e Second Empire. French 

n o v e l i s t s o f t e n proceeded from twin impulses, n e i t h e r of them 

conducive to n a r r a t o r s who s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y comment dn a e s t h e t i c 

techniques. One impulse was h i s t o r i c ; the n o v e l i s t was the 

c h r o n i c l e r of contemporary h i s t o r y . Balzac c a l l e d h i m s e l f the 

" s e c r e t a r y of French s o c i e t y . " ^ ^ His Human Comedy was s a i d to 

be "a p r e c i o u s c o n t r i b u t i o n to French h i s t o r y . The g r e a t h i s t o r -

i a n of the French R e v o l u t i o n , A l b e r t S o r e l , thought i t s pages as 
51 

luminous as those i n any a r c h i v e s . " ( S i m i l a r l y , Gordon S. 

Haight remarks of George E l i o t t h a t , "A famous h i s t o r i a n once 

t o l d me t h a t Middlemarch contained the f i n e s t p i c t u r e he knew 
52 

of England a t the time of the Reform B i l l . " ) 
(50) As quoted in Tom Wolfe, "Why They Aren't Writing the Great 

American Novel Anymore," Esquire, Dec. 1972, p. 157. 
(51) E.K. Brown, Introd., Pere Goriot and Eugenie Grandet, by Honore 

de Balzac, trans. E.K. Brown, Dorothea Walter, and John Watkins (New York: 
Random House, 1946) , p. ix. 

(52) Gordon S. Haight, Introd. > Middlemarch, by George E l i o t , ed. 
Gordon S. Haight (Boston: Houghton M i f f l i n , 1956), p. vi. 



56 

The second impulse was s c i e n t i f i c ; the n o v e l i s t attempted 

to apply to f i c t i o n the o b j e c t i v i t y and i m p e r s o n a l i t y of s c i e n c e . 

S c i e n t i f i c s o c i a l r e a l i s m has common ground w i t h t h e o r i e s of the 

i m p e r s o n a l i t y of a r t . E l i o t says t h a t " i t i s i n t h i s deper-

s o n a l i z a t i o n t h a t a r t can be s a i d to approach the c o n d i t i o n s 

53 
of s c i e n c e . " B a l z a c ' s v i s i o n , i n the words of E.K. Brown, 

54 
i s . "the v i s i o n of a human b i o l o g i s t . " Balzac t e l l s us t h a t 
the l e a d i n g i d e a of h i s Human Comedy 

came from the study of human l i f e i n comparison 
w i t h the l i f e of animals .... S o c i e t y makes the 
man; he develops a c c o r d i n g to the s o c i a l c e n t r e s 
i n which he i s p l a c e d ; there are as many d i f f e r e n t 
men as t h e r e are s p e c i e s i n z o o l o g y . ^ 

Zola s i m i l a r l y p r o c l a i m s t h a t the n o v e l i s t i s l i k e a 

s c i e n t i s t o b s e r v i n g human phenomena: 

The s c i e n t i s t i n h i s l a b o r a t o r y puts h i s substances 
i n t o c o n t a c t i n a s u i t a b l e c o n t a i n e r (environment) 
and then p l a y s no f u r t h e r p e r s o n a l p a r t , but steps 
back and merely notes down the i n e v i t a b l e r e a c t i o n s . 
In e x a c t l y the same way the modern s c i e n t i f i c 
n o v e l i s t should b r i n g together c e r t a i n human types, 
whose h e r e d i t a r y composition i s known, put them 
together i n a s u i t a b l e environment and then r e p o r t 
i m p e r s o n a l l y what must happen because s c i e n t i f i c 
laws d i c t a t e each reaction.,.-

DO 

I t i s t r u e t h a t "Zola's shocking and h i g h l y i m a g i n a t i v e novels 

... are o n l y l o o s e l y ' s c i e n t i f i c , ' and as P h i l i p Rahv has s a i d , 

the i n v o c a t i o n of s c i e n c e by the French n a t u r a l i s t s came p r i m a r i l y 

(53) E l i o t , "The Perfect C r i t i c , " in The Sacred Wood, p. 7. 
(54) Brown, p. ix. 
(55) Balzac, as quoted in Brown, pp. ix-x. 
(56) A paraphrase of Zola's theories in L.W. Tancock, Introd.,Germinal, 

by Smile Zola, trans. L.W. Tancock (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1954), 
pp. 6-7. 



57 

out of a d e s i r e to a t t a c h to the novel the p r e s t i g e r a t h e r than 
57 

the method of s c i e n c e . " Furthermore, when enthusiasm f o r the 

French s c i e n t i f i c novel passed over to America, the French 

s c i e n t i f i c b i a s was o f t e n misunderstood or ignored. Frank N o r r i s 

transformed Zola's n a t u r a l i s m i n t o romanticism: 
N a t u r a l i s m , as understood by Z o l a , i s but a 
form of romanticism a f t e r a l l .... T e r r i b l e 
t h i n g s must happen to the c h a r a c t e r s of the nat-
u r a l i s t i c t a l e . They must be t w i s t e d from the 
o r d i n a r y , wrenched from the q u i e t , u n e v e n t f u l 
round of everyday l i f e and f l u n g i n t o the throes 
of a v a s t and t e r r i b l e drama t h a t works i t s e l f 
out i n unleashed p a s s i o n s , i n blood and i n 
sudden d e a t h . r o 

DO 

American r e a l i s t s r e t a i n e d the French i n t e r e s t i n s o c i e t y , 

i n t e r p r e t e d i n p s e u d o - s c i e n t i f i c terms. The i n d i v i d u a l was . 

thought to be i n the control of g i g a n t i c s o c i a l f o r c e s — s o c i a l 

Darwinism, or p e s s i m i s t i c determinism, or v o r a c i o u s c a p i t a l i s m . 

Since the i n d i v i d u a l was, to use a word f a s h i o n a b l e a t the time, 

determined, the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r was s u p e r f l u o u s on 

s e v e r a l counts: the r e a l i s t p r e f e r r e d the d e p i c t i o n of h o s t i l e 

s o c i a l f o r c e s , red i n t o o t h and claw, to the a e s t h e t i c d e l i b -

e r a t i o n s of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ; the r e a l i s t p r e f e r r e d 

comprehensive i d e o l o g i e s — g e n e r a l l y gloomy i d e o l o g i e s — to 

the i d i o s y n c r a c i e s of a unique s e n s i b i l i t y . The d e v e l o p i n g 

dichotomy between an i n t e r p r e t a t i v e consciousness w i t h an 

i n t e r e s t i n a e s t h e t i c s , and the crude, d i r e c t , impersonal 

t r a n s c r i b e r of the red meat of r e a l i t y , i s , i n the words of 

(57) Richard Chase, The American Novel and I t s Tradition (Garden City, 
New York: Anchor-Doubleday, 1957), p. 186. 

(58) Frank Norris, as quoted in Alfred Kazin, On Native Grounds (1942; 
rpt. Garden City, New York: Anchor-Doubleday, 1956), p. 76. 



58 

L i o n e l T r i l l i n g , " e x e m p l i f i e d by the d o c t r i n a i r e indulgence which 

l i b e r a l i n t e l l e c t u a l s have always d i s p l a y e d towards Theodore 
59 

D r e i s e r . " 
I t was P a r r i n g t o n who e s t a b l i s h e d the formula 
f o r the l i b e r a l c r i t i c i s m of D r e i s e r by c a l l i n g 
him a "peasant": when D r e i s e r t h i n k s s t u p i d l y , 
i t i s because he has the slow stubborness of a 
peasant; when he w r i t e s badly, i t i s because he 
i s impatient of the s t e r i l e l i t e r a r y g e n t i l i t y 
of the b o u r g e o i s i e . I t i s as i f w i t , and f l e x -
i b i l i t y of mind, and p e r c e p t i o n , and knowledge 
were to be equated w i t h a r i s t o c r a c y and p o l i t i c a l 
r e a c t i o n , while d u l l n e s s and s t u p i d i t y suggest 
•a v i r t u o u s democracy .... 

T h i s i m p l i e d amalgamation of mind w i t h 
g e n t i l i t y i s the r a t i o n a l e of the long indulgence 
of D r e i s e r , which i s extended even to the s t y l e 
of h i s prose. Everyone i s aware t h a t D r e i s e r ' s 
prose s t y l e i s f u l l of roughness and u n g a i n l i -
ness, and the c r i t i c s who admire D r e i s e r t e l l 
us i t does not matter (pp. 9-10, 12-13). 

C e r t a i n l y Frank N o r r i s would say t h a t a rough and u n g a i n l y 

prose s t y l e doesn't matter: "Who cares f o r f i n e s t y l e ! T e l l 

your yarn and l e t your s t y l e go to the d e v i l . We don't want 

l i t e r a t u r e , we want l i f e . " ^ The f i n e d i s t i n c t i o n s of a f i n e 

s t y l e are unnecessary when n o v e l i s t s emphasize the elemental 

p a s s i o n s : 

I t was a c r i s i s .... B l i n d l y , and without 
knowing why, McTeague fought a g a i n s t i t 
.... Within him, a c e r t a i n second s e l f , 
another b e t t e r McTeague rose w i t h the b r u t e . 
... The two were a t g r a p p l e s . . . . I t was the 

(59) Lionel T r i l l i n g , The Liberal Imagination (1950; rpt. Garden City, 
New York: Anchor-Doubleday, 1953), p. 8. T r i l l i n g disapprovingly quotes F.O. 
Matthiessen: "'The . l i a b i l i t y in what Santayana called the genteel t r a d i t i o n 
was due to i t s being the product of mind apart from experience. Dreiser gave 
us the s t u f f of our common experience, not as i t was hoped to be by any i d e a l i z i n g 
t h e o r i s t , but as i t a c t u a l l y was in i t s crudity'" (p. 12). 

(60) Norris, as quoted in Kazin, p. 75. Cf. Oates' narrator in 
Expensive People. 



59 

o l d b a t t l e , o l d as the world, wide as the 
world -- the sudden panther leap of the animal, 
l i p s drawn, fangs a f l a s h , hideous, monstrous, 
not to be r e s i s t e d , and the simultaneous 
a r o u s i n g of the other man, the b e t t e r s e l f t h a t 
c r i e s , "Down, down," without knowing why; t h a t 
g r i p s the monster; t h a t f i g h t s to s t r a n g l e i t , 
to t h r u s t i t down and back.^, 

61 

The comic book s t y l e of Darwinian monsters rampant on a f i e l d 

of determinism i s not conducive to s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t i o n . 

The emphasis i s on e x t e r n a l s . Z o l a researched r a i l r o a d i n g f o r 

La Bete humaine and c o a l mining f o r Germinal; N o r r i s " s t u d i e d 

the Harvard L i b r a r y ' s copy of A Text-book of O p e r a t i v e D e n t i s t r y 

so he could l o a d McTeague w i t h the d e n t a l minutiae o f bud-burrs 

and gutta-percha. Throughout, the N a t u r a l i s t s ' most c h a r a c t e r -
6 2 

i s t i c t o o l has been the notebook." A n o v e l i s t eager to d i s -

gorge h i s notebook's i n f o r m a t i o n i s not l i k e l y to emphasize 

the a e s t h e t i c b a s i s of h i s n a r r a t i v e . As f o r the i n t r o s p e c t i v e 

aspect of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , the more d o c t r i n a i r e 

n a t u r a l i s t s were not convinced t h a t i n d i v i d u a l s had any inward 

l i v e s worth c o n s i d e r i n g : 

N a t u r a l i s t d o c t r i n e ... assumes t h a t f a t e i s 
something imposed on the i n d i v i d u a l from the 
o u t s i d e . The p r o t a g o n i s t of a n a t u r a l i s t i c 
novel i s t h e r e f o r e a t the mercy of circumstances 
r a t h e r than of h i m s e l f , indeed he o f t e n seems to have no s e l f . , 63 

"A man becomes most human, says Scheler i n Man's P l a c e i n  

Nature, when he separates h i m s e l f from the imperatives of h i s 

(61) Frank Norris, McTeague, ed. Carvel C o l l i n s (New York: Holt, 
Rinehart and Winston, 1950), p. 22. 

(62) Carvel C o l l i n s , Introd. , McTeague, p. ix. 
(63) Chase, p. 199. 



6 0 

environment and becomes 1 s e l f - c o n s c i o u s . 1 B u t i s i t not 

e q u a l l y t r u e t h a t men d e f i n e themselves, become most human, 

when they respond to the imperatives of t h e i r environment? 

Furthermore, i s not the " n a t u r a l i s t d o c t r i n e " t h a t f a t e i s 

imposed on the i n d i v i d u a l from o u t s i d e o f t e n p r e c i s e l y the 

case i n l i f e as w e l l as l i t e r a t u r e ? — In other words, S c h e l e r ' s 

premise r e v e a l s the c r i t i c a l p o l a r i z a t i o n between s e l f -

consciousness and s o c i a l f o r c e s . 

One can see the same p o l a r i z a t i o n i n Updike's Bech; A Book, 

i n which the hero v i s i t s one of the Eastern European communist 

c o u n t r i e s , where of course contemporary s o c i a l r e a l i s m f l o u r i s h e s : 

In the course of t h e i r tour through the museum, 
Bech t r i e d to cheer [his tour guide] w i t h p r a i s e 
of S o c i a l i s t r e a l i s m . "Look a t t h a t t u r b i n e . 
Nobody i n America can p a i n t a t u r b i n e l i k e t h a t . 
Not s i n c e the t h i r t i e s . Every p a r t so d i s t i n c t 
you c o u l d r e b u i l d one from i t , yet the whole 
t h i n g romantic as a sunset. M i m e s i s — you 
c a n ' t beat i t . V r -

6 5 

Bech a s s o c i a t e s mimesis w i t h S o c i a l i s t r e a l i s m , which might be 

d e s c r i b e d as imposed n a t u r a l i s m ; "decadent" a e s t h e t i c s must 

be minimized, and the a r t i s t must f a i t h f u l l y adhere to s u b j e c t 

matter s e t by the s t a t e . Instead of the r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of 

r e a l i t y , the a r t i s t adumbrates i d e o l o g y . Consider i n t r e p i d 

Tu Lo, i n the contemporary Chinese s t o r y , "The Undaunted": 
Under the window s a t d a u n t l e s s Tu Lo, h i s head 
c r a d l e d on h i s hands over h i s desk. He was 
l i s t e n i n g w i t h g r e a t c o n c e n t r a t i o n to a broad-
c a s t of the i n s p i r i n g c a l l i s s u e d by the P a r t y 
C e n t r a l Committee headed by Chairman Mao: H i t 

(64) Jerry Bryant, The Open Decision (New York: The Free Press, 
1970), p. 5. 

(65) John Updike, Bech: A Book (New York: Knopf, 1970), p. 14. 



61 

back a t the Right d e v i a t i o n i s t wind to r e v e r s e 
c o r r e c t v e r d i c t s ! 

He stood up, ... then pushed open the window. 
... Instead of the e n d l e s s , u n d u l a t i n g p l a t e a u , 
he seemed to see the indomitable, r o a r i n g b i l l o w s 
of the mighty Yellow R i v e r surging forward and 
s u r g i n g i n h i s b r e a s t ....gg 

Tu Lo's programmatic adventures o b v i o u s l y r e p r e s e n t a p e r v e r -

s i o n of s o c i a l r e a l i s m ; but the f a c t t h a t Bech c a s u a l l y assoc-

i a t e s mimesis w i t h t h i s p e r v e r t e d form of l i t e r a t u r e e x e m p l i f i e s 

the s p l i t i n c r i t i c a l t h i n k i n g between s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a e s t h e t i c s 

and the r e a l i s t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of s o c i e t y . 

The Breakdown of S o c i a l Realism 

In 1948 L i o n e l T r i l l i n g presented the theory 
t h a t the novel of s o c i a l r e a l i s m (which had 
f l o u r i s h e d i n America throughout the 1930's) 
was f i n i s h e d because the f r e i g h t t r a i n of 
h i s t o r y had passed i t by. The argument was 
t h a t such n o v e l s were a product of the r i s e 
of the b o u r g e o i s i e i n the n i n e t e e n t h century 
at the h e i g h t of c a p i t a l i s m . But now bour-
g e o i s s o c i e t y was breaking up .... The o n l y 
hope was a new k i n d of n o v e l . . . . [ N o v e l i s t s ] 
rushed o f f to w r i t e every k i n d of novel you 
c o u l d imagine, so long as i t wasn't the so-
c a l l e d " b i g n o v e l " of manners and s o c i e t y . 
The next t h i n g one knew, they were i n t o n o v e l s 
of i d e a s , F r e u d i a n n o v e l s , s u r r e a l i s t i c novels 
("black comedy"), Kafkaesque novels and, more 
r e c e n t l y , the c a t a t o n i c novel or novels of 
i m m o b i l i t y , the s o r t t h a t begins: "In order 
to get s t a r t e d , he went to l i v e alone on an 
i s l a n d and shot h i m s e l f . " (Opening l i n e of 
a Robert Coover s h o r t s t o r y . ) ^ 

By the S i x t i e s , . W o l f e c o n t i n u e s , the n o v e l i s t had abandoned 

"the r i c h e s t t e r r a i n of the n o v e l : namely, s o c i e t y , the s o c i a l 

(66) The Undaunted: A Revolutionary Short Story (Toronto: Norman 
Bethune I n s t i t u t e , 1976), p. 32. 

(67) Wolfe/pp. 156-57. 



62 

t a b l e a u , manners and morals, the whole business of 'the way we 

l i v e now.'" P u b l i s h e r s wanted novels t h a t would r e c o r d the 

S i x t i e s , but " a l l they got was the P r i n c e of A l i e n a t i o n ... 

s a i l i n g o f f to Lonesome I s l a n d on h i s T a r o t boat w i t h h i s back 

turned and h i s Timeless cape on, reeking.of camphor b a l l s " (p. 157). 

N o v e l i s t s may or may not have abandoned the " r i c h e s t t e r r a i n 

of the n o v e l , " but many of them d e f i n i t e l y abandoned s o c i a l 

r e a l i s m . Wolfe among o t h e r s has t r a c e d the abandonment of 

s o c i a l r e a l i s m to a l a c k of f a i t h i n r e a l i s m i t s e l f . Bernard 

Bergonzi argues t h a t t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m "depended on a degree 

of r e l a t i v e s t a b i l i t y i n t h r e e separate a r e a s : the i d e a of 

r e a l i t y ; the nature of the f i c t i o n a l form; and the k i n d of 
6 8 

r e l a t i o n s h i p t h a t might p r e d i c t a b l y e x i s t between them." 

When both the " i d e a of r e a l i t y " and f i c t i o n a l form became as 

p r o b l e m a t i c as t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p , a r t i s t s began to r e - e v a l u a t e , 

and i n f a c t devalue, the t r a d i t i o n a l mimetic f u n c t i o n of the 

n o v e l . J u s t as devalued currency has a s i g n i f i c a n t and p o s s i b l y 

d e s t r u c t i v e e f f e c t on the economy, devalued r e a l i s m has a 

p o t e n t i a l l y d e s t r u c t i v e e f f e c t on f i c t i o n ; as v a r i o u s t h e o r i s t s 

have warned, one shouldn't l i g h t l y abandon a mode which has 

served f i c t i o n w e l l f o r a t l e a s t three c e n t u r i e s . 

Wolfe, f o r example, argues t h a t r e a l i s m i s the very s o u l 

of f i c t i o n . He says t h a t "the i n t r o d u c t i o n of r e a l i s m i n t o 

l i t e r a t u r e by people l i k e Richardson, F i e l d i n g and S m o l l e t t 

was l i k e the i n t r o d u c t i o n of e l e c t r i c i t y i n t o marine technology. 

(68) Bernard Bergonzi, The S i t u a t i o n of the Novel (London; Macmillan, 
1970), p. 188. 



63 

I t was not j u s t another d e v i c e . I t r a i s e d the s t a t e of the a r t 
69 

to a new magnitude." Bergonzi agrees t h a t the " a s t o n i s h i n g 

t e c h n i c a l development" i n the e a r l y e i g h t e e n t h century i n v o l v e d 

more than "mere technique, s i n c e new areas of experience and 

new ways of understanding were i n e x t r i c a b l y t i e d up w i t h formal 

change." I t i s a " r e a l problem to a v o i d t a l k i n g as i f the 
70 

novel went on s t e a d i l y improving between, say, 1730 and 1880." 

George S t e i n e r , commenting on what he sees as the d e c l i n e of 

the n o v e l , says t h a t by " i t s very nature and v i s i o n , the a r t of 

the novel i s r e a l i s t i c . Where i t abandons i t s r e s p o n s i b i l i t y 
71 

to the r e a l , the novel b e t r a y s i t s e l f . " And one should 

remember E r i c h Auerbach's d i s t a n t e a r l y warning i n Mimesis: The 

R e p r e s e n t a t i o n of R e a l i t y i n Western L i t e r a t u r e , which was 

w r i t t e n d u r i n g a war t h a t appeared to be d e s t r o y i n g the l a s t 

v e s t i g e s of western c i v i l i z a t i o n , and w r i t t e n w i t h the o b j e c t 

of " b r i n g i n g together again those whose l o v e f o r our western 
72 

h i s t o r y has s e r e n e l y persevered." Joyce s a i d t h a t h i s t o r y 

was a nightmare from which he was t r y i n g to awake; how i r o n i c 

t h a t Auerbach's f i n a l chapter analyzes Joyce and other modernists 

whose works seemed to Auerbach to embrace and welcome the d i s -

i n t e g r a t i o n of the o l d c i v i l i z e d s t a b i l i t i e s : 
(69) Wolfe, p. 272. 
(70) Bergonzi, p. 188. 
(71) George Steiner, " L i t e r a t u r e and Post-History," in Language and  

Silence (New York: Antheneum Press, 1967), p. 388. 
(72) Erich Auerbach, Mimesis: The Representation of Reality in  

Western L i t e r a t u r e , trans. William R. Trask (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 
1953), p. 557. 



64 

At the time of the f i r s t World War and a f t e r 
[says Auerbach] — i n a Europe unsure of i t s e l f , 
o v e r f l o w i n g w i t h u n s e t t l e d i d e o l o g i e s and ways 
of l i f e , and pregnant with d i s a s t e r — c e r t a i n 
w r i t e r s ... f i n d a method which d i s s o l v e s 
r e a l i t y i n t o m u l t i p l e and m u l t i v a l e n t r e f l e c t i o n s 
of consciousness .... 

...There i s i n a l l those works a c e r t a i n atmos-
phere of u n i v e r s a l doom: e s p e c i a l l y i n U l y s s e s , 
w i t h i t s mocking odi-et-amo hodgepodge of the 
European t r a d i t i o n , w i t h i t s b l a t a n t and p a i n -
f u l c y n i c i s m , and i t s u n i n t e r p r e t a b l e symbolism 
— f o r even the most p a i n s t a k i n g a n a l y s i s can 
h a r d l y emerge w i t h anything more than an appre-
c i a t i o n of the m u l t i p l e enmeshment of the m o t i f s 
but w i t h nothing of the purpose and the meaning 
of the work i t s e l f . . . . There i s o f t e n something 
c o n f u s i n g [about U l y s s e s and other n o v e l s ] , some-
t h i n g hazy about them, something h o s t i l e to 
the r e a l i t y they r e p r e s e n t . . . . There i s h a t r e d 
of c u l t u r e and c i v i l i z a t i o n , brought out by 
means of the s u b t l e s t s t y l i s t i c d e v i c e s which 
c u l t u r e and c i v i l i z a t i o n have developed, and 
o f t e n a r a d i c a l and f a n a t i c a l urge to d e s t r o y 
(p. 551). 

Auerbach says d e s t r u c t i v e impulses on the p a r t of the 

modernists c o n t r i b u t e d to the breakdown of mimetic r e p r e -

s e n t a t i o n ; S t e i n e r says r e a l i s m was d e f e a t e d by the c r u e l terms 

of contemporary h i s t o r y ( " F i c t i o n f a l l s s i l e n t b e f o r e the 
7 3 

enormity of the f a c t ....") \ Wolfe says n o v e l i s t s i g n o r e 

r e a l i s m through s e l f - c e n t r e d e g o t i s m - - b u t , whatever the cause, 

r e a l i s m i s no l o n g e r thought to be c e n t r a l to the n o v e l . I t i s 

i n s t r u c t i v e to compare E r n e s t Baker's d e s c r i p t i o n of s e l f -

conscious f i c t i o n i n the e i g h t e e n t h century as a " f r e a k i s h 

d e r i v a t i o n " from the norm of r e a l i s m , w i t h those contemporary 

t h e o r i s t s who now -describe; r e a l i s m as the f r e a k i s h d e r i v a t i o n . 

Thus Ortega's p r o c l a m a t i o n t h a t the "imperative of unmitigated 

r e a l i s m t h a t dominated the a r t i s t i c s e n s i b i l i t y of the l a s t 

(73) Steiner, " L i t e r a t u r e and Post-History," p. 388. 



65 

century must be put down as a f r e a k i n a e s t h e t i c e v o l u t i o n . " 

Thus John Barth, who says t h a t u n l i k e "those c r i t i c s who 

regard r e a l i s m as what l i t e r a t u r e has been aiming a t a l l along, 

I tend to regard i t as a k i n d of a b e r r a t i o n i n the h i s t o r y of 
75 

l i t e r a t u r e . " Speaking i n a calmer, and t h e r e f o r e more 
damning tone, W i l l i a m P h i l l i p s adds, "In f a c t , r e a l i s m i s j u s t 

another formal d e v i c e , not a permanent method f o r d e a l i n g w i t h 
..76 

experience. 

The Return of the S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r 

H.G. Wells w r i t e s with the tone of a s o c i a l i s t who i s 

c h e e r f u l l y b i d i n g h i s time: 

Throughout the broad smooth flow of n i n e t e e n t h -
century l i f e i n Great B r i t a i n , the a r t of 
f i c t i o n f l o a t e d on t h i s same assumption of 
s o c i a l f i x i t y . The Novel i n E n g l i s h was pro-
duced i n an atmosphere of s e c u r i t y f o r the 
entertainment of secure people who l i k e d to 
f e e l e s t a b l i s h e d and safe f o r good. I t s s t a n -
dards were e s t a b l i s h e d w i t h i n t h a t a p p a r e n t l y 
permanent frame and the c r i t i c i s m of i t began 
to be i r r i t a t e d and perplexed when, through a 
new i n s t a b i l i t y , the s p l i n t e r i n g frame began 
to get i n t o the p i c t u r e . ^ 

Through t h a t s p l i n t e r i n g frame stepped the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r . In The /Research M a g n i f i c e n t , f o r example, Wells 

attempted "the d e v i c e of making the o s t e n s i b l e w r i t e r s p e c u l a t e 

about the c h i e f c h a r a c t e r i n the s t o r y he i s t e l l i n g . The 

o s t e n s i b l e w r i t e r becomes a s o r t of enveloping c h a r a c t e r , h i m s e l f 

Ortega, p. 25. 
"John Barth," in Bellamy, p. 4. 
William P h i l l i p s , as quoted in Wolfe, p. 272. 
H.G. Wells, Experiment in Autobiography, as quoted in Bergonzi, 

(74) 
(75) 
(76) 
(77) 

p. 196. 



66 

i n d i s c u s s i o n w i t h the reader." Many c r i t i c s s i n c e Wells 

have noted the a s s o c i a t i o n of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

with the s p l i n t e r i n g frame of r e a l i s m , but u n f o r t u n a t e l y t h i s 

a s s o c i a t i o n has been e l e v a t e d to a c r i t i c a l axiom, i n which i t 

i s assumed t h a t the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s by nature h o s t i l e 

towards r e a l i t y . 

For example, Nabokov i n s i s t s t h a t the word r e a l i t y should 

always be quarantined w i t h q u o t a t i o n marks; h i s i n s i s t e n c e i s 

based on the s u b t l e and complicated r e l a t i o n s h i p between a r t i f i c e 

and r e a l i t y i n h i s own works. One o f t e n sees Nabokov's f a s t i d -

iousness taken w i t h d o c t r i n a i r e l i t e r a l i t y , out of Nabokov's 

s p e c i a l context, and a p p l i e d to s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a e s t h e t i c s as 

though everyone were agreed t h a t r e a l i t y i s an e n t i r e l y sub-

j e c t i v e matter, and t h a t we a l l have nothing i n common here on 

our mutual e a r t h . Consider Jerome K l i n k o w i t z ' s t e n t a t i v e 

q u e s t i o n i n g of Donald Barthelme: "Do you have any c o n s c i o u s l y 

formed n o t i o n s about time and space t h a t i n f l u e n c e your work? 
79 

P e r c e p t i o n and imagination? Or, f o r g i v e me, ' r e a l i t y ' ? " 

(The word r e a l i t y seems to have become v u l g a r or obscene.) 

S i m i l a r l y , L a r r y McCaffery d e s c r i b e s Barthelme's use of myth: 

" l i k e a s i g n i f i c a n t number of r e c e n t w r i t e r s , Barthelme has 
8 0 

turned to a f a m i l i a r myth (rather than to ' r e a l i t y ' ) . ..." 

"Snow White," McCaffery e x p l a i n s , "has as i t s 'subject matter' 

a r t i t s e l f . I t i s not the ' r e a l world' which i t seeks to 
(78) Ibid, p. 196. 
(79) Jerome Klinkowitz, "Donald Barthelme," i n Bellamy, pp. 50-51. 
(80) Larry .McCaffery/'Barthelme's Snow White: The Aesthetics of 

Trash," C r i t i q u e , 16, No. 3 (1975), 20. 



67 

r e p r e s e n t , but the s t a t u s of a r t .... Snow White can, t h e r e -

f o r e , b e s t be termed a ' s e l f - r e f l e x i v e ' work i n t h a t even as i t 

i s being c r e a t e d , i t seeks to examine i t s own c o n d i t i o n " (p. 1 9 ) . 

McCaffery's haze of d e f e n s i v e q u o t a t i o n marks suggests t h a t 

the s e l f - r e f l e x i v e n e s s of Barthelme's f i c t i o n i s p a r t l y due to 

q u a l i t i e s i n Barthelme's work, and p a r t l y due to the terms of 

McCaffery's c r i t i c a l v o c a b u l a r y . I f " s u b j e c t matter" has nothing 

to do w i t h the " r e a l world," i t w i l l not be s u r p r i s i n g to f i n d 

c r i t i c s who pronounce Barthelme's work " s e l f - r e f l e x i v e " and 

s o l i p s i s t i c — f o r g i v e me, " s o l i p s i s t i c . " Many of the themes 

of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i n contemporary American f i c t i o n 

c e n t r e on the e x p e c t a t i o n t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a e s t h e t i c s are 

u t t e r l y d i s t i n c t from r e a l i s t a e s t h e t i c s , as we can see by 

d e s c r i b i n g three of the more p r e v a l e n t themes. 

The f i r s t theme i s the a r t i s t as h i s own s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t 

hero. We quoted e a r l i e r Joyce's memorable d e f i n i t i o n of the 

impersonal a r t i s t , behind the work and beyond a n a l y s i s . Yet 

even the c r i t i c who wants to take Joyce a t h i s word d i s t r u s t s 

"the i n s i s t e n t s e l f - d r a m a t i z a t i o n s i n the P o r t r a i t , " and the 

" i n s t a n c e s of a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l e s o t e r i c i s m . " The c r i t i c might 

f e e l p a t r o n i z e d by "the i n v i t a t i o n a t the end of Finnegan's 

Wake — 'The keys t o . G i v e n ! 1 — with i t s touching m a g i s t e r i a l 

assumption t h a t these keys w i l l seem worth d i s e n t a n g l i n g from 
81 

the v e r b i a g e i n which they have been c o y l y b u r i e d . " 

W i t h i n the most impersonal a e s t h e t i c t h e r e l u r k s e g o c e n t r i c 

i n t r o s p e c t i o n . W i t h i n the contemporary s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a e s t h e t i c 

(81) Peter, pp. 627-28. 



6 8 

there l u r k s a k i n d of h e r o i c s o l i p s i s m . Tom Wolfe, who sees 

the world i n terms of s t a t u s , t h i n k s the contemporary n o v e l i s t 

i s c a r r i e d away w i t h h i s own p r e s t i g e . A c c o r d i n g to Wolfe, 

e s s a y i s t s , b i o g r a p h e r s , a u t h o r i t a t i v e c r i t i c s , and so on, 

formed l i t e r a t u r e ' s middle c l a s s , while the p r o l e s were the 

j o u r n a l i s t s , "who dug up s l a g s of raw i n f o r m a t i o n f o r w r i t e r s 

of h i g h e r ' s e n s i b i l i t y ' to make b e t t e r use o f . " At the top 

were the n o v e l i s t s . "They were regarded as the o n l y ' c r e a t i v e ' 

w r i t e r s , the o n l y l i t e r a r y a r t i s t s . They had e x c l u s i v e e n t r y 

to the s o u l of man, the profound emotions, the e t e r n a l m y s t e r i e 
8 2 

and so f o r t h and so on Thus u n i v e r s i t i e s d i s p l a y t h e i r 

N o v e l i s t s - i n - R e s i d e n c e l i k e rose buds i n the c o r p o r a t e button-

hole; there i s a market f o r a n o v e l i s t ' s c o n v e r s a t i o n s (Borges) 

strong o p i n i o n s (Nabokov), and s e l f - i n t e r v i e w s (James D i c k e y ) . 

On the o t h e r hand, the n o v e l i s t might sense t h a t h i s power 

and i n f l u e n c e are i l l u s o r y , a matter of l i p s e r v i c e on s o c i e t y ' 

p a r t . He might take to h e a r t Ortega's o p i n i o n t h a t the import-

ance of the a r t i s t peaked i n the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y : "Poetry 

and music then were a c t i v i t i e s o f an enormous c a l i b e r . In view 

of the d o w n f a l l of r e l i g i o n and the i n e v i t a b l e r e l a t i v i s m of 

s c i e n c e , a r t was expected to take upon i t s e l f nothing l e s s than 
8 3 

the s a l v a t i o n of mankind." But the i r o n i c temper of the new 

a r t , as demonstrated with e x c e s s i v e v i v a c i t y by the D a d a i s t s , 

meant t h a t a r t would be regarded "as a t h i n g of no t r a n s c e n d i n g 

consequence" (p. 14). 
(82) Wolfe, p. 153. 
(83) Ortega, pp. 49-50. 



69 

The a r t i s t might f i n d h i m s e l f r e j e c t i n g s o c i e t y and 

w r i t i n g f o r h i m s e l f , an " i d e a l reader," or an e l i t e . One begins 

to hear such strange pronouncements as the f o l l o w i n g from 

W i l l i a m H. Gass. An unwary i n t e r v i e w e r asked him about h i s 

next n o v e l , and Gass r e p l i e d , "I began The Tunnel i n 1966. I 

imagine i t i s s e v e r a l years away y e t . Who knows, perhaps i t 

w i l l be such a good book t h a t no one w i l l want to p u b l i s h i t . 
8 4 

I l i v e on t h a t hope." I f i t i s a v i r t u e to be unread, p r e -

sumably the contemporary n o v e l i s t w i l l have l i t t l e concern 

about whether h i s n a r r a t o r makes c o n t a c t w i t h an audience: 
Occupied as he i s w i t h t h i s b a s i c task of 
g r a s p i n g a r t i s t i c a l l y an e x c e s s i v e l y compli-
cated r e a l i t y , the n a r r a t o r n e c e s s a r i l y l o s e s 
s i g h t of h i s reader and the reader's r e c e p t -
i v i t y . He can no longer a f f o r d to c o n s i d e r 
a l l t h a t . The s p e c i f i c reader and the reader's 
i m a g i n a t i o n l a g f a r behind him; g e n e r a t i o n s 
i n t e r v e n e between the author and the compre-
hending r e c i p i e n t of the n a r r a t i v e . The a r t i s t 
becomes the complete autocrat.gr-

To become an a u t o c r a t of the imagination,, as Wallace Stevens 

might phrase i t , might tempt n o v e l i s t s such as Gass, as w e l l as 

those c r i t i c s who, n a t u r a l l y enough, take p l e a s u r e i n being 

among the few who can decipher an a r t i s t ' s w i l l f u l o b s c u r i t i e s 

and " a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l e s o t e r i c i s m . " A s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

c o u l d be a surrogate f o r a s e l f - a b s o r b e d n o v e l i s t . But, as 

we s h a l l see i n Nabokov and Barthelme, the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

(84) Carol Spearin McCauley, "William H. Gass," in Bellamy, p. 44. 
(85) Erich Kahler, The Inward Turn of Narrative, trans. Richard and 

Clara Winston (Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press, 1973), p. 177. Kahler reports 
that when Hermann Broch was working on The Death of V i r g i l , Broch remarked, 
"You know, i t ' s r e a l l y no longer readable" (p. 177). 

http://autocrat.gr-


7 0 

n a r r a t o r can a l s o be used as a d e v i c e by which the reader 

i s kept i n touch w i t h the author's complex purposes. The 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ' s r h e t o r i c a l tendencies are e s s e n t i a l 

i n m a i n t a i n i n g connections between the p u z z l e d reader and the 

n a r r a t i v e i n n o v a t i o n s of the contemporary n o v e l . Nabokov 

was asked, "Do you make a p o i n t of p u z z l i n g people and p l a y i n g 
8 

games w i t h readers?"; : he r e p l i e d , "What a bore t h a t would be!" 

The p o i n t of h i s t e x t u a l games i s to m a i n t a i n the d i a l o g u e , not 

to demonstrate the author's i n t e l l e c t u a l s u p e r i o r i t y . 

A second theme of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s the d i s t r u s t of 

language as a means of communication. American l i t e r a t u r e , 

perhaps because of i t s t w o - f i s t e d f r o n t i e r t r a d i t i o n , has long 

been s u s p i c i o u s about language, p a r t i c u l a r l y l i t e r a r y language 

(as T r i l l i n g complained). One t h i n k s of the e d i t o r i n the l a s t 

pages of Poe's n o v e l , engaged i n dubious etymology r e g a r d i n g 

the strange words d i s c o v e r e d by Pym i n h i s journey to a l a n d 

s u s p i c i o u s l y r e m i n i s c e n t of the American South; of The S c a r l e t 

L e t t e r , which t u r n s on the ambiguity of a vowel; of Hemingway's 
8 7 

a t t a c k on a b s t r a c t i o n s i n A F a r e w e l l to Arms; of Addie i n 
Faulkner's As I Lay Dying: 

And so when Cora T u l l would t e l l me I was 
not a t r u e mother, I would t h i n k how words go 
s t r a i g h t up i n a t h i n l i n e , quick and harmless, 
and how t e r r i b l y doing goes along the e a r t h , 
c l i n g i n g to i t , so t h a t a f t e r a w h i l e the two 

(86) Vladimir Nabokov, Strong Opinions (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1973), 
p. 184. 

(87) "Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were 
obscene beside the concrete names of v i l l a g e s , the numbers of roads, the names 
of r i v e r s , the numbers of regiments and the dates" (Ernest Hemingway, A_ 
Farewell To Arms [1929; rpt. New York: Scribner's, 1957~] , p. 185). 



l i n e s are too f a r apart f o r the same person 
to s t r a d d l e from one to the other; and t h a t 
s i n and l o v e and f e a r are j u s t sounds t h a t 
people who never sinned nor loved nor f e a r e d 
have f o r what they never had and cannot have 
u n t i l they f o r g e t the w o r d s . O Q 

o o 

The contemporary American author, a c c o r d i n g to Tony Tanner, 

f e a r s t h a t "language ... may a t every t u r n be l i m i t i n g , 

d i r e c t i n g and perhaps c o n t r o l l i n g h i s responses and f o r m u l a t i o n s . 
Such an author -- and I t h i n k he i s an u n u s u a l l y 
common phenomenon i n contemporary America — 
w i l l go out of h i s way to show t h a t he i s 
u s i n g language as i t has never been used b e f o r e , 
l e a v i n g the v i s i b l e marks of h i s i d i o s y n c r a s i e s 
on every f o r m u l a t i o n . Q O 

C l e a r l y t h i s l i n g u i s t i c paranoia would f i n d e x p r e s s i o n i n 

the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , whose tendencies towards the i d i o -

s y n c r a t i c might r e s u l t i n endless neologisms or a p r i v a t e code. 

Or perhaps the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r would be too s e n s i t i v e 

to the l i m i t a t i o n s o f words to speak a t a l l , thus f u l f i l l i n g 

the prophecy of George S t e i n e r , who argues there has been a 

r e t r e a t from the word, i n mathematics and s c i e n c e and p h i l o s o p h y 

a l i k e , u n t i l the a r t i s t f i n d s h i m s e l f tempted by the " s u i c i d a l 

r h e t o r i c of s i l e n c e . " "When the words i n the c i t y are f u l l of 

savagery and l i e s , nothing speaks louder than the u n w r i t t e n 
90 

poem." K a h l e r , whose i m a g i n a t i o n i s e q u a l l y a p o c a l y p t i c , 

l i n k s together the a v a n t - g a r d i s t s , the s o l i p s i s t s and the 

t e c h n o c r a t s , and e n v i s i o n s what almost amounts t o a c o n s p i r a c y , 

a c o n s p i r a c y "to produce incoherence," and sever language "from 

(88) William Faulkner, As I Lay Dying (1930; rpt. New York: Vintage-
Random House, 1964), pp. 165-66^ 

(89) Tony Tanner, City of Words (London: Jonathan Cape, 1971), p. 16 
(90) George Steiner, "Silence and the Poet," in Language and Silence 

(New York: Antheneum Press, 1967), pp. 50,54. 



72 

human expression."^" 1 " C e r t a i n s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s i n con-

temporary f i c t i o n are as i n c o h e r e n t and unconnected to human 

e x p r e s s i o n as Kahler says, although one suspects the a r t i s t s 

r e s p o n s i b l e f o r these n a r r a t o r s are f a r too s e l f - a b s o r b e d to 
92 

j o i n together i n an o r g a n i z e d c o n s p i r a c y . 

But the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i n Barthelme i s o f t e n the 

reader's agent a g a i n s t the dead language and jargon of an ad 

man s o c i e t y . While Barthelme's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s unden-

i a b l y l e a v e the marks of t h e i r i d i o s y n c r a c i e s on every f o r m u l a t i o n , 

they a l s o o f f e r f r e s h language and f r e s h p e r c e p t i o n s which e n t i c e 

the reader i n t o sympathy w i t h the r e a l i s t i c events of the s t o r y . 

"I am f r e e a s s o c i a t i n g , b r i l l i a n t l y , b r i l l i a n t l y , " says the 
93 

n a r r a t o r of one Barthelme. s t o r y , "to put you i n t o the problem." 

The f i n a l theme i s the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r as an 

a e s t h e t i c i n n o v a t o r . We noted t h a t the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

has always been c h a r a c t e r i z e d by h i s running commentary on 

a e s t h e t i c s . When s o c i a l r e a l i s m was i n power, and the ground 

r u l e s of the novel were w e l l understood, t h e r e was l i t t l e need 

f o r an i n t e r p r e t a t i v e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ; but w i t h the 

breakdown of t r a d i t i o n a l forms, and w i t h the r i s e of a r a t h e r 

i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d avant garde, the n a r r a t o r found h i m s e l f under 

pressure to c r e a t e completely unique works of a r t along with 
(91) Kahler, Disintegration of Form, pp. 96, 94. 
(92) E.g., Breakthrough F i c t i o n e e r s , ed. Richard Kostelanetz (Barton, 

Vermont- Something Else Press, 1973), p a r t i c u l a r l y "Tablet XI" by Armand 
Schwerner and "Dashing from Don to T i o l i " by Raymond Federman, pp. 308-10 
and 260-63, respectively. 

(93) Donald Barthelme, "Florence Green i s 81," in Come Back, Dr.  
C a l i g a r i (Boston: L i t t l e , Brown, 1964), p. 4. 



73 

h i s f e l l o w "breakthrough f i c t i o n e e r s . " He was expected to 

blow the r o o f o f f the house of f i c t i o n . As one of Barthelme's 

n a r r a t o r ' s complains, 

I t i s d i f f i c u l t to keep the p u b l i c i n t e r e s t e d . 
The P u b l i c demands new wonders p i l e d on 

new wonders. 
Often we don't know where our next marvel 

i s coming from. 
The supply of strange ideas i s not e n d l e s s . ^ 

The novel has a p a r a d o x i c a l t r a d i t i o n of change. F i e l d i n g 

thought he had invented a new genre, Henry James wrote about 

the New Novel, and French n o v e l i s t s announced the newest New 

Novel, which, as Gore V i d a l waspishly remarks, " i s c l o s e to 

f o r t y years o l d , " and thus " o l d indeed f o r a l i t e r a r y movement, 
95 

p a r t i c u l a r l y a French l i t e r a r y movement." Bradbury argues 

t h a t of a l l the l i t e r a r y a r t s , "the novel seems l e a s t g i v e n 

to a p r i o r i s m , " as "each novel c r e a t e s i t s own world a f r e s h , 

and ^engages,;us: for the o c c a s i o n with i t s own laws": 
Ian Watt ... and Bernard Bergonzi ... both argue 
t h a t the s p e c i e s arose i n the e i g h t e e n t h century 
as a f u l l y f l e d g e d form w i t h — as i t s E n g l i s h 
name suggests -- a p r o p e n s i t y a g a i n s t g e n e r i c 
d e f i n i t i o n . . . . And, says Bergonzi, " s t y l i s t i c 
dynamism, or steady formal changed has always 
been the e s s e n t i a l p r i n c i p l e of the novel's 
development, of i t s i n t e r e s t i n any one case.gg 

However, the contemporary novel i s h a r d l y c h a r a c t e r i z e d by 

"steady formal change," but by endless i n n o v a t i o n ; i n f a c t , one 

t h e o r i s t , speaking of the a r t s i n g e n e r a l , argues t h a t the times 

(94) Donald Barthelme, "The F l i g h t of Pigeons from the Palace," 
in Sadness (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1972), p. 139. 

(95) Gore Vidal, "American P l a s t i c : The Matter of F i c t i o n , " New York 
Review of Books, 15 July 1976, p. 31. 

(96) Malcolm Bradbury, P o s s i b i l i t i e s (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 
1973), pp. 12, 13. 



74 

are c h a r a c t e r i z e d by s t a s i s : 

For s t a s i s , as I i n t e n d the term, i s not an 
absence of n o v e l t y and change — a t o t a l 
quiescence — but r a t h e r the absence of ordered 
s e q u e n t i a l change.... Indeed, i n s o f a r as an 
a c t i v e , conscious search f o r new techniques, 
new forms and m a t e r i a l s , and new modes of sen-
s i b i l i t y (such as have marked our time) p r e c l u d e s 
the gradual accumulation of changes capable of 
producing a t r e n d or a s e r i e s of connected 
mutations, i t tends to c r e a t e a s t e a d y - s t a t e , 
though perhaps one t h a t i s both v i g o r o u s and 
v a r i e g a t e d . ^ 

C l e a r l y one o p t i o n open to the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s 

to c o n t r i b u t e to the contemporary s t a t i c chaos by accompanying 

h i s f e l l o w Breakthrough F i c t i o n e e r s to ground where the reader 

cannot f o l l o w . But Nabokov's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s o f t e n 

a c t to preserve what i s best i n the l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n ; i n f a c t , 

good t a s t e and reverence f o r the best l i t e r a t u r e of the p a s t are 

considered'..virtues i n Nabokov. S i m i l a r l y , Barthelme' s n a r r a t o r s 

o f t e n r i d i c u l e e x c e s s i v e l y programmatic avant garde a e s t h e t i c s . 

Thus the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r can indeed c h a l l e n g e the reader's 

e x p e c t a t i o n s of t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m , but a t the same time pre-

serve and r e i n f o r c e those aspects of r e a l i s m t h a t keep the 

reader i n touch w i t h the work of a r t , t h a t help to "put you i n 

the problem." 

(97) Leonard B. Meyer, Music, the Art and Ideas: Patterns and Pre- 
d i c t i o n s in Twentieth-Century Culture (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 
1967), p. 102. 



75 

I I 

THE "GIFT" OF THE SELF-CONSCIOUS NARRATOR: 

THE FICTION OF VLADIMIR NABOKOV 

I n t r o d u c t i o n 

Page Stegner says t h a t V l a d i m i r Nabokov " c o n t i n u a l l y stands 

between sun and scene so t h a t h i s shadow w i l l be c a s t over the 

a c t i o n . " "He performs t h i s s p e c i a l i n t r u s i o n ... p r i m a r i l y to 

remind the reader t h a t he i s there w i t h h i s brush and canvas, 

t h a t f i c t i o n a l v e r i s i m i l i t u d e i s an i l l u s i o n , a r e f l e c t i o n i n 

the a r t i s t ' s mind An important d e v i c e i n the performance 

of t h i s s p e c i a l i l l u s i o n i s of course the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , 

who has t r a d i t i o n a l l y made the reader aware t h a t the n a r r a t i v e 

i s p a r t of a c r e a t e d l i t e r a r y product. However, the t r a d i t i o n 

has been s p e c i a l l y adapted by Nabokov as a means of p r o t e c t i n g 

the autonomy of the n a r r a t i v e v o i c e from a l l those f o r c e s , both 

l i t e r a r y and s o c i a l , t h a t would r e s t r i c t an a r t i s t ' s freedom. 

Nabokov has never been r e t i c i e n t about the i s s u e of a r t i s t i c 

freedom: 

No creed or s c h o o l has had any i n f l u e n c e on 
me whatever. 
[M]y p o l i t i c a l creed has remained as bleak and 
changeless as an o l d gray rock .... Freedom 

(1) Page Stegner, Escape Into Aesthetics (New York: Dial Press, 
1966), p. 49. 



76 

of speech, freedom of thought, freedom of a r t . 2 

The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r c a r r i e s on Nabokov's program of 

i n d i v i d u a l i s m . The n a r r a t o r i s not a simple t r a n s c r i b e r of the 

events, but a dominating p e r s o n a l i t y — a s t o r y i n h i m s e l f . He 

i s eager to j u s t i f y and even c e l e b r a t e h i s a n t i - s o c i a l impulses 

(Humbert Humbert, f o r example). Although he i s capable of exact 

v e r i s i m i l t u d e , he appears to abandon the encompassing t r a d i t i o n 

of r e a l i s m when i t s u i t s h i s i m a g i n a t i v e purposes. In terms of 

technique, he i s a l i t e r a r y e x h i b i t i o n i s t who d i r e c t s the reader's 

a e s t h e t i c a t t e n t i o n towards h i s c l e v e r h a n d l i n g of the n a r r a t i v e . 

He avoids standard turns of phrase, and mocks the t r a d i t i o n a l 

elements by which the p l o t i s t h i c k e n e d . By means of h i s a r t -

i s t i c i m a g i n a t i o n , he imposes e l e g a n t order on what a t times 

appears to him to be chaos, a v a r i e g a t e d v o i d . 

However, d e s p i t e the a e s t h e t i c i d i o s y n c r a c i e s of the 

n a r r a t o r , we should not conclude t h a t the works themselves are 

(2) Nabokov, Strong Opinions, pp. 3, 34-35. 
Subsequent references to works by Nabokov in this chapter w i l l consist 
of page numbers and t i t l e s or abbreviated t i t l e s in parentheses. The 
publishing data for works not documented previously are as follows: 
Ada (New York:. McGraw-Hill, 1969); Bend S i n i s t e r (1947; rpt. New York: 
McGraw-Hill, 1973); Despair (New York: Putnam, 1966); The Eye, trans. 
Dmitri Nabokov in collaboration with Vladimir Nabokov (New York: 
Phaedra, 1965); The Gift, trans. Michael Scammell in collaboration 
with Vladimir Nabokov (New York: Putnam, 1963); Glory, trans. Dmitri 
Nabokov in collaboration with Vladimir Nabokov (New York: McGraw-
H i l l , 1971); Invitation to a Beheading, trans. Dmitri Nabokov in c o l l -
aboration with Vladimir Nabokov (New York: Putnam, 1959); King, Queen, 
Knave, trans. Dmitri Nabokov in collaboration with Vladimir Nabokov (New 
York: McGraw-Hill, 1968); L o l i t a (Paris, 1955; rpt. New York: Putnam, 
Q.958J , and i t s appended essay, "On a Book Entitled L o l i t a ' ' ) ; Look at the  
Harlequins!. (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1974); Mary, trans. Michael Glenny in 
collaboration with Vladimir Nabokov (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970); 
Nabokov's Dozen (1958; rpt. New York: Avon, 1973); Nikolai Gogol (New York: 
New Directions, 1944); Pale Fire (1962; rpt. New York: Berkeley, 1972); Pnin 
(Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1957); Speak, Memory, rev. ed. (New York: 
Putnam, 1966). 



77 

s o l i p s i s t i c ( i n C h a r l e s R u s s e l l ' s terms, " a l l f i c t i o n s are 

u l t i m a t e l y about themselves, about the c r e a t i o n of the world 

by the word"). One must d i s p u t e the n o t i o n t h a t Nabokov's 

works are a h a l l of mirrors r e f l e c t i n g nothing but the Wizard of 

Montreux, a n o t i o n t h a t i s o n l y s l i g h t l y more s o p h i s t i c a t e d than 

the popular n o t i o n t h a t Nabokov i s a Russian p r i n c e who was 

deposed by the communists and turned to pornography. 

Stegner's o p i n i o n i s t y p i c a l : The s p e c t r a l i n t r u s i o n 

reminds the reader " t h a t f i c t i o n a l v e r i s i m i l i t u d e i s an i l l u s i o n , 

a r e f l e c t i o n i n the a r t i s t ' s mind." S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s 

i m p l i e d to be the enemy of v e r i s m i l i t u d e ; i n s t e a d of a s t o r y 

r e f e r r i n g to the r e a l world, i t r e f e r s o n l y to the no doubt i d e a l 

world imprisoned i n the a r t i s t ' s mind. In f a c t , however, 

Nabokov's work i s o f t e n as v e r i s i m i l a r as any t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s t i c 

work . One should remember t h a t h i s d e s c r i p t i o n s of nature are 

s c i e n t i f i c a l l y accurate ( i n h i s f i c t i o n as i n h i s papers on 

l e p i d o p t e r y ) , and c o n s i d e r t h a t r e s e a r c h r i v a l l i n g t h a t of an 

i n d u s t r i o u s n i n e t e e n t h century French r e a l i s t i c n o v e l i s t i s 

reproduced i n the Chernyshevski biography w i t h i n The G i f t . In 

terms of the theory of the n o v e l , Nabokov taught h i s C o r n e l l 

students Joyce w i t h the a i d of a s t r e e t map of D u b l i n , and Anna  

Karenina w i t h the a i d of a s t r e e t map of Moscow. In h i s review 

of S a r t r e ' s La Nausee he i s c r i t i c a l when S a r t r e allows the e a r l y 

t r a v e l s of h i s c e n t r a l c h a r a c t e r to seem " i m p l a u s i b l e " (Strong  

Opinions, p. 229). S a r t r e ' s hero Roquentin a l s o makes the mistake 

of imagining t h a t the composer and the s i n g e r of a c e r t a i n popular 

song are a Brooklyn Jew and a Negress, r e s p e c t i v e l y ; Nabokov says 



7 8 

c o l d l y , "I have a s c e r t a i n e d t h a t i n r e a l i t y the song i s a Sophie 

Tucker one w r i t t e n by the Canadian Shelton Brooks" (p. 229). 

That Humbert Humbert i s a h i g h l y i m a g i n a t i v e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r does not prevent h i s "fancy prose s t y l e " from 

being t r u e to the nuances of American teen-age speech ( L o l i t a , 

p. 11). The argument should be e v i d e n t : The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r c o n t r i b u t e s not o n l y to a sense of the a r t i s t ' s per-

v a s i v e presence, but to t h a t aspect of Nabokov's f i c t i o n which 

i s r e a l i s t i c and v e r i s i m i l a r . Every form of n a r r a t i o n r e q u i r e s 

a e s t h e t i c d e v i c e s and t r i c k s ; Nabokov chooses to d i s p l a y h i s 

d e v i c e s i n order to h e l p the reader d i s t i n g u i s h between stock 

c l i c h e s and f r e s h , v i v i d , a c c u r a t e mimesis. 

One motive f o r the f i e r c e i n d i v i d u a l i s m of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r i s h i s d i s t r u s t f o r a l l the l i e s and d i s t o r t i o n s of 

t o t a l i t a r i a n s o c i e t y and r e p r e s s i v e i d e o l o g i e s . Because Nabokov's 

people o f t e n move both imaginatively and p h y s i c a l l y from the world 

i n which they f i n d themselves, i t might appear t h a t they are 

"escaping" i n t o the Palace of Art;, but i n some cases they 

escape not from r e a l i t y or the "adjustmental aspect of experience," 

but from n o t i o n s of u n r e a l i t y f o s t e r e d by the t o t a l i t a r i a n s t a t e . 

In I n v i t a t i o n to a Beheading, f o r example, the hero escapes from 

a s t a t e p r i s o n to a world where there are "beings a k i n to him" 

(p. 223). The hero i s not simply moving from unpleasant r e a l i t y 

to an a e s t h e t i c heaven; he i s i n f a c t escaping the i n f e r i o r , 

m e r e t r i c i o u s a r t of the t o t a l i t a r i a n s t a t e , where even the t r e e s 

are not r e a l : 



79 

The f a l l e n t r e e s l a y f l a t and r e l i e f l e s s , w h i l e 
those that:;were s t i l l s t a n d i n g , a l s o two-
di mensional, w i t h a l a t e r a l shading of the 
trunk to suggest roundness, b a r e l y h e l d on 
w i t h t h e i r branches t o the r i p p i n g mesh of 
the sky* (p. 223). 

The n a r r a t o r mocks the u n r e a l i t y of the s t a t e ' s v e r s i o n of 

r e a l i t y — r e a l i t y by decree, r e a l i t y p a i n t e d by p o l i c e a r t i s t s . 

By exposing the shabby heavens and the amateurish t r e e s , he i s 

d i r e c t i n g both c i n c i n n a t u s and the reader away from propa-

g a n d i s t s i l l u s i o n . J e r z y K o s i n s k i has d e s c r i b e d h i s p e r s o n a l 

exposure to the type of f a l s e world t h a t t o r t u r e s C i n c i h n a t u s : 

I once remarked, ... t h a t i n my view S t a l i n 
was "an i d e a l n o v e l i s t , " a k i n d of w r i t e r every 
w r i t e r s e c r e t l y would l i k e to be — to have your 
books p u b l i s h e d i n m i l l i o n s of c o p i e s by the 
s t a t e ( a l l the volumes b e a u t i f u l l y bound) and 
to have a l l your p o t e n t i a l c r i t i c s a r r e s t e d and 
e x i l e d on the day o f p u b l i c a t i o n .... 

I saw myself imprisoned i n a l a r g e "house 
of p o l i t i c a l f i c t i o n , " persecuted by a mad 
b e s t - s e l l i n g n o v e l i s t , S t a l i n , and a band of h i s 
v i c i o u s e d i t o r s from the Kremlin, and q u i t e 
l o g i c a l l y I saw myself as a p r o t a g o n i s t of 
h i s f i c t i o n . . . . I r e a l l y saw myself l i v i n g 
i n s i d e of a "novel" c a l l e d "the S o v i e t Union" 
c r e a t e d by the crude i m a g i n a t i o n of bad a r t i s t s •••• 3 

Thus when c r i t i c s d e s c r i b e Nabokov as a wizard of the p i g -

ments, or an a e s t h e t i c magician t o t a l l y removed from the s o c i a l 

concerns t h a t dominate r e a l i s t i c f i c t i o n , they tend to f o r g e t 

t h a t h i s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s ' p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t h a e s t h e t i c s 

i s i n f a c t a p o l i t i c a l statement. Both Bend S i n i s t e r and I n v i t a t i o n 

are as much about the freedom of the i n d i v i d u a l i n a t o t a l i t a r i a n 

s t a t e as 1984 or The Gulag A r c h i p e l a g o . In Nabokov's works, f a l s e 

(3) Jerome Klinkowitz, "Jerzy Kosinski," in Bellamy, p. 165. 



80 

a e s t h e t i c s are as much a form of r e p r e s s i o n as the s e c r e t p o l i c e , 

and much of what appears to be d e c e i t f u l a e s t h e t i c games on the 

p a r t of the n a r r a t o r i s a c t u a l l y an attempt to circumvent the 

d i s t o r t i o n s of incompetent a r t . 

The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s not a d e v i c e opposed to 

r e a l i s m , because r e a l i t y and a r t i f i c e are somewhat m y s t e r i o u s l y 

u n i t e d i n Nabokov's f i c t i o n . When John Shade says t h a t the 

u n i v e r s e i s an iambic l i n e , he i s of course a c h a r a c t e r speaking 

i n the c o n t e x t of a p a r t i c u l a r work; but a t the same time he 

v o i c e s a theme e s s e n t i a l to Nabokov, t h a t r e a l i t y can o n l y be 

understood i n terms of the h i g h e s t form of a r t . When he says t h a t 

S a r t r e i n La Nausee l a c k e d the t a l e n t to "make the world e x i s t 

as a work of a r t , " Nabokov i n one sense r e s t a t e s the a e s t h e t i c 

of t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m , and i n another sense h i n t s at\what 

Nabokov views as the i n t e r p e n e t r a t i o n of a r t i f i c e and r e a l i t y 

(Strong Opinions, p. 230). In the s e c t i o n t h a t f o l l o w s , t h e r e f o r e , 

our emphasis w i l l be on the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r as the agent 

of a c o n s i s t e n t world view which i n c l u d e s both r e a l i s m and a r t -

i f i c e , and not as the agent of a world of m i r r o r s " u n r e l a t e d to 

the phenomenal world." 

Nabokov's P r i v a t e L i f e 

Although the New C r i t i c s are no longer s u f f i c i e n t l y dominant 

to p r o c l a i m b i o g r a p h i c a l c r i t i c i s m a heresy, t h e i r d i s t r u s t 

l i n g e r s on; and no doubt i t i s t r u e t h a t nothing i n a f i c t i o n a l 

work can be e n t i r e l y e x p l a i n e d by r e f e r e n c e to the author's l i f e . 

N e v e r t h e l e s s , Nabokov's l i f e i s d i r e c t l y r e l a t e d to h i s development 

file:///what


81 

of a s p e c i a l type o f s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . Nabokov's p r i v -

i l e g e d and e x c e p t i o n a l c h i l d h o o d and youth, and l a t e r h i s e n f o r c e d 

e x i l e , o b v i o u s l y c o n t r i b u t e d to the development of a proud, 

i s o l a t e d , and o f t e n a r i s t o c r a t i c n a r r a t o r who s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y 

opposes h i s own r a r e f i e d s e n s i b i l i t y to the crude g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s 

of the s t a t e and the s o c i e t y . 

Nabokov's o r i g i n s are a r i s t o c r a t i c . His grandfather was 

M i n i s t e r of J u s t i c e under T s a r s Alexander I I and I I I , and h i s 

f a t h e r was an i n f l u e n t i a l l i b e r a l statesman. He was the adored 

o l d e s t son i n a h i g h l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d f a m i l y : "Imagine being 

the s o r t of strange c h i l d who sees c e r t a i n l e t t e r s of the a l p h a -

bet as t i n t e d with blue — ' s t e e l y x, thundercloud z, h u c k l e b e r r y 

k'. He c o n f i d e s i n h i s adored mother and f i n d s she shares and 

enlarges on these p e r c e p t i o n s ! " Imagine being the s o r t of c h i l d 

whose e a r l y poems are p u b l i s h e d by a p r i v a t e press out of h i s 

allowance money, a s m a l l f r a c t i o n of the two m i l l i o n d o l l a r s 

he was to have i n h e r i t e d from h i s u n c l e . ^ 

The e x i l e d Nabokov was not a prime candidate f o r a s s i m i l -

a t i o n . He was much too proud, too l o y a l to Russia and h i s own 

background and t a l e n t s . One t h i n k s of h i s anger as an a d o l e s c e n t 

a t the teacher a t St. Petersberg's Tenishev School, a d o c t r i n a i r e 

democrat who suggested t h a t Nabokov's f a m i l y l i m o u s i n e should 

wait a d i s c r e e t d i s t a n c e from the s c h o o l gates. One t h i n k s a l s o 

of h i s r e p l y to L u c i e Leon Noel when she s p e c u l a t e d t h a t Nabokov 

(4) Richard Boeth, "The Gamesman," Newsweek, 18 July: 1977, p. 42. 
(5) Many of the biographical d e t a i l s in t h i s section are taken 

from Andrew Field, Nabokov: His L i f e in Part (New York: Viking, 1977). 



82 

must have been overawed meeting Joyce: "She p i c t u r e s me as a 

t i m i d young a r t i s t ; a c t u a l l y I was f o r t y , with a s u f f i c i e n t l y 

l u c i d awareness of what I had a l r e a d y done f o r Russian l e t t e r s 

p r e v e n t i n g me from f e e l i n g awed i n the presence of any l i v i n g 

w r i t e r " (Strong Opinions, p. 292). Given t h i s supreme s e l f -

c o n f i d e n c e about h i s l i t e r a r y t a l e n t s and h i s s o c i a l s t a n d i n g , i t 

i s not s u r p r i s i n g t h a t Nabokov adopted an a t t i t u d e of proud 

a l i e n a t i o n towards the c o u n t r i e s i n which e x i l e d e p o s i t e d him. 

He s a i d of the years a t Cambridge: "There was a c e r t a i n make-

b e l i e v e about i t a l l . " ^ In B e r l i n he was i s o l a t e d w i t h i n the 

emigre colony, whose members "kept to themselves.... L i f e i n 

t h o s e settlements was so f u l l and i n t e n s e t h a t t h e s e Russian 

i n t e l l i g e n t ! . . . had n e i t h e r time nor reason to seek t i e s beyond 

t h e i r own c i r c l e " (Speak Memory, p. 277). 

In f a c t , the emigres were more than j u s t n e u t r a l l y o b l i v i o u s 

to B e r l i n s o c i e t y . Fyodor Godunov-Cherdynstev, the hero of 

The G i f t , hates the B e r l i n bus l i n e s , the u g l y s t r e e t s he sees 

through the wet windows, and, most of a l l , "the n a t i v e passengers": 

[For] some reason he got the impression t h a t 
a l l these c o l d , s l i p p e r y eyes, l o o k i n g a t him 
as i f he were c a r r y i n g an i l l e g a l t r e a s u r e 
(which h i s g i f t was, e s s e n t i a l l y ) , belonged 
o n l y to m a l i c i o u s hags and crooked h u c k s t e r s . 
The Russian c o n v i c t i o n t h a t the German i s i n 
small numbers v u l g a r and i n l a r g e numbers --
unbearably v u l g a r was, he knew, a c o n v i c t i o n 
unworthy of an a r t i s t ; but nonetheless ... 
o n l y the gloomy conductor ... seemed outwardly, 
i f not a human being, then a t l e a s t a poor 
r e l a t i o n to a human being (The G i f t , pp. 92-93). 

(6) Field, His L i f e in Part, p. 140. 



83 

"Fyodor's a t t i t u d e toward Germany r e f l e c t s too t y p i c a l l y perhaps 

the crude and i r r a t i o n a l contempt t h a t Russian emigres had f o r 

the ' n a t i v e s ' ( i n B e r l i n , P a r i s or Prague)" (Foreword, G i f t , p. 10). 

But many of the B e r l i n works are too t y p i c a l . Sometimes the n a t i v e s 

are e x p l i c i t l y abused, but g e n e r a l l y the n a r r a t o r s ' contempt takes 

the form of t r a n s f o r m i n g the "unbearably v u l g a r " surroundings. 

With r e f e r e n c e to the n o v e l , King, Queen, Knave, Andrew F i e l d 

notes t h a t 

the novel i s c l e a r l y not "about" B e r l i n e r s , 
nor does i t c o n t a i n , as many reviewers thought, 
" B e r l i n as seen through Russian eyes The 
novel j i s , i n a wav, a r e a l i s t i c p o r t r a y a l of 
the Russian emigre's way of not seeing the 
n a t i v e s of the c o u n t r i e s i n t o which he had 
happened to f a l l ... except as c e l l u l o i d or 
cardboard f i g u r e s . ...^ 

The p h y s i c a l s e t t i n g can seem as i n s u b s t a n t i a l as the n a t i v e s . For 

example, the n a r r a t o r of " T e r r a I n c o g n i t a " c l a i m s to be engaged i n 

the e x p l o r a t i o n of a fabulous t r o p i c a l r e g i o n , the d e t a i l s of 

which o c c a s i o n a l l y fade to r e v e a l "a few p i e c e s of r e a l i s t i c 

f u r n i t u r e and four w a l l s . " The n a r r a t o r t r i e s to convince h i m s e l f 

t h a t h i s magical t r o p i c s are r e a l , and denies those "unwelcome 

glimpses of my supposedly r e a l e x i s t e n c e i n a d i s t a n t European 

c i t y (the wallpaper, the armchair, the g l a s s o f lemonade) ... ("Terra 

I n c o g n i t a , " Russian Beauty, pp. 128, 127). 

I t i s tempting to apply F i e l d ' s remark to s e v e r a l of the 

Emigre n o v e l s , and argue t h a t the n o v e l s are r e a l i s t i c p o r t r a y a l s 
of a s o c i e t y , s p e c i f i c a l l y the small and i n s u l a r s o c i e t y of 

Russian emigres. The n a r r a t o r ' s s o l i p s i s t i c tendencies would then 

(7) Andrew Field; Nabokov: His L i f e in Art (Boston: L i t t l e , Brown 
1967), p. 158. 



84 

be c o n t r o l l e d by the r e a l i s t i c context. In the case of Fyodor, 

who i s one of the n a r r a t o r s of The G i f t , the c o n t r o l would come 

from the omniscient t h i r d person n a r r a t o r , the superego with, as 

i t were, s p e c i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r the r e a l i t y p r i n c i p l e , who 

would emphasize t h a t a l l these f a n t a s i e s about the German race 

are merely i n s i d e Fyodor's head: " f o r some reason he got the 

impression," "a c o n v i c t i o n unworthy of an a r t i s t . " In The Eye, 

to pursue the tempting argument, s e v e r a l j u d i c i o u s c l u e s make 

i t c l e a r t h a t the n a r r a t o r Smurov has completely misunderstood 

the r e l a t i o n s h i p between Vanya and Mukhin, t h a t he i s not the 

romantic hero of h i s daydreams, and t h a t he is_ mad: 

I swear, I swear I am happy. I have r e a l i z e d 
t h a t the o n l y happiness i n t h i s world i s to 
observe, to spy, to watch, to s c r u t i n i z e one-
s e l f and o t h e r s , to be nothing but a b i g , s l i g h t l y 
v i t r e o u s , somewhat bloodshot., u n b l i n k i n g eye--. I 
swear t h a t t h i s i s happiness. What does i t matter 
t h a t I am a b i t cheap, a b i t f o u l , and t h a t no 
one a p p r e c i a t e s a l l the remarkable t h i n g s about 
me — my f a n t a s y , my e r u d i t i o n , my l i t e r a r y 
g i f t ... I am happy t h a t I can gaze a t myself, 
f o r any man i s absorbing — yes, r e a l l y absorbing! 
The world, t r y as i t may, cannot i n s u l t me. I am 
i n v u l n e r a b l e . . . . Oh, to shout i t so t h a t a l l 
of you b e l i e v e me a t l a s t , you c r u e l , smug 
people....(The Eye, pp. 113-114). 

Smurov's e y e b a l l trope immediately r e c a l l s Ralph Waldo 

Emerson i n the throes of t r a n s c e n d e n t a l i s m . But i t must be 

remembered t h a t i n the penultimate pages of the n o v e l , Smurov 

seems g r e a t l y a t t r a c t e d to the same bourgeois value's as the other 

c h a r a c t e r s , and thus the f i n a l speech of the novel i s v o i c e d not 

by Smurov, but by one of the many aspects of Smurov, the aspect 

t h a t possesses a " l i t e r a r y g i f t . " The g i f t i s the same g i f t as 

t h a t possessed by Fyodor, which suggests t h a t i t i s inadequate to 



85 

t h i n k of the n a r r a t o r s as s o l i p s i s t s whose excesses are c o n t r o l l e d 

by the context; i n f a c t , the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s are, as a 

f u n c t i o n of t h e i r a l i e n a t i o n from s o c i e t y , the o n l y ones who under-

stand s o c i e t y ' s r e a l nature. 

In the passage from The G i f t quoted above, Fyodor's 

" g i f t " r e f e r s v a r i o u s l y to h i s s o p h i s t i c a t i o n , e r u d i t i o n , l i t e r a r y 

t a l e n t — i n s h o r t , to a l l those q u a l i t i e s i n h i s background 

which make i t p o s s i b l e f o r him to comprehend and express the t r u t h 

about what i s going on around him. Given the c o n d i t i o n s i n 

B e r l i n d u r i n g the two decades before the war, Fyodor's p a r a n o i a 

i s j u s t i f i e d , and i t i s o b v i o u s l y based on Nabokov's experience 

i n e x i l e . Nabokov, a f t e r a l l , had removed h i s unique t a l e n t s 

from the f r y i n g pan of L e n i n to the f i r e of N a z i Germany. 

Marrying a: Jew d i d not improve h i s standing with the German s t a t e . 

Thus the f a c t of Germany's unimaginable c r u e l t y merges with 

Germany's unimaginable b a n a l i t y ; these twin e v i l s can o n l y be 

p e r c e i v e d f o r what they are by the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . 

In Bend S i n i s t e r , the i d e o l o g i e s accepted as r e a l i t y would 

seem to be a blend of Nazism and Communism. The s t a t e i s run 

a c c o r d i n g to a theory c a l l e d Ekwilism, which would e l i m i n a t e 

the g i f t e d i n d i v i d u a l i n favour of standard brands. F r a d r i k 

Skotoma, the p h i l o s o p h e r of Ekwilism, says t h a t the r o o t of a l l 

the world's woes i s the unequal d i s t r i b u t i o n of human c o n s c i o u s n e s s : 

I t was, however, q u i t e p o s s i b l e , he maintained, 
to r e g u l a t e the c a p a c i t y of the human v e s s e l s . 
I f , f o r i n s t a n c e , a g i v e n amount of water were 
contained i n a g i v e n number of heterogeneous 
b o t t l e s ... the d i s t r i b u t i o n of the l i q u i d 
would be uneven and u n j u s t , but c o u l d be made 
even and j u s t e i t h e r by grading the contents or 



8 6 

by e l i m i n a t i n g the fancy v e s s e l s and adopting 
a standard s i z e (Bend S i n i s t e r , p. 75). 

The "fancy v e s s e l s " are those w i t h the s e n s i b i l i t y and 

i n t e l l i g e n c e to see through the s t a t e ' s new order, i n which "a 

g r e a t and b e a u t i f u l s i m p l i f i c a t i o n w i l l r e p l a c e the e v i l r e f i n e -

ments of a degenerate p a s t " (p. 151). Again, "degenerate" and 

"refinements" r e f e r to those with the g i f t , i n i m i c a l to the 

s t a t e , of seeing t h i n g s f o r themselves. The hero of the n o v e l , 

Krug, r e f u s e s to s i g n a document s u p p o r t i n g the p o l i c i e s of the 

s t a t e p r e c i s e l y on the grounds t h a t the s t a t e and a l l i t s 

a t t r i b u t e s are u n r e a l . As he says, "I do not b e l i e v e i n p i s t o l s ... 

(p. 124). 

The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r of the novel sees both the 

u n r e a l i t y of the s t a t e , and i t s r e a l power. Here are h i s comments 

a f t e r the scene i n which Krug r e f u s e s to accept the p o l i c i e s of 

the d i c t a t o r Paduk: 

Which, of course, terminated the i n t e r v i e w . 
Thus?. Or perhaps i n some other way? Did Krug 
r e a l l y glance a t >the prepared speech? And i f 
he d i d , was i t r e a l l y as s i l l y as a l l t h a t ? 
He d i d ; i t was. The seedy t y r a n t or the p r e s -
i d e n t of the S t a t e , or the d i c t a t o r , or who-
ever he was — the man Paduk i n a word, the 
Toad i n another -- d i d hand my f a v o r i t e c h a r a c t e r 
a mysterious batch of n e a t l y typed pages (p. 151). 

The n a r r a t o r q u e s t i o n s the v a l i d i t y of h i s i m a g i n a t i o n ; c o u l d the 

documents of a t o t a l i t a r i a n s t a t e be t h a t f a r c i c a l ? He concludes 

t h a t h i s n a r r a t i v e i s a c c u r a t e : "He d i d ; i t was." But w h i l e 

acknowledging the power of the s t a t e , he r e f u s e s to accept i t s 

l i e s . He denies Paduk h i s t i t l e s — "The seedy t y r a n t or the 

p r e s i d e n t of the S t a t e , or the d i c t a t o r , or whoever he was 

j u s t as Nabokov i n h i s Gogol biography shows h i s scorn f o r the 



87 

incompetence of Gogol's p r e s i d i n g p h y s i c i a n by r e f u s i n g to s p e l l 

h i s name c o n s i s t e n t l y ' - "Dr. Auvers (or Hovert) ," "Auvert's 

(or Hauvers's)" (Gogol, p. 2). When the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r emphasizes a r t i f i c e or i l l u s i o n , i t i s o f t e n the case 

t h a t the s u b j e c t of h i s n a r r a t i v e i s i n f a c t an i l l u s i o n , a 

sham, a f a r c i c a l imposter. Because of h i s s p e c i a l l i t e r a r y 

g i f t s , the n a r r a t o r has the power to expose those i l l u s i o n s 

accepted as r e a l i t y by the r e s t of s o c i e t y . 

A f t e r the b e t t e r p a r t of two decades i n B e r l i n , and a few 

years i n P a r i s , Nabokov managed to b r i b e the proper bureaucrat 

and moved to America, where he claimed to f e e l a t home. Bend  

S i n i s t e r was w r i t t e n i n America, and i t i s i n t e r e s t i n g to hear 

Krug's reminiscences of h i s l e c t u r e tour i n the land where 

fancy v e s s e l s are preserved, a l a n d o f " ' E l a t i o n , d e l i g h t , a 

q u i c k e n i n g of the i m a g i n a t i o n .... Landscapes as y e t u n p o l l u t e d 

w i t h c o n v e n t i o n a l poetry, and l i f e , the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s t r a n g e r , 

being slapped on the back and t o l d to r e l a x 1 " ..(p.'30). Perhaps 

i n America t h e r e would be no need f o r a s k e p t i c a l n a r r a t o r , s i n c e 

Nabokov seemed to accept the c o l d war d i a l e c t i c of a b s o l u t e l y 

e v i l Communism opposed by p e r f e c t l y f r e e America — "I d e p l o r e the 

a t t i t u d e of f o o l i s h or d i s h o n e s t people who r i d i c u l o u s l y equate ... 

the r u t h l e s s i m p e r i a l i s m of the USSR with the e a r n e s t and u n s e l f i s h 

a s s i s t a n c e extended by the USA to n a t i o n s i n d i s t r e s s " (Strong  

Opinions , p. 50). Instead of h o l d i n g h i m s e l f a l o o f from democratic 

America, we are t o l d t h a t Nabokov "immersed h i m s e l f i n the main-

stream of American bourgeois c u l t u r e , and thus l e a r n e d a whole 



38 
g 

s u b j e c t matter." 

But i n M o r r i s Bishop's l i s t of Nabokov's p r o d u c t i o n d u r i n g 

the C o r n e l l years, there i s a suggestion t h a t Nabokov's a s s i m i l -

a t i o n was incomplete: "In a d d i t i o n to s t o r i e s and poems f o r 

the New Yorker he wrote Pnin, L o l i t a , C o n c l u s i v e Evidence, 

The Song of Igor's Campaign, Eugene Onegin, and a number o f a r t i c l e s 

on l e p i d o p t e r a " (p. 237) — Two books on Russian l i t e r a t u r e ; a 

memoir, most of i t s chapters d e a l i n g w i t h the Russian years; and 

two novels whose heroes are estranged from the American scene. 

And d e s p i t e h i s r e s i d e n c e i n c o n g e n i a l America, Nabokov d i d not 

e l i m i n a t e the a l i e n a t e d s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . He denied, f o r 

example, t h a t L o l i t a was a s o c i a l s a t i r e of American mores ( i n 

the manner of, say, S i n c l a i r L e w i s ) : 
Another charge which some readers have made i s 
t h a t L o l i t a i s anti-American.... C o n s i d e r a t i o n s 
of depth and p e r s p e c t i v e (a suburban lawn, a 
mountain meadow) l e d me to b u i l d a number o f 
North American s e t s . I needed a c e r t a i n e x h i l a r -
a t i n g m i l i e u . Nothing i s more e x h i l a r a t i n g than 
P h i l i s t i n e v u l g a r i t y . But i n regard to P h i l -
i s t i n e v u l g a r i t y there i s no i n t r i n s i c d i f f e r -
ence between P a l e a r c t i c manners and N e a r c t i c 
manners.... I chose American motels i n s t e a d of 
Swiss h o t e l s or E n g l i s h inns o n l y because I am 
t r y i n g to be an American w r i t e r . . . . On the other 
hand, my c r e a t u r e Humbert i s a f o r e i g n e r and an 
a n a r c h i s t , and t h e r e are many t h i n g s , b e s i d e s 
nymphets, i n which I d i s a g r e e w i t h him. And a l l 
my Russian readers know t h a t my o l d worlds — 
Russian, B r i t i s h , German, French — are j u s t as 
f a n t a s t i c and p e r s o n a l as my new one i s ("On A 
Book E n t i t l e d L o l i t a , " p. 317). 

.By " p h i l i ' s t i n e v u l g a r i t y , " a q u a l i t y common to both t o t a l i t -

a r i a n Europe and f r e e America, Nabokov means a g r e a t d e a l more than 

laughable bad t a s t e . His f i c t i o n equates d u l l and s t u p i d bourgeois 

(8) Morris Bishop, "Nabokov at Cornell," in Nabokov: C r i t i c i s m , 
Reminiscences, Translations and Tributes, ed. Alfred Appel, Jr. and Charles 
Newman (Evanstbn, I l l i n o i s : Northwestern Univ. Press, 1970), p. 239. 



89 

c u l t u r e , t o t a l i t a r i a n i s m , and, not l e a s t , incompetent a r t and conn/./. 

v e n t i o n a l a e s t h e t i c s . Nabokov has been q u i t e e x p l i c i t i n h i s 

equation of l i t e r a r y conventions w i t h p o l i t i c a l c o e r c i o n . He 

s a i d i n 19 68 t h a t i n Russia, a hundred years ago, "the most 

eloquent and i n f l u e n t i a l reviewers ... demanded t h a t Russian 

n o v e l i s t s and poets p o r t r a y and s i f t the modern scene...." The 

t y p i c a l c r i t i c would i n s i s t 

t h a t a l i t e r a r y a r t i s t be a " r e p o r t e r on the 
t o p i c s of the day," a s o c i a l commentator, a 
class-war correspondent. That was h a l f a 
century before the B o l s h e v i s t p o l i c e not o n l y 
r e v i v e d the dismal s o - c a l l e d p r o g r e s s i v e ( r e a l l y , 
r e g r e s s i v e ) t r e n d c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the e i g h t e e n 
s i x t i e s and s e v e n t i e s , but, as we a l l know, 
enforced i t . . . . The d r e a r y p r i n c i p l e s once 
v o i c e d i n the r e i g n of Alexander the Second and 
t h e i r subsequent s i n i s t e r transmutation i n t o 
the decrees of gloomy p o l i c e s t a t e s ... come to 
my mind whenever I hear today r e t r o - p r o g r e s s i v e 
book reviewers i n America and England p l e a d 
f o r a l i t t l e more s o c i a l comment, a l i t t l e l e s s 
a r t i s t i c whimsy. The accepted n o t i o n of a 
"modern world" c o n t i n u o u s l y f l o w i n g around 
us belongs to the same type of a b s t r a c t i o n 
as say, the "quaternary p e r i o d " of p a l e o n t o l o g y . 
What I f e e l to be the r e a l modern world i s the 
world the a r t i s t c r e a t e s , h i s own mirage, which 
becomes a new mir ("world" i n Russian) by the 
very a c t of h i s shedding, as i t were, the age 
he l i v e s i n (Strong Opinions, pp. 111-112). 

Nabokov i s being u n f a i r , s i n c e presumably those book reviewers who 

argued f o r a l i t t l e l e s s a r t i s t i c whimsy h a r d l y had i n mind the 

b r u t a l p o l i t i c a l r e p r e s s i o n of an a r t i s t ' s i m a g i n a t i o n . The p o i n t 

remains t h a t Nabokov has not f o r g o t t e n h i s European experiences, 

which i n c l u d e d a brother murdered i n the c o n c e n t r a t i o n camps. There 

i s "a c e n t r a l core of s p i r i t i n me t h a t f l a s h e s and j e e r s a t 

the b r u t a l f o r c e of t o t a l i t a r i a n s t a t e s " (p. 113). I t i s a p p a r e n t l y 



90 

i n s t i n c t i v e f o r him to a s s o c i a t e pressures to i n c l u d e s o c i a l 

content m i r r o r i n g the modern world w i t h the e f f o r t s of a p o l i c e 

s t a t e to c o n t r o l r e a l i t y by c o n t r o l l i n g a r t . When he t a l k s 

about the a r t i s t "shedding/ as i t were, the age he l i v e s i n , " he 

i s not announcing h i s i n t e n t i o n to a v o i d any c o n n e c t i o n w i t h the 

phenomenal world. What he does want to a v o i d i s " a b s t r a c t i o n , " 

t h a t i s , the u n r e a l g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s of the p o l i t i c a l s t a t e , or 

of Freudianism (which he sees as a p o l i c e s t a t e of the mind), or 

the unholy a l l i a n c e of i d e o l o g y and r e a l i s m which r e s u l t e d i n 

d o c t r i n a i r e American n a t u r a l i s m . Nabokov's n a r r a t o r s a v o i d 

a b s t r a c t i o n s f o r s p e c i f i c s , and f o r the f i n e p e r c e p t i o n s of a 

s u b t l e i n t e l l e c t . When T r i l l i n g c a l l e d f o r an end to the l i b e r a l 

worship of D r e i s e r , he was not c a l l i n g f o r f i c t i o n unconnected 

w i t h r e a l i t y ; s i m i l a r l y , i t i s not the i n t e n t i o n of Nabokov's 

f i c t i o n to c a r r y the reader to a realm o u t s i d e space and time, 

where the a r t i s t i s supreme (because u n c h a l l e n g e d ) . He wants 

r e a l i s m unencumbered w i t h the i l l u s i o n s of p o l i t i c s and r e a c t i o n a r y 

l i t e r a r y c r i t i c s . Nabokov's "shedding 1 no doubt h i n t s a t one of 

those images never f a r from h i s n a t u r a l i s t ' s mind (not Jack London's 

comic book n a t u r a l i s m , but the n a t u r a l i s m of a l e p i d o p t e r i s t ) i n 

which from the o l d and unnecessary cocoon t h e r e emerges a new-

born, unique and f r e s h r e a l i s m . 

The I n t r u s i v e N a r r a t o r 

C o n t r i b u t i n g to the newborn r e a l i s m i s the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r , who appears i n many ingenious v a r i a t i o n s ; the most 

s t r i k i n g v a r i a t i o n i s Nabokov's i m i t a t i o n of the n i n e t e e n t h century 



91 

omniscient n a r r a t o r . We c i t e d Ford's axiom, composed a t a time 

when the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r was out of f a s h i o n : "No author 

would, l i k e Thackeray, to-day i n t r u d e h i s broken nose and myopic 

s p e c t a c l e s i n t o the middle of the most t h r i l l i n g scene he ever 

wrote We a l s o c i t e d D i t s k y " s o p i n i o n , composed a t a time when 

the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r was i n f a s h i o n : the "conscious 

presence of the c r e a t i v e i n t e l l i g e n c e " means t h a t "the a r t i s t -

audience-work r e l a t i o n s h i p becomes one of a c t i v e and r a d i c a l 

c o n s p i r a c y — one not to be confused w i t h the p a t r o n i z i n g homily 

s e s s i o n s of an e a r l i e r day ." Nabokov of course goes h i s own way 

i n t h i s as i n so many other matters. His s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r 

i n t r u d e s on the a c t i o n i n order to d i s p l a y a s p e c i a l s e n s i b i l i t y 

( r a t h e r l i k e Nabokov's) which denies the dehumanization of the 

n a r r a t i v e v o i c e , and which comments on the a c t i o n to l e a d the 

reader i n the r i g h t d i r e c t i o n . The method i s f a r d i f f e r e n t from 

t h a t o f , say, F l a u b e r t , whose impersonal and o b j e c t i v e n a r r a t i o n 

might l e a d the reader to wonder what poor Emma had done to deserve 

such treatment from the author. Nabokov, on the other hand, uses 

h i s i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r t o dispense p o e t i c j u s t i c e ( i n Bend S i n i s t e r ) 

and to guide the reader's understanding of a r a t h e r shallow 

c h a r a c t e r ( i n King, Queen, Knave). The i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r , o f t e n 

a surrogate f o r the author, i s not designed simply to remind the 

reader t h a t " v e r i s i m i l i t u d e i s an i l l u s i o n , a r e f l e c t i o n i n the 

a r t i s t ' s mind," but to g i v e the work a human dimension, and, 

p a r a d o x i c a l l y , to i n c r e a s e the reader's sympathy f o r , and com-

prehension of , • the c h a r a c t e r s . 

Here i s Nabokov on composing chess problems: 



92 

D e c e i t , to the p o i n t of d i a b o l i s m , and o r i g i n -
a l i t y , v e r g i n g upon the grotesque, were my 
n o t i o n s of s t r a t e g y ; and although i n matters 
of c o n s t r u c t i o n I t r i e d to conform, whenever 
p o s s i b l e ^ to c l a s s i c a l r u l e s ... I was always 
ready to s a c r i f i c e p u r i t y of form to the e x i g -
e n c i e s of f a n t a s t i c content, causing form to 
bulge and b u r s t l i k e a sponge-bag c o n t a i n g a 
small f u r i o u s d e v i l (Speak, Memory, pp. 289-90). 9 

The small f u r i o u s d e v i l corresponds to the i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r , 

who has something of a d i s r u p t i v e e f f e c t on the t r a d i t i o n a l 

novel form. In Look a t the H a r l e q u i n s 1, f o r example, the hero 

i s a famous n o v e l i s t ; i n the f o l l o w i n g passage he reviews h i s 

c a r e e r : 

N e i t h e r Slaughter i n the Sun (as the E n g l i s h 
t r a n s l a t i o n of Camera Lucinda got r e t i t l e d 
w h i l e I l a y h e l p l e s s l y h o s p i t a l i z e d i n New York) 
nor The Red Topper s o l d w e l l . My ambitious, 
b e a u t i f u l , strange See under Real shone f o r a 
b r e a t h l e s s i n s t a n t on the lowest rung of the 
b e s t s e l l e r l i s t i n a West Coast paper, and 
vanished f o r good. In those circumstances 
I c o u l d not r e f u s e the l e c t u r e s h i p o f f e r e d me 
i n 1940 by Quirn U n i v e r s i t y on the s t r e n g t h of 
my European r e p u t a t i o n . I was to develop a 
plump tenure t h e r e and expand i n t o a F u l l 
P r o f e s s o r by 1950 or 1955: I can't f i n d the 
exact date i n my o l d notes. 

Although I was adequately remunerated f o r 
my two weekly l e c t u r e s on European Masterpieces 
and one Thursday seminar on Joyce's U l y s s e s ... 
and had furthermore s e v e r a l s p l e n d i d l y p a i d 
s t o r i e s accepted by The Beau and the B u t t e r f l y , 
the k i n d e s t magazine i n the world, I was not 
r e a l l y comfortable u n t i l my Kingdom by the Sea 
(1962) atoned f o r a f r a c t i o n of the l o s s of 
my Russian f o r t u n e ... (p. 129). 

Nabokov has r e p e a t e d l y i s s u e d warnings a g a i n s t a b i o g r a p h i c a l 

r e a d i n g of the n o v e l s . In the I n t r o d u c t i o n to Mary, f o r example, 

(9) "When in his autobiography he CNabokovJ writes about the delight 
he took in composing chess problems he is also writing about himself as a 
writer," says Gleb Struve in "Notes on Nabokov as a Russian Writer," in 
Dembo, p. 53. 



93 

he claims to have l e f t autobiography, behind as the bad habit 

of an amateur: 

The beginner* s well-known propensity for obtru-
ding upon his own privacy, by introducing him-
s e l f , or a v i c a r , into his f i r s t novel, owes 
less to the a t t r a c t i o n of a ready theme than 
to the r e l i e f of getting r i d of oneself, before 
going on to better things. It i s one of the 
very few common rules I have accepted (p. x i ) . 

Nevertheless, the primary narrator i n Look at the Harlequins 1 i s 

a surrogate for Nabokov, and the ostensible narrative l i n e , an . 

e l d e r l y novelist musing over his past, i s a series of in-jokes 

about Nabokov's publishing career. Thus the narrator Vadim 

Vadimovich's novel Slaughter i n the Sun represents Nabokov's 

1938 novel, Laughter i n the Dark; Camera Lucida i s a variant 

of the t i t l e of the o r i g i n a l work, Camera Obscura; and so on. 

Presumably only a few readers w i l l recognize the in-joke about 

expanding into a plump tenure and a F u l l Professorship. Owing 

to the candies that replaced a smoking habit when Nabokov 

moved to America, he gained about s i x t y pounds, or about half 

of his former weight. He l i k e d to say he was "one-third 

American" (Strong Opinions, p. 27). 

Such in-jokes become a touch cruel when the narrator, poor 

Vadim Vadimovich, wakes up from a s p e l l of madness, and can't 

remember his own surname: 

I ... f e l t my family name began with an N and 
bore an odious resemblance to the surname or 
pseudonym of a presumably notorious (Notorov? 
No) Bulgarian, or Babylonian, or, maybe, Betel-
geusian writer with whom scatterbrained emigres 
from some other galaxy constantly confused me; 
but whether i t was something on the l i n e s of 
Nebesnyy or Nabedrin or Nablidze ... I simply 
could not t e l l . . . . 



94 

Without a name I remained u n r e a l i n r e g a i n e d 
consciousness. Poor V i v i a n , poor Vadim Vad-
imovich, was but a figment of somebody's — 
not even my own — i m a g i n a t i o n (Harlequins, 
pp. 24 8-4̂ 9) . 

Vadim i s of course half-remembering Nabokov's name. The s t a t i c i n 

h i s b r a i n i s caused by another figment of the author's imagin-

a t i o n , who, as i t were, winks at the reader from behind Vadim's 

back. 

The i n t r u s i v e n e s s of the omniscient n a r r a t o r on Vadim's own 

n a r r a t i o n i s not p h y s i c a l or i n person; the i n t r u s i o n might be 

termed p s y c h o l o g i c a l , or i m p l i c i t . But i n King, Queen, Knave 

the i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r i s as much on the scene as George E l i o t 

i n t e r v i e w i n g Adam Bede i n h i s o l d age, or Thackeray a t Pumper-

n i c k e l . The hero of King, Queen, Knave i s a good-hearted German 

businessman named Dreyer, one of Nabokov's few sympathetic 

German c h a r a c t e r s . His s e l f i s h w i f e , Martha, and h i s knavish 

nephew, Franz, c u c k o l d Dreyer and p l a n h i s murder. Near the end 

of the novel Franz n o t i c e s a g i r l i n a gleaming blue d r e s s : 

The f o r e i g n g i r l i n the blue dress danced w i t h 
a remarkably handsome man i n an o l d - f a s h i o n e d 
d i n n e r j a c k e t . Franz had long s i n c e n o t i c e d t h i s 
couple; they had appeared to him i n f l e e t i n g 
glimpses, l i k e a r e c u r r e n t dream image or a s u b t l e 
l e i t m o t i v .... Sometimes the man c a r r i e d a 
b u t t e r f l y net. The g i r l had a d e l i c a t e l y p a i n t e d 
mouth and tender gray-blue eyes, and her f i a n c e 
or husband, s l e n d e r , e l e g a n t l y b a l d i n g , contempt-
ous of e v e r y t h i n g on e a r t h but her, was l o o k i n g 
a t her w i t h p r i d e ; Franz f e l t envious of t h a t 
unusual p a i r ... (King, Queen, Knave, p. 254). 

The g i r l resembles Vera Nabokov, and the gentleman Nabokov him-

s e l f , i n the r o l e of the s u p e r i o r a r t i s t . A c c o r d i n g to Nabokov's 

Foreword, "the appearances of my w i f e and me i n the l a s t two 

chapters are merely v i s i t s of i n s p e c t i o n " ( p . - v i i i ) . The d i s t i n -



95 

guished gentleman's d e s i r a b l e companion, "tanned, p a l e - h a i r e d , 

l o v e l y " i s an ornament f o r the omniscient n a r r a t o r , who i s 

b a l d i n g , but e l e g a n t l y b a l d i n g — a very f l a t t e r i n g s e l f - p o r t r a i t ; 

no wonder Franz senses h i s own i n f e r i o r i t y : 

A f t e r p a s s i n g him they began t a l k i n g again; he 
had the impression they were d i s c u s s i n g him, 
and even pronouncing h i s name. I t embarrassed, 
i t incensed him, t h a t t h i s damned happy f o r -
e i g n e r ... knew a b s o l u t e l y e v e r y t h i n g about h i s 
predicament and perhaps p i t i e d , not without some 
d e r i s i o n , an honest young man who had been 
seduced and a p p r o p r i a t e d by an o l d e r woman .... 
(p. 259). 

Franz i s i n the presence of h i s C r e a t o r . An i t i n e r a n t photo-

grapher, who had been walking on the sandy beach of the novel's 

f i n a l scenes, had announced g r a t u i t o u s l y that,. "The a r t i s t i s 

coming! The d i v i n e l y f a v o r e d , der gottbegnadete a r t i s t i s ; 

coming!" (p. 234). 

T h i s i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r d i f f e r s from some n i n e t e e n t h century 

i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r s i n t h a t he does not attempt to i n g r a t i a t e 

h i m s e l f w i t h the reader. Rather than i n t e g r a t i n g h i m s e l f i n t o 

the scene,, he i s opposed to e v e r y t h i n g i n i t , save h i s companion. 

Again, the s p e c i a l s e n s i b i l i t y of the n a r r a t o r sees through 

the d i s t o r t i o n s of s o c i e t y , represented i n t h i s case by a 

parody ..of a l o v e a f f a i r between e v i l , mercenary Martha and 

Franz, a young p r o v i n c i a l on the make i n the b i g c i t y . The 

i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r and h i s companion, by c o n t r a s t , r e p r e s e n t 

r e a l l o v e ; thus w h i l e Franz and Martha are concerned w i t h appear-

ances, the e l e g a n t gentleman i s o b l i v i o u s to e v e r y t h i n g but h i s 

companion, who i s d i g n i f i e d with the term, " f i a n c e . " Once again, 

P h i l i s t i n e v u l g a r i t y i s c o r r e c t e d , or a t l e a s t put i n p e r s p e c t i v e , 



96 

through a special s e n s i b i l i t y dressed i n a no doubt elegant 

"old-fashioned dinner jacket." 

There i s another important method by which the i n t r u s i v e 

narrator increases, rather than decreases, the v e r i s i m i l i t u d e 

of the scene. King,Queen, Knave i s often thought of as one 

of Nabokov's more a r t i f i c i a l narratives, no doubt p a r t l y through 

the influence of Andrew F i e l d ' s description: 

Consciousness of the fact that l i t e r a t u r e i s an 
a r t i f i c i a l convention i s stretched to i t s f u r t h -
est l i m i t s and used to create a r a d i c a l l y d i f f -
erent style of writing.... The novel's a r t i -
f i c i a l i t y i s so deft and i t s mechanisms so 
cunning that King, Queen, Knave i s , far more than 
Pale F i r e or any other of Nabokov's novels, a 
work i n which one sees and f e e l s the a r t i s t i n 
the very act of manipulating his subject and 
characters. 

But one function of the intrusive narrator i s to increase the 

reader's sympathy for what F i e l d c a l l s the novel's "pasteboard 

figures" (p. 159). Thus Franz r e a l i z e s that the damned happy 

foreigner 

knew absolutely everything about his predicament 
and perhaps p i t i e d , not without some derision, 
an honest young man who had been seduced and 
appropriated by an older woman who, despite her 
f i n e dresses and face l o t i o n s , resembled a large 
white toad (King, Queen, Knave, p. 259). 

Here the narrator, rather i n the so-called "moralizing" manner 

of the previous century, establishes the moral dimension of the 

novel for the reader who may have been lagging behind. The use 

of the word toad, as with Paduk, dismisses Martha to the regions 

of the hopelessly corrupt; but although the phrase "honest young 

man" i s d e r i s i v e indeed, the reader should recognize that Franz 

(10) Field, His L i f e in Art, p. 153. 



97 

i s not j u s t a crude and v u l g a r young o p p o r t u n i s t , nor a c a r d -

board c h a r a c t e r , nor a minor chess p i e c e , but a rounded c h a r a c t e r 

d e s e r v i n g some of the sympathy readers o f f e r to c h a r a c t e r s i n 

t r a d i t i o n a l n o v e l s . The i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r i s not a l l a r t i f i c e 

and magic t r i c k s , but to some extent a t r a d i t i o n a l humanist; 

c e r t a i n l y Nabokov's works do not l a c k an e t h i c a l sense. 

In Bend S i n i s t e r , f o r example, the i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r c o u l d 

be s a i d to dispense p o e t i c j u s t i c e . The n a r r a t o r works i n 

o p p o s i t i o n to Paduk's d i c t a t o r s h i p , sneaking i n t o h i s hero's 

consciousness while K r u g 1 s s l e e p i n g b r a i n i s under the c o n t r o l 

of the mind's dream producers: 

But among the producers or stagehands r e s p o n s i b l e 
f o r the s e t t i n g t h e r e has been ... a nameless, 
mysterious genius"-who took advantage of the 
dream to convey h i s own p e c u l i a r code message 
which has nothing to do ... with any aspect of 
Krug ' s p h y s i c a l e x i s t e n c e , but which l i n k s him 
up somehow w i t h the unfathomable mode of being, 
... a k i n d of t r a n s c e n d e n t a l madness which l u r k s 
behind the corner of consciousness and which 
cannot be d e f i n e d more a c c u r a t e l y than t h i s , 
no matter how Krug s t r a i n s h i s b r a i n (p. 64). 

Krug of course senses ..the presence of the i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r . 

Nabokov says i n " t h e I n t r o d u c t i o n t h a t i n "the second paragraph of 

Chapter F i v e [the passage quoted above] comes the f i r s t i n t i m a t i o n 

t h a t 'someone i s i n the know' — a mysterious i n t r u d e r . . . . The 

i n t r u d e r i s ... an anthropomorphic d e i t y impersonated by me" 

(p. x i i ) . 

The novel c e r t a i n l y d i s t u r b s the v e r i s i m i l a r s u r f a c e , and 

one i s indeed aware of the a r t i f i c e r behind the a r t i f i c e . But 

the n a r r a t o r a l s o a c t s as the reader's index to r e a l i t y . For 

example: 



98 

I f e l t a pang of pity..?for Adam [Krug] and s l i d 
towards him along an i n c l i n e d beam of p a l e 
l i g h t — causing instantaneous madness, but a t 
l e a s t saving him from the s e n s e l e s s agony of 
h i s l o g i c a l f a t e (p. 233). 

"Logical fate" r e f e r s to the v e r i s i m i l a r p l o t ; t h a t i s , the i n e v i t -

a b l e death of an independent i n t e l l e c t u a l i n a p o l i c e s t a t e . 

But the reason the n a r r a t o r rescues Krug from " s e n s e l e s s agony" 

i s t h a t Krug belongs o u t s i d e the p e r n i c i o u s i l l u s i o n s of t o t a l -

i t a r i a n i s m . Krug, p a r t l y the r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of the n a r r a t o r ' s 

s p e c i a l s e n s i b i l i t y , i s on a d i f f e r e n t l e v e l ( l i t e r a l l y ) 

from the u n r e a l and i n s i g n i f i c a n t v i l l a i n s of the s t o r y . 

Nabokov asks h i m s e l f i n the I n t r o d u c t i o n whether there i s 

"any judgment on my p a r t c a r r i e d out, any sentence pronounced, 

any s a t i s f a c t i o n g i v e n to the moral sense?" He answers t h a t 

"crime i s punished a t the end of the book when the uniformed 

waxworks are r e a l l y h u r t , and the dummies are a t l a s t i n q u i t e 

d r e a d f u l p a i n , and p r e t t y M a r i e t t e g e n t l y b l e e d s , staked and 

t o r n by the l u s t of f o r t y s o l d i e r s " , (p. v i i i ) . Nabokov's 

remark i s not without i r o n y , s i n c e i t would r e q u i r e a r a t h e r 

b l o o d t h i r s t y "moral sense" to take s a t i s f a c t i o n i n M a r i e t t e ' s 

gang rape. Revenge i s not an approved motive i n Nabokov's 

n o v e l s , nor reform f o r t h a t matter; i n s t e a d , the n a r r a t o r d i r e c t s 

the reader's sympathy towards those c h a r a c t e r s who, l i k e the 

n a r r a t o r , are capable of p e r c e i v i n g the t r u t h of t h i n g s . 

The S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r as A r t i s t 

Nabokov's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r o f t e n i n t r u d e s , or makes 

p e r s o n a l appearances, i n the r o l e of an a r t i s t . In Bend S i n i s t e r , 



99 

f o r example, Krug's death scene i s i n t e r r u p t e d by a v i s i t 

to the a r t i s t ' s workshop. The w a l l vanishes, " l i k e a r a p i d l y 

withdrawn s l i d e , and I s t r e t c h e d myself and got up from among 

the chaos of w r i t t e n and r e w r i t t e n pages, to i n v e s t i g a t e the 

sudden twang t h a t something had made i n s t r i k i n g the wire 

n e t t i n g of my window" (p. 240). 

When Nabokov does not use an omniscient surrogate as a 

prime n a r r a t o r i n h i s s t o r i e s , he o f t e n chooses a c h a r a c t e r 

who i s an a r t i s t , or who has the temperament of an a r t i s t . 

His p r e f e r e n c e f o r a r t i s t s n i c e l y f i t s the t r a d i t i o n of the 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , which c a l l s f o r an emphasis on the 

a r t i f i c i a l i t y of the n a r r a t i v e . In f a c t i t i s d i f f i c u l t to 

imagine a Nabokov novel i n which the c o n t r o l l i n g s e n s i b i l i t y 

would oe." i n a r t i c u l a t e and u n s e l f - c o n s c i o u s T h e -techniques and 

themes would be h o p e l e s s l y c o n s t r a i n e d by such c e n t r a l f i g u r e s 

as the o l d fisherman i n The Old Man and the Sea, or Benjy i n 

The Sound and the Fury, or any of the dumb brute heroes of 

d e t e r m i n i s t i c f i c t i o n . Since Nabokov b e l i e v e s t h a t t r u t h and 

accuracy depend on s p e c i a l i z e d g i f t s , he i s to a c e r t a i n 

extent i n h i s f i c t i o n trapped w i t h i n h i s own s p e c i a l i z e d 

i n t e r e s t s . Thus he p r e f e r s to d w e l l on s e n s i b i l i t i e s w i t h 

some of h i s own c u l t u r a l c o e f f i c i e n t s , a r t i s t i c h e r o - n a r r a t o r s 

w i t h an a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r Pushkin, prosody and b u t t e r f l i e s . 

For example, the n a r r a t o r of Look a t the H a r l e q u i n s I, Vadim, 

i s a k i n d of analogue of Nabokov, and h i s novels are ex l i b r i s 

Nabokov. John Shade i s a poet, and h i s Boswell, Kinbote, i s a 

f r u s t r a t e d w r i t e r of a r i s t o c r a t i c romances s t a r r i n g h i m s e l f . 



100 

Such c h a r a c t e r s are o b v i o u s l y prone to n a r r a t i v e s t h a t are 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , " l i t e r a r y " and a r t i f i c i a l — Shade n a r r a t e s 

i n rhymed c o u p l e t s . But even c h a r a c t e r s who are not a r t i s t s 

by p r o f e s s i o n have a tendency to shape t h e i r experiences 

i n t o a r t i s t i c c r e a t i o n s . Hermann of Despair, a businessman, 

seems s u s p i c i o u s l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d i n l i t e r a r y matters. "The 

g e n e r a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of h i s s t y l e , " says Stephen Suagee;, 

are 

t o r t u o u s sentences i n t e r s p e r s e d w i t h fragments, 
a s e n s i t i v i t y to c o l o r s and d e t a i l s , v i g o r o u s 
metaphors, p a r o d i e s of n o v e l i s t i c d e v i c e s , and 
so f o r t h . "I have grown much too used to an 
o u t s i d e view of myself, to being both p a i n t e r and 
model, so no wonder my s t y l e i s denied the b l e s s e d 
grace of s p o n t a n e i t y " .... S t y l e i s the man, 
and Hermann i s d e f i n i t e l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s . ^ 

In short., says Doug Fowler, Nabokov c r e a t e s " e q u i v a l e n t s " — 

t h a t i s , a r t i s t i c e q u i v a l e n t s , f o r Nabokov h i m s e l f . The e q u i v a l e n t , 

"perhaps the most important constant w i t h i n Nabokov's longer 

f i c t i o n , " i s "a male genius,' 

u s u a l l y of European b i r t h , and whose c a p a b i l i t i e s , 
humor and t a s t e are such t h a t , as A.C. Bradley 
p o i n t e d out of P r i n c e Hamlet, he c o u l d have 
conceived and w r i t t e n not o n l y the work i n which 
he appears but the r e s t of the canon as w e l l . 
In other words, Nabokov c r e a t e s i n h i s f i c t i o n a 
c h a r a c t e r who c o u l d have c r e a t e d Nabokov's 
f i c t i o n '•-•\2 

A n a r r a t i v e under the c o n t r o l of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a r t i s t 

w i l l tend to emphasize i t s own a r t i f i c i a l i t y , and the f i c t i o n a l 

(11) Stephen Suagee, "An A r t i s t ' s Memory Beats A l l Other Kinds: An 
Essay on Despair," in A Book of Things About Vladimir Nabokov, ed. Carl R. 
Proffer (Ann Arbor, Mich.: Ardis, 1974)., p. 54. 

(12) Doug Fowler, Reading Nabokov (Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press, 1974), 
p. 14. 



101 

u n i v e r s e might appear to be s e l f - i n d u l g e n t f a n t a s i z i n g . C e r t a i n l y 

Nabokov does nothing to discourage those readers who search f o r 

c r a c k s i n the s u r f a c e of v e r i s i m i l i t u d e . In King, Queen, Knave, 

f o r example, the mysterious l a n d l o r d says he knows p e r f e c t l y 

w e l l " t h a t the whole world was but a t r i c k of h i s , and t h a t 

a l l these people -- e i g h t former l o d g e r s , d o c t o r s , p o l i c e -

men ... Franz, Franz's lady f r i e n d , the n o i s y gentleman w i t h 

the n o i s y dog ... owed t h e i r e x i s t e n c e to the power of h i s 

i m a g i n a t i o n ..." (pp. 227-28). Simon K a r l i n s k y argues t h a t 

Nabokov's c e n t r a l theme i s the "nature of the c r e a t i v e imagin-

a t i o n and the s o l i t a r y , f r e a k - l i k e r o l e i n which a man g i f t e d 

w i t h such i m a g i n a t i o n i s i n e v i t a b l y c a s t i n any s o c i e t y . " 

Such a person may be shown pursuing h i s b a s i c 
endeavor d i r e c t l y (e.g., S e b a s t i a n Knight or 
the hero of The G i f t ) , but more o f t e n , as Khodase-
v i c h Dointed out, Nabokov's a r t i s t - h e r o i s d i s -
g u i s e d . . . . Thus, the. work of a r t t h a t the hero 
s t r i v e s to c r e a t e ... may be presented i n the 
g u i s e of chess p l a y i n g (The Defense), b u t t e r f l y 
c o l l e c t i n g ("The A u r e l i a n " ) , a murder ( D e s p a i r ) , 
s e d u c t i o n of a young g i r l ( L o l i t a ) ... of 
simply t r y i n g to r e c o n s t r u c t one's own i d e n t i t y 
(The Eye). In a l l these cases, however, the hero 
uses h i s i m a g i n a t i o n to d e v i s e a r e a l i t y of h i s 
own, which he seeks to impose on the surrounding 
r e a l i t y . 

The hero, o f t e n the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r as w e l l , seeks 

to "impose" h i s v i s i o n on the surrounding s o c i e t y . The i m p o s i t i o n 

of a p r i v a t e r e a l i t y might seem to c a l l i n t o q u e s t i o n the v e r i -

s i m i l i t u d e of the novel as a whole. I t might seem t h a t 

t r a d i t i o n a l mimesis has been bypassed. Doug Fowler complains 

(13) Simon Karlinsky, " I l l u s i o n , Reality and Parody in Nabokov's 
Plays," in Dembo, p. 183. 



102 

t h a t Nabokov a t times c r e a t e s a k i n d of f i c t i o n i n which the 

n a r r a t i v e i s " a t r o p h i e d , and the reader's i n t e r e s t i n i t i s 

r e p l a c e d by an i n t e r e s t i n watching the e q u i v a l e n t - a s - a r t i s t , 
14 

an engagement i n watching the e q u i v a l e n t c r e a t e a r t . " 

However, i t i s our argument t h a t the a r t i f i c e of the s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r ( K a r l i n s k y ' s hero of the c r e a t i v e i m a g i n a t i o n , 

F i e l d ' s " e q u i v a l e n t " ) has to some extent the p a r a d o x i c a l e f f e c t 

o f s t r e n g t h e n i n g the v e r i s i m i l i t u d e o f the n a r r a t i v e as a whole. 

The e f f e c t i s s i m i l a r to t h a t of the d e t e c t i v e s t o r y , a s t y l i z e d , 

even r i t u a l i z e d n a r r a t i v e form, but a form i n which d e t a i l s are 

as profound, c o n v i n c i n g and c r u c i a l as i n the most r e a l i s t i c 

f i c t i o n (no o b j e c t c o u l d be more s u b s t a n t i a l than the Maltese 

F a l c o n ) . Since K a r l i n s k y mentions L o l i t a and Despair, l e t us 

examine the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s o f those two n o v e l s . 

Hermann h i m s e l f w o r r i e s about i n c i p i e n t s o l i p s i s m : "Maybe 

i t i s a l l mock e x i s t e n c e , an e v i l dream ..." (Despair, p. 221). 

The s t y l e i n which he chooses to n a r r a t e h i s Despair shows a l l 

the s i g n s of Barth's famous l i t e r a t u r e of exhaustion; t h a t i s , 

the exhaustion of r e a l i s m . " ^ But i n the f o l l o w i n g passage, note 
the a f f i n i t i e s to Oates 1 n a r r a t o r i n Expensive People: 

How s h a l l we begin t h i s chapter? I o f f e r 
s e v e r a l v a r i a t i o n s to choose from. Number one 
( r e a d i l y adopted i n novels where the n a r r a t i v e 
i s conducted i n the f i r s t person by the r e a l 
or s u b s t i t u t e a u t h o r ) : 

I t i s f i n e today, but c o l d , w i t h the wind's 
v i o l e n c e unabated; under my window the evergreen 

{14) Fowler, p. 15. 

(15) John Barth, "The Literature of Exhaustion," Atlantic, Aug. 1967, 

pp. 29-34. 



103 

f o l i a g e rocks and r o l l s . . . . My r e s t l e s s n e s s 
grows.... 

A n i c e r e f r e s h i n g v a r i a t i o n , t h i s number one; 
i t allows a b r e a t h e r and helps to b r i n g i n the 
p e r s o n a l note; thus l e n d i n g l i f e to the s t o r y -
e s p e c i a l l y when the f i r s t person i s as f i c t i t i o u s 
as a l l the r e s t . Well, t h a t i s j u s t the p o i n t : 
a t r i c k of the t r a d e , a poor t h i n g worn t o shreds 
by l i t e r a r y f i c t i o n - m o n g e r s , does not s u i t me, 
f o r I have become s t r i c t l y t r u t h f u l (p. 53). 

Obviously Hermann i s a more s l i p p e r y customer than Oates' n a r r a t o r , 

and y e t there i s an analogous impulse to a v o i d what the n a r r a t o r 

sees an the u n r e a l conventions of mere novels i n f a v o r of the 

human t r u t h of h i s experience. 

For example, Hermann worries t h a t h i s s t o r y has degenerated 

i n t o a diary,' "the lowest form of l i t e r a t u r e . " Under the heading 

"March 31st. Night," he comments as f o l l o w s : 

Connoisseurs w i l l a p p r e c i a t e t h a t l o v e l y , s e l f -
c o n s c i o u s , f a l s e l y s i g n i f i c a n t "Night" (meaning 
readers to imag'ine the s l e e p l e s s v a r i e t y o f ' 
l i t e r a r y persons, so p a l e , so a t t r a c t i v e ) . 
But as a matter of f a c t i t is. n i g h t a t present 
(p. 218). 

I t is_ n i g h t , and, to use an e x p r e s s i o n t h a t f a s t i d i o u s Hermann 

would no doubt r e j e c t , a dark n i g h t of the s o u l f o r the novel's 

n a r r a t o r , who i s s u c c e s s f u l l y c r e a t i n g a novel about a s u f f e r i n g 

human being and not a " l i t e r a r y person." The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

s t y l e p e r f e c t l y expresses the r e a l anguish of a c e r t a i n n e u r o t i c 

type, who s t r u g g l e s with h i s tendency towards s o l i p s i s m . When 

Hermann r e a l i z e s t h a t h i s murderous masterpiece i s flawed, "an 

accursed v o i c e s h r i e k e d i n t o my ear t h a t the r a b b l e which r e f u s e d 

me r e c o g n i t i o n was perchance r i g h t , " and he f i n d s h i m s e l f doubting 

e v e r y t h i n g , "doubting e s s e n t i a l s , and I understood t h a t what l i t t l e 

l i f e l a y b e f o r e me would be s o l e l y devoted to a f u t i l e s t r u g g l e 



104 

a g a i n s t t h a t doubt ..." (p. 213). 

Hermann g i v e s us both h i s i l l u s i o n s and the t r u t h , 

c r e a t i n g a c h a r a c t e r study s u f f i c i e n t l y r e a l i s t i c to awake the 

reader's sympathy, d e s p i t e Hermann's d e n i a l s : "Stop s h o r t , you 

people — I r a i s e a huge white palm l i k e a German policeman, stop! 

No s i g h s of compassion, people, none whatever. Stop, p i t y ! I 

do not accept your sympathy ..." (p. 187). The reader comes to 

understand Hermann's torments, even when they are expressed i n 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s and s e l f - p i t y i n g terms (Hermann says he has 

"passed the supreme l i m i t o f p o s s i b l e p a i n , i n j u r y , a n x i e t y o f 

mind" [p. 217]). The reader sympathizes because Hermann i s not 

what he would l i k e to be, an impersonal a r t i s t , but a s u f f e r i n g 

n e u r o t i c . One i s impressed by the human dimensions of h i s 

t w i s t e d c h a r a c t e r , and not, as the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s t y l e might 

l e a d one to suspect, the a e s t h e t i c preoccupations of a " l i t e r a r y 

person." 

Although both Hermann and Humbert Humbert produce s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t i v e s t h a t might seem designed to confuse the 

reader, both have the a b i l i t y to b r i n g a e s t h e t i c s to the a i d of 

a g r e a t e r sense of r e a l i t y ; i n Humbert's case, the r e a l i t y of 

l o v e . Since Humbert i s l e s s d e s p i c a b l e than Hermann, i t i s more 

apparent t h a t h i s a r t i s t i c s e n s i b i l i t y r e v e a l s t r u t h s about 

human r e l a t i o n s h i p s t h a t are l o s t i n a s o c i e t y bounded by v u l g a r 

g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s (such as the myth of the matinee i d o l , i n which 

g u i s e Humbert mesmerizes poor C h a r l o t t e Haze). 

Humbert i s as s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a n a r r a t o r as Hermann: 

My poor photogenic mother d i e d i n a f r e a k a c c i d e n t 
( p i c n i c , l i g h t n i n g ) when I was t h r e e , and, save 



105 

f o r a pocket of warmth i n the d a r k e s t p a r t , 
nothing of her s u b s i s t s w i t h i n the hollows and 
d e l l s of memory, over which, i f you can s t i l l 
stand my s t y l e (I am w r i t i n g under o b s e r v a t i o n ) , 
the sun of my i n f a n c y had s e t . . . ( L o l i t a , p. 12 ). 

Since Humbert i s w r i t i n g under o b s e r v a t i o n , i n p r i s o n , and much of 

what he w r i t e s i s d i r e c t e d towards an u n f o r g i v i n g s o c i e t y — hence 

the numerous wry a s i d e s to the " l a d i e s and gentlemen of the j u r y " 

(p. 11) — the reader might w e l l suspect Humbert's w r i t i n g s t y l e , 

and q u e s t i o n the v e r a c i t y of h i s v e r s i o n of the events. For 

example, i t seems a l i t t l e s u s p i c i o u s t h a t the n a r r a t o r ' s physique 

seems to vary from page to page. At f i r s t Humbert i s broadchested 

and b i g boned, lanky, a hunk of v i r i l e he-man. L a t e r he i s 

"elegant, s l e n d e r " (p. 274), and f i n a l l y he becomes " f r a g i l e , 

f r i l e u x , d i m i n u t i v e ... s i c k l y " (p. 275): 

The more v i r i l e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s have been 
t r a n s f e r r e d to L o l i t a ' s husband.-... Richard 
S c h i l l e r i s the f i n a l i n h e r i t o r of s e v e r a l 
normal men ... who have been c o n t r a s t e d w i t h 
Humbert to h i s disadvantage through the second 
h a l f of the book. C l e a r l y , Humbert's o r i g i n a l 
e n t i t y has again been s p l i t up, and the p a r t s 
d i s t r i b u t e d among d i f f e r e n t a c t o r s .... The 
reader has to ask h i m s e l f whether i t i s Hum-
b e r t or Nabokov who does t h i s — whether we can 
d i s t i n g u i s h between what i s invented by t h i s 
n a r r a t o r and what i s r e p o r t e d — and the answer 
i s complicated. The reader has to d e a l w i t h 
a h i g h l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d r e a d i n g experience, 
which c h a l l e n g e s h i s assumption t h a t he "knows 
what i s going on"....^g 

Humbert i s more than " u n r e l i a b l e , " s i n c e h i s very e x i s t e n c e i s 

suspect. At times he seems to be an aspect of Q u i l t y ' s p e r s o n a l i t y ; 

or perhaps Q u i l t y i s an aspect of Humbert's p e r s o n a l i t y ; or perhaps 

(16) Martin Green, "The Morality of L o l i t a , " Kenyon Review, 
28 (1966), pp. 3 57-5 8 . 



106 

t h e i r r e l a t i o n s h i p i s s t i l l more complex. Consider Humbert's 

account of the w r e s t l i n g match d u r i n g the murder: "I r o l l e d 

over him. We r o l l e d over me. They r o l l e d over him. We r o l l e d 

over us" ( L o l i t a , p. 301). The exasperated Green concludes t h a t 

L o l i t a i s "fundamentally c o u n t e r f e i t " and t h a t the t r i c k y n a r r a t -

i v e v o i c e "rouses a l l of a reader's d i s t r u s t — o f a gamesman-

s h i p k i n d " (pp. 356, 357). 

However, i t must be remembered t h a t Humbert i s r e s p o n s i b l e 

not o n l y f o r the i n c o n g r u i t i e s of the n a r r a t i v e , but a l s o f o r 

i t s r e a l i s t i c checks and balances. Humbert h i m s e l f c o n t i n u a l l y 

draws the a t t e n t i o n of the reader t o those elements of the s t o r y 

t h a t seem b i z a r r e ; thus L o l i t a s l e e p s with her mouth open, " i n a 

k i n d of d u l l amazement a t the c u r i o u s l y inane l i f e we had a l l 

r i g g e d up f o r her" ( L o l i t a , p. 217). Humbert.reminds us t h a t he 

i s a "murderer with a s e n s a t i o n a l but incomplete and," s i g n i f i c a n t l y , 

"unorthodox memory" (p. 219). J u s t as Hermann i s aware of h i s 

" a r t i s t ' s memory" (Despair, p. 213),.Humbert i s h i m s e l f aware, 

and d e l i b e r a t e l y makes the reader aware, of h i s s o l i p s i s t i c 

t e n d e n c i e s . 

Humbert's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s t y l e i s an a i d to the reader i n 

i n t e r p r e t i n g the events of a s t o r y t h a t might otherwise be as 

bare, gross and u n r e a l as a newspaper h e a d l i n e . Thus when 

Humbert a c q u i r e s h i s deadly .32, he remarks, s a r d o n i c a l l y , "We 

must remember t h a t a p i s t o l i s the F r e u d i a n symbol of the Ur-

f a t h e r ' s c e n t r a l f o r e l i m b " ( L o l i t a , p. 218). (In Nabokov's 

f i c t i o n Freudianism i s a k i n d of mind c o n t r o l r i v a l l e d i n 

v u l g a r i t y and harmfulness o n l y by a d i c t a t o r s h i p . ) In Humbert 



107 

the reader has an a l l y against sham: "Mid-twentieth century 

ideas concerning child-parent r e l a t i o n s h i p have been considerably 

tainted by the scholastic rigmarole and standardized symbols 

of the psychoanalytic racket, but I hope I am addressing myself 

to unbiased readers"(p. 287). Humbert's fresh perceptions are 

made more apparent by the framing Foreword of John Ray, J r . , 

Ph.D., who, i n his role as the representative of a sane and 

r e a l i s t i c society, nevertheless d i s t o r t s the events into a l u r i d 

melodrama involving "the wayward c h i l d , the e g o t i s t i c mother, 

the panting maniac" (p. 7). Ray can only r a i s e the reader's 

estimation of Humbert's veracity by announcing i n a fatuous 

tone of f i n a l i t y that Humbert i s "abnormal. He i s not a 

gentleman" (p. 7) . 

Even Ray can descry i n Humbert's confession "a desperate 

honesty" (p. 7). Humbert's special s e n s i b i l i t y , which can be 

only expressed through an a r t i s t i c a l l y self-conscious s t y l e , 

produces a narrative luminous, with the truth of his r e l a t i o n s h i p 

with L o l i t a . For example, there i s a tendency among c r i t i c s 

to emphasize that part of the novel which s a t i r i z e s American 

mores; L o l i t a i s seen as a t y p i c a l teen-aged, gum-chewing, 

embryonic tramp, a f i t product of America's roadside culture. 

Humbert of course knows better, and provides anecdotes that make 

L o l i t a a more three-dimensional character than most f i c t i o n a l 

juveniles. He reports a conversation between L o l i t a and her 

schoolmate, i n which L o l i t a "so very serenely and seriously" 

remarks, 



108 

"You know, what's so d r e a d f u l about dying i s 
t h a t you are completely on your own"; and i t 
s t r u c k me ... t h a t I simply d i d not know a t h i n g 
about my d a r l i n g ' s mind and t h a t q u i t e p o s s i b l y , 
behind the awful j u v e n i l e c l i c h e s , there was i n 
her a garden and a t w i l i g h t , and a p a l a c e g a t e — 
dim and adorable r e g i o n s which happened to be 
l u c i d l y and a b s o l u t e l y f o r b i d d e n to me.... She 
would m a i l her v u l n e r a b i l i t y i n t r i t e brashness 
and boredom, whereas I, u s i n g f o r my d e s p e r a t e l y 
detached commments an a r t i f i c i a l tone of v o i c e 
t h a t s e t my own l a s t t e e t h on edge ... (p. 286). 

Note t h a t Humbert's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s methods do not p r e c l u d e a 

b r i l l i a n t l y a c c u r a t e d e s c r i p t i o n of h i s own inadequacies; note 

a l s o t h a t even i n the overheated romanticism of gardens and 

t w i l i g h t s and p a l a c e gates there are dimensions of L o l i t a which 

cannot be understood or expressed by a l e s s s o p h i s t i c a t e d , i n v o l -

uted s e n s i b i l i t y (John Ray's f o r i n s t a n c e : "the wayward c h i l d " ) . 

Humbert's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t i v e methods combine w i t h 

t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s m to form a more s u b s t a n t i a l n a r r a t i v e than one 

might expect from the f a n c i f u l romanticism of Humbert's 

opening pages. A d i s c u s s i o n of the r h e t o r i c a l emphasis of the 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s r e s e r v e d f o r a l a t e r s e c t i o n , but i t 

should be noted t h a t Humbert takes g r e a t pains to keep the 

reader i n touch w i t h h i s p e r c e p t i o n s . "Reader!" he says, a t 

the beginning of the famous passage i n which Humbert d i s c o v e r s 

the t r u e nature of h i s crime (p. 310). Humbert boasts q u i t e 

r i g h t l y t h a t h i s methods are the r i g h t ones, the o n l y ones t h a t 

would c r e a t e "durable pigments" to i n s u r e L o l i t a ' s " i m m o r t a l i t y " 

(p. 311) . 



109 

The M u l t i p l e S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r 

A s i n g l e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r emphasizes the a r t i f i c i a l i t y 

of a n a r r a t i v e . In Pale F i r e and Pnin there are m u l t i p l e s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r s ; the c o n f u s i o n they o c c a s i o n r e g a r d i n g " p o i n t 

of view" might seem s u f f i c i e n t to s i g n i f y the f i n a l abandonment 

of r e a l i s m and v e r i s i m i l i t u d e . However., we can take h e a r t from 

Kinbote's a d m i t t e d l y ambiguous remark i n Pale F i r e t h a t i t i s h i s 

notes which g i v e Shade's poem a "human r e a l i t y " otherwise l a c k i n g 

(p. 18) . 

In Pale F i r e the i n t e r a c t i o n of the m u l t i p l e n a r r a t o r s 

i n c r e a s e s the r e a d e r ' s sense of a r t i f i c e , but a t the same time i t 

i n c r e a s e s the v e r i s i m i l i t u d e , "human r e a l i t y , " of both the main 

c h a r a c t e r s and t h e i r p r o d u c t i o n s . The q u a i n t c o u p l e t s of Shade's 

poem take on anew resonance, and the mad pedant b r i n g s a new 

v i t a l i t y to the r a t h e r s t e r i l e business of a s c h o l a r l y commentary. 

Because Kinbote i s even more untrustworthy than Humbert, the 

c r i t i c s have become snappish a f t e r t h e i r f r u s t r a t e d attempts a t 

f i n d i n g a u n i f i e d n a r r a t i v e v o i c e . They have murmured t h a t perhaps 

Nabokov p r i z e s f a n t a s t i c form too h i g h l y over r e a l i s t i c content. 

But Kinbote's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s l e a d s him to p r o v i d e b i o g r a p h i c a l 

d e t a i l s about Shade t h a t make both Shade and h i s poem come a l i v e , 

and Kinbote's i n s p i r e d pedantry makes the a r t of a n n o t a t i o n 

seem as e x c i t i n g and c r u c i a l as the chase scene i n a t h r i l l e r . 

He r e s t o r e s the p a s s i o n and commitment to the o l d New C r i t i c a l 

a c t i v i t y of c l o s e r e a d i n g . By misreading Shade's n a r r a t i v e , 

he makes i t worth r e a d i n g . 

C h a r l e s Kinbote, another s t y l i s t with a mind f u l l of 



110 

l i t e r a t u r e , i s a f o l l o w e r of the Humbert Humbert s c h o o l of f a s t 

and l o o s e v e r i s i m i l i t u d e . In the f o l l o w i n g passage, Kinbote 

d e s c r i b e s the encounter between Gradus and young Gordon i n a 

Swiss v i l l a : 

Rather r e l u c t a n t l y there came out a s l e n d e r but 
s t r o n g - l o o k i n g l a d of f o u r t e e n or f i f t e e n dyed 
a n e c t a r i n e hue by the sun. He had nothing on 
save a l e o p a r d - s p o t t e d l o i n c l o t h . . . . 

Through l i g h t and shade walked the strange p a i r : 
the g r a c e f u l boy wreathed about the l o i n s w i t h 
i v y and the seedy k i l l e r i n h i s cheap brown 
s u i t . . . . 

The boy a p p l i e d a v i d l i p s t o a p i p e of s p r i n g 
water and wiped h i s wet hands on h i s b l a c k 
b a t h i n g t r u n k s . 

"Who knows," s a i d the boy s t r i k i n g h i s f l a n k s 
c l o t h e d i n white t e n n i s s h o r t s . . . . 

The young woodwose had now c l o s e d h i s eyes and 
was s t r e t c h e d out supine on the p o o l ' s marble 
margin; h i s Tarzan b r i e f had been c a s t a s i d e 
on the t u r f . ( p p . 143, 144). 

Gordon's s p e c t a c u l a r costume changes are a f u n c t i o n of Kinbote's 

l a s c i v i o u s i m a g i n a t i o n . A second h i n t t h a t the passage i s not 

e n t i r e l y r e a l i s t i c i s t h a t Kinbote has been attempting to 

synchronize the adventures of Gradus w i t h Shade's progress 

i n completing h i s poem. The passage ends as f o l l o w s : 

From f a r below mounted the c l i n k and t i n k l e 
of d i s t a n t masonry work, and a sudden t r a i n 
passed between gardens, and a h e r a l d i c b u t t e r f l y 
v o l a n t en arriere, ., s a b l e , a bend g u l e s , t r a -
versed the stone p a r a p e t , and John Shade took 
a f r e s h c a r d (p. 144). 

The i m p l i c a t i o n i s t h a t the scene between Gordon and Gradus 

i s not the work o f Kinbote, but of Shade, who composes h i s 

n a r r a t i v e s on index c a r d s . T h i s might come as a shock to the 



I l l 

reader who had accepted Kinbote's d e s c r i p t i o n of the reasons 

f o r the book's e x i s t e n c e : to w i t , t h a t the l a s t manuscript 

of the deceased New England poet, John Shade, had passed i n t o 

Kinbote's hands, and t h a t Kinbote had p u b l i s h e d the poem w i t h 

h i s own a n n o t a t i o n s . The reader would have gathered from c l u e s 

p r e v i o u s to the v i l l a scene t h a t Kinbote i s an e c c e n t r i c , t h a t 

he i s not a deposed Zemblan monarch but an e x i l e d Russian 

i n t e l l e c t u a l t e a c h i n g a t Shade's u n i v e r s i t y . The unwary reader 

would have r e l a x e d i n the d e l u s i o n t h a t he i s d e a l i n g w i t h a 

simple u n r e l i a b l e n a r r a t o r . The l i n e , "Shade took a f r e s h card," 

would s h a t t e r h i s complacency. 

S i m i l a r l y , Kinbote says t h a t "the f i n a l t e x t of the poem 

i s e n t i r e l y h i s [Shade's]" (p. 59). But i n the note to l i n e 550 

Kinbote admits t h a t an e a r l i e r c a n c e l l e d fragment was f i c t i t i o u s : 

Conscience and s c h o l a r s h i p have debated the 
q u e s t i o n , and I now t h i n k t h a t the two 
l i n e s g i v e n i n t h a t note are d i s t o r t e d and 
t a i n t e d by w i s h f u l t h i n k i n g . I t i s the o n l y 
time i n the course of the w r i t i n g of these 
d i f f i c u l t comments, t h a t I have t a r r i e d , i n my 
d i s t r e s s and disappointment, on the b r i n k of 
f a l s i f i c a t i o n (p. 162). 

The shocking news t h a t Kinbote may have tampered w i t h the 

t e x t reminds the reader t h a t the poem i t s e l f , as w e l l as a l l 

the b i o g r a p h i c a l d e t a i l s about Shade, might be e n t i r e l y Kinbote's 

c r e a t i o n . C e r t a i n l y much of the commentary i s o b v i o u s l y f i c t i t i o u s , 

being Kinbote's romantic dream punctuated with r e a l i s t i c (but 

perhaps not r e a l ) h u m i l i a t i o n s . When Kinbote p r a i s e s the poem's 

next l i n e about the o r b i c l e of jasp, the reader might l e g i t i m a t e l y 

wonder i f Kinbote wrote the l i n e h i m s e l f . 



112 

The exasperated reader might be tempted to d i s c o u n t Kinbote 

e n t i r e l y , and c o n s i d e r him a c h a r a c t e r i n a novel by John Shade. 

Such a r e a d i n g would be strengthened by the f o l l o w i n g d i s p l a y 

of Shade's p r e s c i e n c e : 

Man's l i f e as commentary to a b s t r u s e  
U n f i n i s h e d poem. Note f o r f u r t h e r use. 

(11. 939-940) 

Kinbote's e x p l a n a t i o n of the l i n e i s u n s a t i s f a c t o r y . He says 

Shade i m p l i e s " t h a t human l i f e i s but a s e r i e s of f o o t n o t e s to a 

v a s t obscure u n f i n i s h e d masterpiece." Kinbote t y p i c a l l y takes 

the academic h i g h road, whereas the reader might surmise t h a t 

Shade has somehow anticipated that Kinbote would add h i s own l i f e ' s 

commentary to Shade's u n f i n i s h e d poem (the word " u n f i n i s h e d " 

again undercuts Kinbote's c l a i m t h a t the poem had been completed). 

Did Kinbote w r i t e the l i n e s h i m s e l f i n another a t t a c k of honesty, 

or can Shade read the f u t u r e , and d i d he c r e a t e the e n t i r e pack-

age -- poem, commentary, and c a s t of mad c h a r a c t e r s ? 

These q u e s t i o n s have caused c o n f u s i o n and debate among the 

c r i t i c s . For example, Who wrote the poem, Pale F i r e ? A c c o r d i n g 

to Andrew F i e l d , t h e r e i s a p o s s i b i l i t y t h a t "John Shade's 

long poem Pale F i r e r e a l l y belongs to the pen of the mad s c h o l a r 

Kinbote .... On the o t h e r hand, C h a r l e s Kinbote and h i s Zembla 

might j u s t as w e l l belong to the pen of John Shade who has 'taken' 
17 

Kinbote from l i f e and put him to h i s own a r t i s t i c use 

A f t e r twenty pages and a diagram w i t h arrows and a sun l a b e l l e d 

"Nabokov," F i e l d concludes: "There are many c o m p e l l i r i g l y l o g i c a l 

reasons to p l a c e John Shade b e f o r e C h a r l e s Kinbote" (p. 317). 

(17) Field, Nabokov: His L i f e in Art, p. 297. 



113 

J u l i a Bader agrees: "The poet and the mad commentator 

are o s t e n s i b l y d i s t i n c t p e r s o n a l i t i e s . . . . But the s e p a r a t i o n 

i n t o autonomous c h a r a c t e r s — Shade, Kinbote, Gradus i s o n l y 

apparent.... Shade, I m a i n t a i n , has p e r p e t r a t e d h i s own'stylistic' 

death w i t h i n the n o v e l , and he has then g i v e n us a new aspect 

of h i m s e l f i n the g u i s e of another s o u l and another artwork 
18 

(Kinbote and the commentary)." Both Bader. and F i e l d are 

c o n t r a d i c t e d by Page Stegner, who argues t h a t i t i s " p o s s i b l e , 

perhaps probable, t h a t Gradus and Shade are as much figments of 
19 

Kinbote's i m a g i n a t i o n as C h a r l e s the Beloved." Although Stegner 

o f f e r s h i s o p i n i o n s i n a t e n t a t i v e manner, Andrew F i e l d adds 

a s p e c i a l commentary to h i s Nabokov: His L i f e i n A r t i n order to 

reproach Stegner f o r viewing Pale F i r e ' s p u z z l e s " i n an i n v e r t e d 

and meaningless way."2^ 

Alden Sprowles condemns the f o r c e s of both F i e l d - B a d e r and 

Stegner: 
The d i f f i c u l t y w i t h e i t h e r theory i s t h a t the 
n e c e s s i t y f o r having a "master thumbprint" beyond 
Nabokov's own i s unproved. Since there i s 
never a d i r e c t statement from an i n t e r n a l con-
t r o l l i n g author, the proof depends on b u r i e d 
h i n t s and a r t i f i c i a l s e p a r a t i o n of genuine and 
a r t i f i c i a l v o i c e s , a l l of which i s r a t h e r spurious 
and p o i n t l e s s , as Mary McCarthy p o i n t s o u t . 9 1 

(18) J u l i a Bader, Crystal Land (Berkeley: Univ. of C a l i f o r n i a Press, 
1972), p. 31. 

(19) Stegner, p. 129. 
(20) Field, His L i f e in Art, p. 317. 
(21) Alden Sprowles, "Preliminary Annotation to Charles Kinbote's 

Commentary on 'Pale F i r e , ' " in Proffer, p. 226. For McCarthy's opinion, 
see her l e t t e r to the New York Times Book Review, 10 July 1966, p.50. 



114 

No wonder W i l l i a m C a r r o l l , i n an essay on another t o p i c , almost 

i n a d v e r t a n t l y mentions Pale F i r e and q u i c k l y adds a f o o t n o t e : 

" D i s c r e t i o n f o r b i d s e n t e r i n g the c o n t r o v e r s y over whether Shade, 
2 Kinbote, or P r o f . B o t k i n i s the 'primary' n a r r a t o r of P a l e F i r e . " 

When c r i t i c s begin to d e s c r i b e each o t h e r ' s o p i n i o n s as 

meaningless, i t seems i n e v i t a b l e t h a t the a c c u s a t i o n w i l l event-

u a l l y be turned on the work i t s e l f , p a r t i c u l a r l y when the c r i t i c a l 

d i f f i c u l t i e s t u r n on the work's o v e r t a r t i f i c e . Page Stegner, 

f o r example, complains t h a t he wishes those c r i t i c s who c l a i m 

to have found moral t r u t h i n P a l e F i r e , "would somehow demon-

s t r a t e where they found i t , and how, and what i t i s . " 

I t seems to me t h a t i n t h e i r lengthy e x p l i c a t i o n s 
of the r i d d l e s i n the novel they f a l l i n t o the 
same t r a p t h a t Nabokov has perhaps f a l l e n i n t o — 
t h a t i s , t h i n k i n g t h a t form and s t y l e alone w i l l 
bear the burden of greatness and t h a t a novel 
i s o u t s t a n d i n g because i t s s t r u c t u r e i s f a n t a s t -
i c a l l y complex. 2 3 

D.J. E n r i g h t comments t h a t Pale F i r e , l i k e the other most c e l e -
24 

b r a t e d of Nabokov's n o v e l s , i s c h a r a c t e r i z e d by " t r i c k s i n e s s . " 
" A l l too g e n e r a l l y , " says E n r i g h t , 

t h i s author, r i c h i n what i s given to few 
w r i t e r s and poor i n what i s g i v e n to most men, 
reminds me of G u l l e y Jimson's comment i n The  
Horse's Mouth: "... l i k e f a r t i n g Annie L a u r i e 
through a keyhole. I t may be c l e v e r but i s i t 
worth the t r o u b l e ? " (p. 4) 

No doubt E n r i g h t has the c o m p l e x i t i e s of Pale F i r e i n mind when 

he d e l i v e r s the i n e v i t a b l e and absurd o p i n i o n t h a t Nabokov " f e e l s 

(22) William C a r r o l l , "Nabokov's Signs and Symbols," in Proffer, 
p. 217, n. 14. 

(23) Stegner, p. 131. 
(24) D.J. Enright, "Nabokov's Wag," The New York Review of Books, 

3 November/ 1966, p. 4. 



115 

a l a r g e and f a i r l y comprehensive d i s t a s t e f o r the r e a l " (p. 3). 

Pale F i r e does not evidence a comprehensive d i s t a s t e f o r 

the r e a l . One o f the d e v i c e s by which the novel avoids " t r i c k s i -

ness" i s the d e v i c e of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ; Kinbote has 

a p o i n t when he says, 

Shade's t e x t simply has no human r e a l i t y a t 
a l l s i n c e the human r e a l i t y of a poem such as 
h i s ... has to depend e n t i r e l y on the r e a l i t y 
of i t s author and h i s surroundings, attachments 
and so f o r t h , a r e a l i t y t h a t o n l y my notes can 
p r o v i d e . To t h i s statement my dear poet would 
probably not have s u b s c r i b e d , but, f o r b e t t e r 
or worse, i t i s the commentator who has the 
l a s t word (pp. i 18-19). 

Kinbote i s incorrect i n saying t h a t Shade was too s k i t t i s h f o r 

a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l d e t a i l s , or t h a t the poem s u f f e r s from the 

omission of c e r t a i n p i t h y v a r i a n t s , but he i s c o r r e c t i n saying 

t h a t he s u p p l i e s a human dimension to the minor poem of a minor 

poet. 

C r i t i c i s m s o f t e n l e v e l l e d a t Nabokov h i m s e l f are p r e s e n t i n 

exaggerated form i n Shade's poem. I t i s i n d u l g e n t l y s e l f - c e n t r e d , 

as i f the poet were imagining h i m s e l f a d d r e s s i n g a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e 

of the press w i t h an i n f i n i t e i n t e r e s t i n the s u b j e c t poet; a 

s e l f - i n t e r v i e w , complete w i t h w r i t i n g h a b i t s , the poet's curmud-

geonly o p i n i o n s on the modern world (11. 923-930), and h i s 

g r a t u i t o u s j i b e s a t c r i t i c a l bores and Englishmen who speak 

French p o o r l y . Here the s p e c i a l s e n s i b i l i t y of Nabokov's 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s a t i t s weakest, s i n c e there i s no 

i n t e r a c t i o n w i t h other s e n s i b i l i t i e s and s o c i e t y . The poem i s 

q u i e s c e n t and s t e r i l e : "And so I pare my n a i l s , and muse, 

and hear/ Your steps u p s t a i r s , and a l l i s r i g h t , my dear" (11. 

245-46). 



116 

What Kinbote b r i n g s to t h i s (and whether i t i s l i t e r a l l y 

over Shade's dead body, or whether Shade invented Kinbote f o r 

the purpose i s not the issue) are b i o g r a p h i c a l d e t a i l s which 

p l a c e Shade i n the c o n t e x t of the world, and which make the 

reader take an i n t e r e s t i n h i s p e r s o n a l i t y and poem. For example, 

Kinbote can b r i n g the dead poet to l i f e : 

Through the back of John's t h i n c o t t o n s h i r t 
one c o u l d d i s t i n g u i s h patches of pink where i t 
stuck to the s k i n above and around the o u t l i n e s 
of the funny l i t t l e garment he wore under the 
s h i r t as a l l good Americans do. I see with such 
awful c l a r i t y one f a t shoulder r o l l i n g , the other 
r i s i n g ; : h i s gray mop of h a i r , h i s creased nape; 
the red bandanna handkerchief l i m p l y hanging 
out of one h i p pocket, the w a l l e t bulge of the 
other ... (p. 206). 

S i m i l a r l y , the weak ending of the poem takes on a new resonance 

when Kinbote s u p p l i e s the death scene i m p l i e d by i t s dying f a l l ; 

the poem's opening l i n e s --• "I was the shadow of the waxwing 

s l a i n / By the f a l s e azure of the windowpane" (11. 1-2) — are 

more coherent and s i g n i f i c a n t when Kinbote d e s c r i b e s the dead 

poet, who "had now been turned over and l a y w i t h open dead eyes 

d i r e c t e d up a t the sunny evening azure" (p. 208; my emphasis). 

Kinbote i s a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r d e s p i t e h i m s e l f — 

"I have no d e s i r e to t w i s t and b a t t e r an unambiguous apparatus 

c r i t i c u s i n t o the monstrous semblance of a n o v e l " (p. 62). 

I n a d v e r t a n t l y , as i t were, he r e v i t a l i z e s the impersonal b u s i n e s s 

of e d i t i n g a poem. Although i t i s d i f f i c u l t to look a f r e s h a t 

a novel t h a t has e x e r c i s e d so many exegetes, l e t us t r y and 

imagine a reader encountering the f i n a l pages, of the novel f o r 

the f i r s t time. He f i n d s a t f i r s t a dry, c o r r e c t , d u l l , f a c t u a l 



117 

account of the t e x t t h a t w i l l f o l l o w , an account f i l l e d with 

t e c h n i c a l terms and i m p e r s o n a l i t y . Although the p r e t e r n a t u r a l l y 

a l e r t reader might suspect something unusual i s a f o o t w i t h the 

terms "amusing" and "shocking," i t i s not u n t i l the bottom of 

the t h i r d paragraph, as Kinbote c o r r e c t s something he has s a i d 

e a r l i e r , t h a t the reader f i r s t encounters what Kinbote would 

c a l l "human r e a l i t y " : 

I mean, he preserved the date of a c t u a l c r e a t i o n 
r a t h e r than t h a t of second or t h i r d thoughts. 
There i s a very l o u d amusement park r i g h t i n 
f r o n t of my present l o d g i n g s (p. 7). 

T h i s i s the b e g i n n i n g of the reader's a p p r e c i a t i o n of Kinbote's 

humanity, the f i r s t s i g n of the migraines and other d i s t r a c t i n g 

p e r s o n a l problems t h a t culminate i n one of the l a s t l i n e s of the 

Commentary: "Gentlemen, I have s u f f e r e d v e r y much, and more than 

any of you can imagine" (p. 212). Then, i n s t e a d of h i n t i n g a t 

the almost s u b l i m i n a l p a s s i o n s and rages t h a t seethe under the 

decorous prose of most s c h o l a r l y e d i t i o n s , Kinbote o v e r t l y 

begins h i s a t t a c k on h i s f e l l o w p r o f e s s o r s , "Prof. Hurley and h i s 

c l i q u e " (p. 8). 

A c o n v e n t i o n a l l i t e r a r y form, the s c h o l a r l y commentary, has 

been g i v e n a human dimension through the c h a r a c t e r i s t i c r h e t o r i c a l , 

p a s s i o n a t e , e g o c e n t r i c v o i c e of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . C a r o l 

W i l l i a m s d e s c r i b e s the problems Pale F i r e poses f o r the o r d i n a r y 

reader, who must "roam back and f o r t h — w i t h the keenest i n t e l l i -

gence, a l e r t n e s s , and p h y s i c a l d e x t e r i t y — between a Foreword 

by e d i t o r C h a r l e s Kinbote, a poem, 'Pale F i r e ' , by John Shade, 
25 

and a Commentary and Index by Kinbote." But i t i s Kinbote's 
(25) Carol T. Williams, "'Web of Sense': Pale F i r e in the Nabokov 

Canon," C r i t i q u e , 6, No. 3 (1963), 29. 



118 

mad i n s i s t e n c e t h a t every word of John Shade's poem has profound 

p e r s o n a l s i g n i f i c a n c e t h a t prompts the reader to e x e r c i s e h i s 

i n t e l l i g e n c e and a l e r t n e s s i n c l o s e r e a d i n g ; i t r e q u i r e s a mad 

would-be King to breathe new l i f e i n t o New C r i t i c i s m . One does 

not u s u a l l y t u r n to an index to f i n d human drama, but how much 

scorn, envy and disappointment are i n K i n b o t e 1 s p e r f u n c t o r y 

l i s t i n g of h i s a r c h - r i v a l ; " S h a d e , S y b i l , S's w i f e , passim" (p. 223). 

In Pale F i r e the commentator and the n a r r a t i v e poet i n t e r -

a c t to g i v e each o t h e r l i f e . The interaction p r o v i d e s a secondary 

meaning to Kinbote's metaphor about Shade's dying f i n g e r s fumbling 

a t Kinbote's hands, "seeking my f i n g e r t i p s , f i n d i n g them, o n l y 

to abandon them a t once as i f p a s s i n g to me, i n a sublime r e l a y 

race, the baton of l i f e " (p. 208). One wonders how the s t o r y 

of an e x i l e d European i n t e l l e c t u a l and a m i l d New England poet 

c o u l d have been presented more v i v i d l y and a f f e c t i n g l y i n a more 

t r a d i t i o n a l n o v e l . Kinbote's "notes and s e l f " (p. 212) do indeed 

p e t e r out a t the end of the novel i n t o the f i g u r e of the Russian 

a r t i s t who oversees the n o v e l , but b e f o r e t h a t p o i n t there i s 

enough of what Nabokov c a l l s the t i n g l e and tang of r e a l i t y to 

s a t i s f y even D.J. E n r i g h t . 

Turning now to Pnin, we should note a shrewd comment by 

E n r i g h t on the q u e s t i o n of Nabokov's compassion. E n r i g h t notes 

t h a t Page Stegner, " i n a s l i g h t l y uneasy way ... o f f e r s to 

j u s t i f y Nabokov, to show t h a t he possesses not o n l y a b r i l l i a n t 

s t y l e but a l s o (though he ' t r i e s to obfuscate t h a t emotion by 
2 6 

means of a b r i l l i a n t s t y l e 1 ) a deeply compassionate nature." 

(26) Enright, p. 3. 



119 

I t would be i n c o r r e c t to s e t up an o p p o s i t i o n between, on the 

one hand, s t e r i l i t y and u n r e a l i t y ( q u a l i t i e s e r r o n e o u s l y assoc-

i a t e d w i t h the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ) , and on the o t h e r hand 

the warm and soothing b l a n k e t of humanistic compassion. Although 

Nabokov uses the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r to p e r s o n a l i z e c e r t a i n 

impersonal elements of the n o v e l , t h i s does not imply t h a t he 

tempers c o l d a r t i f i c i a l i t y w i t h warm s e n t i m e n t a l i t y ; i n s t e a d , 

he uses the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s v o i c e to e x p l o r e the spectrum of human 

emotion. U n f o r t u n a t e l y f o r Pnin, the n a r r a t i v e v o i c e from which 

Pnin s u f f e r s i s unkind, even c r u e l . 

On a f i r s t r e a d i n g , Pnin appears to be the simple c h a r a c t e r 

study of a s t e r e o t y p e d absent-minded p r o f e s s o r i n a r e a l i s t i c 

academic s e t t i n g . Many readers f i n d i t Nabokov's most a c c e s s i b l e 

n o v e l . The n a r r a t o r appears to be the omniscient, n e u t r a l r e p o r t e r 

of the c o n v e n t i o n a l n o v e l . Stegner, f o r example, applauds the 

r e d u c t i o n of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a r t i f i c e : 

Perhaps because the composition i s more s t r a i g h t -
forward and the author's c o n t r o l l i n g hand l e s s 
apparent, Pnin i s the most moving and r e a l of 
Nabokov's c h a r a c t e r s . I t seems as i f both com-
poser and s o l v e r , being l e s s i n v o l v e d w i t h • 
i n t e l l e c t u a l gymnastics, are a b l e to c o n c e n t r a t e 
on the d e p i c t i o n and understanding of a t r u l y 
human being and h i s redemptive response to 
the p a i n f u l n e s s of e x i l e . ^ ~ 

Stegner i s q u i t e c o r r e c t i n saying t h a t Pnin i s warm and human, 

but t h i s i s not a f u n c t i o n of reduced s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a r t i f i c e ; 

Stegner i s i n c o r r e c t when he says t h a t "the presence of the author 

as c o n t r o l l i n g d e i t y i s not f e l t , and the n a r r a t o r of the s t o r y , 

(27) Stegner, pp. 97-98. 



120 

a Russian e x i l e and compatriot of Pnin's, i s f i n a l l y an unimport-

ant f i g u r e i n the n o v e l " (p. 96). The n a r r a t o r i s i i n f a c t of 

primary importance i n the n o v e l , as Pnin h i m s e l f becomes a l l 

too aware. 

The n a r r a t o r ' s i d e n t i t y seems to be m u l t i p l e . He might be 

P r o f . C o c k e r e l l , the top campus mimic. He might a l s o be the 

p r o f e s s o r who takes away Pnin's job, and whose i n i t i a l s are.V.V. 

More than the i n i t i a l s are r e v e a l e d when Pnin and h i s o l d 

f r i e n d P r o f e s s o r Chateau examine a c l o u d of blue b u t t e r f l i e s : 
11 P i t y V l a d i m i r V l a d i m i r o v i c h i s not here," 

remarked Chateau. "He would have t o l d us a l l 
about these enchanting i n s e c t s . " 

"I have always had the impression t h a t h i s 
entomology was merely a pose." 

"Oh, no," s a i d Chateau. 
(Pnin, p. 128) 

T h i s i s o f course a r e f e r e n c e to the h i s t o r i c a l personage, 

V l a d i m i r V l a d i m i r o v i c h Nabokov, which leads to i n t e l l e c t u a l 

gymnastics indeed among the c r i t i c s . Fowler says the n a r r a t o r 
2 8 

i s "roughly Nabokov." Paul Grams i s f o r c e d i n t o t o r t u r o u s 

sentences i n which Nabokov's name i s surrounded by d e f e n s i v e 

q u o t a t i o n marks*. "In other words, the l i b e r t i e s 'Nabokov' 
29 

takes i n order to ' f i c t i o n a l i z e ' Pnin's biography 
Ambrose Gordon, J r . says the n a r r a t o r g r a d u a l l y "takes on the 

30 

f a m i l i a r lineaments of V l a d i m i r Nabokov." Nabokov of course 

d e l i g h t s i n a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l r e f e r e n c e s which make i t i m p o s s i b l e 

(28) Fowler, p. 123. 
(29) Paul Grams, "Pnin: The Biographer as Meddler," Russian  

L i t e r a t u r e T r i q u a r t e r l g , No. 3 (1972), pp. 360-69; rpt. in Proffer, p. 198. 
(30) Ambrose Gordon, Jr., "The Double Pnin," in Dembo, p. 150. 



121 

f o r c r i t i c s to t i e up the l o o s e ends of h i s f i c t i o n s ; n e v e r t h e l e s s , 

the c h a r a c t e r who took away Pnin's job i s not the man who was 

married to Vera Nabokov. The novel p r o v i d e s us w i t h enough 

i n t e r n a l i n f o r m a t i o n about the n a r r a t o r f o r the reader to 

c o n s t r u c t a c h a r a c t e r study t h a t does not depend on t i d b i t s 

from the l i f e of the r e a l Nabokov. 

The essence of t h i s n a r r a t o r , d e s p i t e h i s m u l t i p l e i d e n t i t i e s , 

one of which bears a resemblance to Nabokov h i m s e l f , i s h i s 

m a l i c i o u s n e s s . Consider h i s account of a g a t h e r i n g of Pnin and 

h i s acquaintances, a g a t h e r i n g i n which the n a r r a t o r p a r t i c i p a t e d . 

The n a r r a t o r recounts an anecdote about Pnin's female c o u s i n , 

whom, the n a r r a t o r says p o i s o n o u s l y , he had p r e v i o u s l y "known 

i n Y a l t a , Athens, and London." Pnin i n t e r r u p t s the s t o r y : 

"Now, d o n ' t - b e l i e v e a word he says.... He makes 
up e v e r y t h i n g . He once i n v e n t e d t h a t we were 
schoolmates i n Russia and c r i b b e d a t examinations. 
He i s a d r e a d f u l i n v e n t o r . . . " (p. 185). 

Pnin has good reason to dread the n a r r a t o r ' s tone of c o o l 

condescension. When the n a r r a t o r v i s i t s Pnin's c h i l d h o o d home, 

he i s quick to c o n t r a s t Pnin's modest surroundings with h i s own 

i n h e r i t e d wealth. In h i s r o l e as a c h a r a c t e r he takes away 

Pnin's job, and i n h i s r o l e as author,, which g i v e s him the 

p r i v i l e g e of omniscience, he invades the p r i v a c y of Pnin's mind. 

Perhaps worst of a l l , he tampers w i t h Pnin's beloved ex-wife. 

The n a r r a t o r has had a c a s u a l and condescending a f f a i r (on h i s 

part) with L i z a ; she married Pnin on the rebound. Through L i z a 

the n a r r a t o r o b t a i n s some of Pnin's p a t h e t i c and r e v e a l i n g l o v e 

l e t t e r s , and doesn't h e s i t a t e to d i s p l a y the l e t t e r s to the 



122 

reader, who begins to f e e l l i k e a voyeur. Once one becomes 

aware of the n a r r a t o r ' s d r e a d f u l powers, i t i s d i f f i c u l t to 

concur w i t h Fowler t h a t Pnin i s " e a s i l y the most g e n t l e and 
31 

humane of a l l Nabokov's n o v e l s . " 

In s h o r t , Nabokov has transformed the conventions of the 

omniscient and i n t r u s i v e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . The omniscient 

n a r r a t o r becomes a major c h a r a c t e r i n the s t o r y , and because 

•his a c t i o n s are both p e r s o n a l and a r b i t r a r y , the reader i s a l l 

the more sympathetic to h e l p l e s s Pnin. I t i s i n t e r e s t i n g t h a t 

c r i t i c s o f t e n complain t h a t an a r t i s t ' s treatment of h i s c h a r a c t e r s 

i s a r b i t r a r y and c o n t r i v e d ; Nabokov h i m s e l f a t t a c k s La Nausee 

on the grounds t h a t S a r t r e u n s u c c e s s f u l l y " i n f l i c t s h i s i d l e and 

a r b i t r a r y p h i l o s o p h i c fancy on a h e l p l e s s person whom he has 

invented f o r t h a t purpose ..."(Strong Opinions, p. 230). What 

a b r i l l i a n t technique, t h e r e f o r e , to p e r s o n a l i z e or anthropo-

morphize the omniscient n a r r a t o r , so t h a t t h i n g s t h a t happen to 

Pnin are not the a r t i f i c i a l c a l c u l a t i o n s of an impersonal v o i c e , 

but the v i n d i c t i v e t a c t i c s of a c h a r a c t e r w i t h i n the scene, a 

n a r r a t o r who parades h i s n a s t i n e s s b e f o r e the h o r r i f i e d reader. 

W i l l i a m C a r r o l l says i t i s no fun being a c h a r a c t e r i n 

Nabokov's f i c t i o n : 
A r b i t r a r i l y c r e a t e d , the c h a r a c t e r l e a d s a l i f e 
i n h e r e n t l y f r a g i l e ; he i s c o n t i n u a l l y ^ j o s t l e d , 
t r a n s p o r t e d i n space and time, f o r c e d i n t o / e x i l e 
a t the s t r o k e of a pen, c a p r i c i o u s l y t o r t u r e d , 
d r i v e n i n t o madness a t the l a s t moment (Bend  
S i n i s t e r ) , or a b r u p t l y " c a n c e l l e d . " ... As f l i e s 
to wanton boys are we to our authors, they k i l l 
us f o r t h e i r p l o t s . , 0 

(31) Fowler, p. 122. 
(32) C a r r o l l , p. 203. 



123 

T h i s i s somewhat u n f a i r to Nabokov. In Pnin the hero e v e n t u a l l y 

escapes the t o r t u r e s of h i s n a r r a t o r . In Bend S i n i s t e r , the 

n a r r a t o r , although much l e s s a d i s t i n c t p e r s o n a l i t y , i s essen-

t i a l l y benign. However, the n a r r a t o r i s never an agent f o r the 

s e n t i m e n t a l i t y of the reader. For example, Krug i s not per-

m i t t e d to use the beam of l i g h t as a deux ex machina by which 

he might climb to the n a r r a t o r ' s workshop, t h e r e to be r e s t o r e d 

to h i s son and depart f o r f r e e America on the a r t i s t ' s v i s a . 

S e n t i m e n t a l i t y i m p l i e s e v a s i o n of the t r u t h , and nothing c o u l d 

be f u r t h e r from Nabokov's \ use of a l l - t o o - r e a l n a r r a t o r s . 

The P e r s u a s i v e S e l f - C o n s c i o u s N a r r a t o r 

The r h e t o r i c a l element i n the makeup of Nabokov 's s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r s l e a d s them to attempt to persuade the reader 

to accept the d e v i c e s and p r e j u d i c e s of the n a r r a t o r . Nabokov's 

n a r r a t o r s are not as contemptuous of the reader's e x p e c t a t i o n s 

and c a p a b i l i t i e s as has been g e n e r a l l y assumed; i n f a c t , some 

of the n a r r a t o r ' s repeated addresses to the reader are designed 

to keep the reader i n touch w i t h the events of the p l o t , to 

make the d e v i c e s i n h e r e n t i n any form of n a r r a t i o n apparent to t, 

the reader, and to make the reader a b e t t e r l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i n 

order to a v o i d the gross d i s t o r t i o n s of i n f e r i o r a r t . The 

n a r r a t o r ' s r h e t o r i c a l emphasis on a r t i f i c e i s p a r t of a pro-

grammatic a t t a c k on the d i s t o r t i n g g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s of l i t e r a r y 

and p o l i t i c a l theory. A r t i f i c e i s o f t e n opposed to m i n d - d u l l i n g 

i d e o l o g y , and not n e c e s s a r i l y r e a l i t y . However, the s e l f -

conscious emphasis on a r t i f i c e has made c o n v e r t s of some of the 



124 

c r i t i c s , and t h e r e i s a c r i t i c a l tendency to t r e a t the r e a l i s t i c 

aspects o f h i s works w i t h q u o t a t i o n marks, as a s i g n of s o l i d -

a r i t y w i t h the Master of I l l u s i o n s . Perhaps the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r has done h i s p e r s u a s i v e work too w e l l . 

In Speak, Memory, Nabokov d e s c r i b e s the s t y l e of S i r i n 

(Nabokov's e a r l y pseudonym): "Russian readers who had been 

r a i s e d on the sturdy s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d n e s s of Russian r e a l i s m and 

had c a l l e d the b l u f f of decadent cheats, were impressed by the 

m i r r o r - l i k e angles of h i s c l e a r but w e i r d l y m i s l e a d i n g sentences!..." 

(Speak, Memory, p. 288). I f the reader f a i l e d to be impressed, 

he c o u l d be sure t h a t the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r would draw 

the m i r r o r - l i k e angles to h i s a t t e n t i o n . The n a r r a t o r s become, 

as i t were, i n t e r n a l l o b b y i s t s f o r Nabokov's i d i o s y n c r a t i c 

techniques. Speaking through h i s puppets, or w i t h a h i g h l y 

s t y l i s e d n a r r a t i v e v o i c e with a n a l o g i e s to h i s own, Nabokov 

teaches h i s readers the rudiments of l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m as 

Nabokov would l i k e to see i t taught, emphasizing commentaries 

on s p e c i f i c t e x t s . For example, here i s p e d a n t i c Kinbote on 

John Shade: 

The whole t h i n g [11. 403-74] " s t r i k e s me as too 
l a b o r e d and long, e s p e c i a l l y s i n c e the synchron-
i z a t i o n d e v i c e has been a l r e a d y worked to death 
by F l a u b e r t and Joyce. Otherwise the p a t t e r n 
i s e x q u i s i t e (Pale F i r e , p. 140). 

In The G i f t , l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m and the p l o t are i n s e p a r a b l e . 

Fyodor waits f o r Zina i n a romantic B e r l i n n i g h t — "thus i t 

t r a n s p i r e d t h a t even B e r l i n c o u l d be mysterious," says Fyodor, 

v o i c i n g the o b l i g a t o r y Nabokov p r e j u d i c e : 

W i t h i n the l i n d e n ' s bloom the s t r e e t l i g h t winks. 
A dark and honeyed hush envelopes us. Across 



125 

the curb one's p a s s i n g shadow s i n k s : a c r o s s 
a stump a sable r i p p l e s thus (pp. 188-89). 

Anna Salehar has p o i n t e d out t h a t t h i s b i t of prose d e s c r i p t i o n 

i s i n f a c t the beginning of a poem; q u a t r a i n s of iambic penta-

meters with the rhyme scheme abab. In her a r t i c l e , "Nabokov's 

G i f t : An A p p r e n t i c e s h i p i n C r e a t i v i t y , " she argues t h a t the 

a p p r e n t i c e s h i p i s not Fyodor's, but the r e a d e r ' s . We must become 

a r t i s t s o u r s e l v e s , or a t l e a s t c o - c r e a t o r s w i t h Nabokov, and 

thus share i n Fyodor's "remarkable a b i l i t y to see the o b j e c t i v e 
3 3 

world i n a way d i f f e r e n t from most people...." 

I f the reader c o n s c i e n t i o u s l y pays a t t e n t i o n to the i d i o -

s y n c r a t i c d e v i c e s presented by the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s , h i s 

e x p e c t a t i o n s of "sturdy r e a l i s m " are bound to be d i s a p p o i n t e d . 

He might begin to suspect t h a t he i s the l e a s t important element 

i n the r e l a t i o n s h i p of a r t i s t / w o r k / a u d i e n c e ; the work i t s e l f 

might seem a s e l f - s u f f i c i e n t a r t i f i c e w i t h no c o n n e c t i o n to the 

reader's world. Why, asks the bemused reader, i s the n a r r a t o r 

so i n s u l t i n g ? 
Turn-tee-turn. And once more -TUM! No, I have 
not gone mad. I am merely producing g l e e f u l 
l i t t l e sounds. The k i n d of g l e e one experiences 
upon making an A p r i l f o o l of someone. And a 
damned good f o o l I have made of someone. Who 
i s he? Gentle reader, look a t y o u r s e l f i n the 
m i r r o r , as you seem to l i k e m i r r o r s so much 
(Despair, p. 34). 

However, the reader i s here encountering Hermann, s u r e l y the 

Nabokov n a r r a t o r who d i s p l a y s the g r e a t e s t h o s t i l i t y towards the 

reader ( s i n c e he suspects approval f o r h i s masterpiece w i l l not 

(33) Anna Salehar, "Nabokov's G i f t : An Apprenticeship in C r e a t i v i t y , " 
in Proffer, p. 81. 



1 2 6 

be forthcoming). I t i s true that Nabokov himself sounds rather 

l i k e Hermann i n the Foreword to Despair when he says, s a r c a s t i c a l l y , 

"Plain readers ... w i l l welcome i t s p l a i n structure and pleasing 

plot ..." (p. 9); but i t i s nevertheless true that Nabokov often 

uses the self-conscious narrator to give the reader a clearer 

sense of what i s going on. In Ada, for example, Van Veen notes 

that the dialogue "was speckled with Russian, an e f f e c t not too 

consistently reproduced i n t h i s chapter — the readers are 

r e s t l e s s tonight ..." (Ada, p. 403). There i s contempt i n Van's 

ungracious concession, as though the readers were r e s t l e s s natives 

i n a jungle of ignorance. But Van's concession, gracious or 

otherwise, i s repeated i n Nabokov's own career. Simon Karlinsky 

says that Nabokov's English t r a n s l a t i o n of The Waltz Invention 

has the ease of the reader i n mind. The translator "at times 

resorts to explicating the text rather than,merely t r a n s l a t i n g 

i t ...." 

[Nabokov's] attitude toward the reader of the 
English versions of his e a r l i e r work i s mellower 
and more forbearing than the one he had toward 
the reader of the Russian o r i g i n a l s . The l i t -
erary a l l u s i o n s , puns, and f a l s e leads i n the 
o r i g i n a l version of The G i f t have l a r g e l y been 
elucidated and deciphered i n the t r a n s l a t i o n . 
S i m i l a r l y , the reader of The Waltz Invention i n 
English h a s V a somewhat s i m p l i f i e d text.... At 
the end of his English preface, the author 
o b l i g i n g l y t e l l s the reader just where the action 
of the play i s taking place; he further t i p s 
his hand by r e f e r r i n g to Salvator Waltz as "a 
fellow author" i n the newly provided l i s t of 
dramatis personae.•••o a 

(34) Simon Karlinsky, " I l l u s i o n , Reality and Parody i n Nabokov's 

Plays," i n Dembo, pp. 193-94. • 



127 

Nabokov i s more r e v e a l i n g and i n t e l l e c t u a l l y generous than those 

c r i t i c s who welcome c a b a l i s t i c crossword p u z z l e s might admit. 

V l a d i s l a v Khodasevich says t h a t the "key" to Nabokov's work 

i s t h a t he does not hide or mask h i s d e v i c e s , but on the c o n t r a r y , 

p l a c e s them i n f u l l view l i k e a magician who, 
having amazed h i s audience, r e v e a l s on the very 
spot the l a b o r a t o r y of h i s m i r a c l e s . . . . S i r i n 
does not hide them because one of h i s major tasks 
i s j u s t t h a t ~ to show how the devices l i v e and 
work. 3 5 

The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s advocate t h e i r own s i n g u l a r 

methods i n order to d e f e a t what Nabokov sees as the g e n e r a l i z e d 

l i e s f o s t e r e d by c r u e l p o l i t i c i a n s and d u l l c r i t i c s . He emphasizes 

the r a r e , the p a r t i c u l a r and the i d i o s y n c r a t i c , as opposed to 

l e v e l l i n g and t h e r e f o r e f a l s e g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s . Thus Nabokov on 

S i r i n : 

J u s t as M a r x i s t p u b l i c i s t s of the e i g h t i e s i n 
o l d Russia would have denounced h i s l a c k of 
concern w i t h the economic s t r u c t u r e of s o c i e t y , 
so the mystagogues of emigre" l e t t e r s deplored 
h i s l a c k of r e l i g i o u s i n s i g h t and of moral 
p r e o c c u p a t i o n (Speak, Memory, p. 287). 

In the Foreword to Despair he d i s p o s e s of the g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s of 

the sociologists," the. Freudians, and the c r i t i c s : 

Despair, i n k i n s h i p with the r e s t of my 
books, has no s o c i a l comment to make, no message 
to b r i n g i n i t s t e e t h .... The a t t r a c t i v e l y 
shaped o b j e c t or W i e n e r - s c h n i t z e l dream t h a t the 
eager F r e u d i a n may t h i n k he d i s t i n g u i s h e s i n 
the remoteness of my wastes w i l l t u r n out to 
be ... a d e r i s i v e mirage o r g a n i z e d by my agents. 
L e t me add, j u s t i n case, t h a t experts on l i t -
e r a r y " s c h o o l s " should w i s e l y r e f r a i n t h i s time 
from c a s u a l l y dragging i n "the i n f l u e n c e of 
German i m p r e s s i o n i s t s " : I do not know German 
and have never read the I m p r e s s i o n i s t s — who-
ever they are (Despair, pp. 8-9). 

(35) Khodasevich, ,:0n S i r i n , " in Nabokov: C r i t i c i s m , p. .97. 



128 

The n a r r a t o r s ' a e s t h e t i c preoccupations are p a r t of a 

s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t i n t e l l e c t u a l tyranny (hence the a s s o c i a t i o n 

of simple or i n f e r i o r a r t w i t h t o t a l i t a r i a n i s m i n Bend S i n i s t e r 

and I n v i t a t i o n to a Beheading), and a l s o p a r t of the s t r u g g l e 

to preserve the i n t e l l e c t u a l t r a d i t i o n s and freedom of Russia's 

e x i l e d i n t e l l e c t u a l s . I t i s no a c c i d e n t t h a t Nabokov's o p i n i o n s 

i n the Foreword to The G i f t are echoed by. Pnin' s n a r r a t o r : 

The tremendous o u t f l o w of i n t e l l e c t u a l s t h a t 
formed such a prominent p a r t of the g e n e r a l 
exodus from S o v i e t Russia i n the f i r s t years 
o f the B o l s h e v i s t R e v o l u t i o n ... remained un-
known to American i n t e l l e c t u a l s (who, bewitched 
by Communist propaganda, saw us merely as 
v i l l a i n o u s g e n e r a l s , o i l magnates, and gaunt 
l a d i e s w i t h l o r g n e t t e s ) . . . . The o l d i n t e l l e c t -
u a l s are now d y i n g out and have not found 
successors i n the. s o - c a l l e d D i s p l a c e d Persons 
... who have c a r r i e d abroad the p r o v i n c i a l i s m 
and P h i l i s t i n i s m of their Soviet .homeland ('The  
G i f t , p. 10). 

I saw Pnin ... a t an evening tea i n the apartment 
of a famous emigre ... one of those i n f o r m a l 
g a t h e r i n g s where o l d - f a s h i o n e d t e r r o r i s t s , 
h e r o i c nuns, g i f t e d h e d o n i s t s , l i b e r a l s , 
adventurous young poets ... would r e p r e s e n t 
a k i n d of s p e c i a l knighthood, the a c t i v e and 
s i g n i f i c a n t nucleus of an e x i l e d s o c i e t y 
which d u r i n g the t h i r d of a century i t f l o u r -
i s h e d remained p r a c t i c a l l y unknown to American 
i n t e l l e c t u a l s f o r whom the n o t i o n of Russian 
e m i g r a t i o n was made to mean by a s t u t e Communist 
propaganda a vague and p e r f e c t l y f i c t i t i o u s 
mass of s o - c a l l e d T r o t s k i i t e s ... r u i n e d 
r e a c t i o n a r i e s ... r e s t a u r a n t keepers, and White 
Russian m i l i t a r y groups, a l l of them of no 
c u l t u r a l importance whatever (Pnin, p. 184). 

Jack Ludwig has argued t h a t Nabokov ignores the American 
3 6 

r e a l i t y . I t i s s i g n i f i c a n t t h a t Nabokov's response to Ludwig's 

p i e c e almost by r e f l e x c e n t r e s on what Nabokov sees as p o l i t i c a l 

(36) See Jack Ludwig, "The Ordinary Is, Too," in Nabokov: C r i t i c i s m , 
pp. 346-49. 



129 

p r e s s u r e : 

I remember, not without s a t i s f a c t i o n , how f i e r c e l y 
and f r e q u e n t l y , d u r i n g my l a s t year of high s c h o o l 
i n Russia (which was a l s o the f i r s t year of the 
r e v o l u t i o n ) , most of my t e a c h e r s and some of my. 
schoolmates accused me of being a " f o r e i g n e r " 
because I r e f u s e d to j o i n i n p o l i t i c a l d e c l a r -
a t i o n s and demonstrations. Mr. Ludwig ... 
i n d i c a t e s with g r e a t sympathy and acumen the 
p o s s i b i l i t y of s i m i l a r a c c u s a t i o n s being made 
by my new f e l l o w - c i t i z e n s (Strong Opinions, p. 299). 

Nabokov never f o r g e t s t h a t the a c t i v i t i e s of h i s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r s have a p o l i t i c a l context. There i s a tendency on the 

p a r t of the c r i t i c s , however, to i s o l a t e the a r t i f i c i a l i t y of 

the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s , to the p o i n t where the n a r r a t o r s 1 

a c t i v i t i e s seem to take p l a c e i n an a e s t h e t i c vacuum. I t seems 

c r i t i c s tend to be overwhelmed by the a e s t h e t i c s t h a t Nabokov 

propounds both i n s i d e and o u t s i d e h i s works: 

[Nabokov] took the unexpected o c c a s i o n of h i s 
c e l e b r i t y [ a f t e r L o l i t a ] to p r o c l a i m what he had 
a l r e a d y been h i s s i n g through three decades of 
brimming o b s c u r i t y : t h a t he ... was not o n l y 
the g r e a t e s t but perhaps the o n l y w r i t e r of 
s e r i o u s f i c t i o n on the face of the e a r t h . 

[Before] h i s death i n S w i t z e r l a n d at 78 
... no s m a l l amount of readers, c r i t i c s and 
academics had surrendered the l a s t laugh and 
accepted the a u t o c r a t i c o l d wizard a t a p p r o x i -
mately h i s own e v a l u a t i o n . 2 ^ 

Nabokov never s a i d t h a t he was the "only w r i t e r of s e r i o u s 

f i c t i o n on the face of the e a r t h " ; but i t i s t r u e t h a t h i s inno-

v a t i v e methods, h i s genius, and h i s repeated a t t a c k s on other 

t h e o r i e s of the n o v e l , not to mention other n o v e l i s t s , have 

caused some c r i t i c s to decide t h a t the standard c r i t i c a l terms 

are inadequate. W i l l i a m C a r r o l l notes t h a t "Nabokov's f i c t i o n 

(37) Boeth, p. 42. 



130 

spawns s p e c i a l c r i t i c a l v o c a b u l a r i e s and d i s e a s e s i n those who 
3 8 

attempt to-.account, f o r i t s p e r s i s t e n t l y odd e f f e c t . " 

One symptom of the d i s e a s e , which can be s l i g h t or n e a r l y 

f a t a l , depending on the p a t i e n t , i s a tendency to s l a n t one's 

c r i t i c i s m i n the d i r e c t i o n of the a r t i f i c e of Nabokov's f i c t i o n , 

a t the expense of i t s realism. Alden Sprowles, f o r example, 

complains t h a t one c r i t i c a l d i f f i c u l t y r e s u l t i n g from Nabokov's 

" d i s t i n c t i v e s t y l e i s the i n e v i t a b l e urge to emulate or parody 
39 

i t w h i l e c r i t i z i n g him." The d i f f i c u l t y i s n i c e l y i l l u s t r a t e d 

by Sprowles' own a r t i c l e , which he d e s c r i b e s as "a l o g i c a l 

e x t e n s i o n of Kinbote's insane annotating ( i t s e l f a byproduct of 

Nabokov's f o o t n o t i n g p r o c l i v i t i e s ) " (p. 288). A c t u a l l y , the 

l o g i c a l e x t e n s i o n of Kinbote's insane annotating i s found l a t e r 

i n the volume from which Sprowles' a r t i c l e i s taken. Kerry 

Ahearn p r o v i d e s "A L o l i t a Crossword P u z z l e " (pp. 302-305), w i t h 

up and down c l u e s from the n o v e l . One of my students 

once informed me, a f t e r her prolonged- exposure to a course 

f e a t u r i n g Nabokov, t h a t a l l of l i t e r a t u r e i s crossword p u z z l e s ; 

nothing more, nothing l e s s . 

C r i t i c s under Nabokov's s p e l l are t r o u b l e d by the i s s u e 

of r e a l i s m . For example, here i s Gleb Struve n e r v o u s l y approaching 

Nabokov's f i r s t n o v e l : 
With a l l i t s immaturity, Mashenka r e v e a l s some 
of the e s s e n t i a l s of Nabokov's l i t e r a r y t e c h -
nique. He i s a " r e a l i s t " (I know he h i m s e l f 
d e t e s t s the use of such l a b e l s i n l i t e r a t u r e ) 
i n the sense t h a t ... . a n 

(38) C a r r o l l , p. 203. 
(39) Sprowles, p. 228. 
(40) Struve, p. 47. 



131 

And here i s J u l i a Bader, on her way towards the inevitable 

conclusion that "Nabokov's work eludes t r a d i t i o n a l rubrics 

of interpretation": 

Shuddering at Nabokov's wise caution ("Remember 
that mediocrity thrives on 'ideas.1 Beware of 
the modish message. Ask yourself i f the symbol 
you have detected i s not your own footprint. 
Ignore a l l e g o r i e s . . . " ) , I have several admissions 
to make. The "idea" of t h i s book i s that the 
various l e v e l s of " r e a l i t y " i n Nabokov's novels 
are best seen i n the perspective of the game of 
a r t i f i c e . . . . ~My "modish message" i s that i n 
various forms and strange ways a l l of Nabokov's 
novels are about a r t . . . . This sounds allegor-
i c a l , but i n the footsteps of Van Veen I would 
l i k e to propose a theory....^ 

An example of a good c r i t i c who has nevertheless been 

overly indoctrinated by the self-conscious narrators and by 

Nabokov's public and private pronouncements i s A l f r e d Appel, J r . 

Here he deals with those c r i t i c s who considered L o l i t a a s a t i r e : 

[ L o l i t a 1 s ] greatness does not depend on the pro-
fundity or extent of i t s " s a t i r e , " which i s over-
emphasized by readers who f a i l to recognize 
the extent of the parody, i t s f u l l implications, 
or the operative d i s t i n c t i o n made by Nabokov: 
"Satire i s a lesson, parody i s a game. 2 

Note that what Appel intends to be the crunching argument i s one 

of Nabokov's personal rubrics; before we can c r i t i c i z e Nabokov, 

we must commit to memory his operative d i s t i n c t i o n s . But perhaps 

Appel's c a r e f u l l y q u a l i f i e d argument seems inoffensive; perhaps 

Nabokov i s r i g h t and Appel i s h e l p f u l l y passing on a truth. 

In the following example, however, which i s an extension of the 

technique used above (that i s , borrowing Nabokov's weapons), Appel 

(41) Bader, pp. 1-2. 
(42) Alfred Appel, Jr., "Background of Lolita," in Nabokov: 

Criticism, p. 36. 



1 3 2 

attempts to bypass independent c r i t i c i s m a l t o g e t h e r i n j u s t i f i -

c a t i o n of h i s e a r l y (and v a l u a b l e ) review of Ada: 

Because of the novel's amplitude and complexity, 
i t s a l l u s i v e n e s s , e l u s i v e n e s s , and g r a d u a l 
a c c r e t i o n of s i g n i f i c a n t d e t a i l , my purpose here 
i s to l a b e l , r a t h e r than " i n t e r p r e t , " i t s contents 
and contours, an i n t e n t i o n f u l l y i n the s p i r i t 
of Van Veen and h i s maker. When Van i s pressed 
f o r a p s y c h i a t r i c e x p l a n a t i o n of two d e l u s i o n s , 
he d o u b t l e s s speaks too f o r Nabokov the l e p i d -
o p t e r i s t , teacher, and t r a n s l a t o r and annotator 
of Eugene Onegin: " i n my works, I t r y not to 
' e x p l a i n ' anything, I merely d e s c r i b e . . . . " ^ 

While the c r i t i c might sympathize w i t h the n o t i o n s of Nabokov's 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s , and l e a r n from them, i t i s dangerous to 

i d e n t i f y them w i t h Nabokov, or to go f o r t h and c r i t i c i z e i n 

t h e i r s p i r i t . When c r i t i c s begin to form c i r c u l a r t h e o r i e s i n 

which a l l of Nabokov's a r t i s about a r t , i t i s not s u r p r i s i n g t h a t 

A l f r e d Appel, J r . should f i n d i t necessary to assure h i s readers 

t h a t he i s a r e a l person, "and has not been invented by V l a d i m i r 
44 

Nabokov." 

The Metaphysics of S e l f - C o n s c i o u s n e s s 

I t i s a mistake f o r the c r i t i c to a b s t r a c t the n o t i o n s of 

Nabokov and h i s n a r r a t o r s i n t o an a e s t h e t i c i n which a r t i f i c e 

predominates; i t i s a mistake because Nabokov's own a e s t h e t i c s 

are p a r t of the f i c t i o n ' s v e r y s i n g u l a r , and very c o n s i s t e n t , 

world view, a world view t h a t does not r e l y on pure a r t i f i c e , 

or common-sense r e a l i s m , but on t h e i r complex i n t e r p e n e t r a t i o n . 

(43) Alfred Appel, Jr.,"Ada Described," in Nabokov: C r i t i c i s m , p. 162. 
(44) Alfred Appel, Jr., The Annotated L o l i t a (New York: McGraw-Hill, 

1970), p. x i i . 



133 

Nabokov's world view undeniably has a g r e a t d e a l to do 

with p e r c e i v i n g the world i n a r t i s t i c terms. Clarence Brown, 
4 5 

who b e l i e v e s t h a t Nabokov's works r e v e a l an "absolute u n i t y , " 

c i t e s one of the imaginary novels i n The Real L i f e of S e b a s t i a n  

Knight: " A l l t h i n g s belong to the same order of t h i n g s , f o r 

such i s the oneness of human p e r c e p t i o n , the oneness of i n d i v i d -

u a l i t y , , the oneness of matter, whatever matter may be. The o n l y 

r e a l number i s one, the r e s t are mere r e p e t i t i o n " (p. 105). 

A sense of the oneness of p e r c e p t i o n r e q u i r e s a s p e c i a l s e n s i b i l -

i t y , which i s why Nabokov chooses n a r r a t o r s as s e n s i t i v e as 

Sebastian Knight, whose " s l i g h t e s t thought or s e n s a t i o n had 

always a t l e a s t one more dimension than those of h i s neigh-

bors ..." (p. 66). Although the unique p e r c e p t i o n s of the s p e c i a l 

s e n s i b i l i t y , which o f t e n i n c l u d e a p a r t i a l t r a n s f o r m a t i o n of the 

world, do not r e c e i v e b l a n k e t a p p r o v a l , they are unquestionably 

encouraged. When a c h a r a c t e r says j u s t i f i a b l y enough t h a t K i n -

bote i s insane, John Shade r e p l i e s t h a t i n s a n i t y i s the wrong 

word: "One should not apply i t to a person who d e l i b e r a t e l y 

p e e l s o f f a drab and unhappy past and r e p l a c e s i t w i t h a b r i l l i a n t 

i n v e n t i o n " (Pale F i r e , p. 169) . Hermann r e p o r t s t h a t "a Russian 

author who l i v e s i n the neighborhood h i g h l y p r a i s e s my s t y l e and 

v i v i d i m a g i n a t i o n " (Despair, p. 189). 

Nabokov's n a r r a t o r s c o n t i n u a l l y p o s i t a world of harmony, 

order, v a l u e and a l l the other c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a e s t h e t i c and 

s o c i a l Utopias. In "Cloud, C a s t l e , Lake," f o r example, one of 

(45) Clarence Brown, "Nabokov's Pushkin and Nabokov's Nabokov," 
in Dembo, p. 200. 



134 

the n a r r a t o r ' s " r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s " escapes the group p u r s u i t s of 

a guided t o u r , and f i n d s h i s own p r i v a t e scenery: 

I t was a pure, blue l a k e , w i t h an unusual 
e x p r e s s i o n of i t s water.... Of course, t h e r e 
are p l e n t y o f such views i n C e n t r a l Europe, 
but j u s t t h i s one — i n the i n e x p r e s s i b l e and 
unique harmoniousness of i t s three p r i n c i p a l , " 
p a r t s , i n i t s s m i l e , i n some mysterious inno-
cence i t had ... — was something so unique, 
and so f a m i l i a r , and so long-promised, and i t 
so understood the beholder, t h a t V a s i l i Ivan-
o v i c h even pressed h i s hand to h i s h e a r t , as 
i f to see whether h i s h e a r t was there In order 
to g i v e i t away (Nabokov's Dozen, p. 90) . 

A r e g i o n so sympathetic t h a t i t understands the observer 

might seem a simple i l l u s t r a t i o n of the p a t h e t i c f a l l a c y '.by" 

which the observer animates an i n d i f f e r e n t u n i v e r s e by i n v e s t i n g 

i t w i t h h i s own s e n s i b i l i t y ; Nabokov's works are more compli-

cated than t h a t , p a r t l y because they c o n t a i n the p o s s i b i l i t y 

t h a t the n a r r a t o r 1 s imaginings i n some way correspond w i t h the 

e x i g e n c i e s of r e a l i t y . John Shade, f o r example, says e x p l i c i t l y 

t h a t the u n i v e r s e can o n l y be understood through a r t : 

I f e e l I understand 
E x i s t e n c e , or a t l e a s t a minute p a r t 
Of my e x i s t e n c e , o n l y through my a r t , 
In terms of combinational d e l i g h t ; 
And i f my p r i v a t e u n i v e r s e scans r i g h t , 
So does the v e r s e of g a l a x i e s d i v i n e 
Which I suspect i s an iambic l i n e . 

(Pale F i r e , 11. 570-76) 

Pnin appears to escape r e a l i t y i n t o a b e t t e r world, which 

Kinbote might c a l l the refuge of a r t : 

• Then the l i t t l e sedan [ c o n t a i n i n g Pnin] b o l d l y 
swung p a s t the f r o n t t r u c k and, f r e e a t l a s t , 
spurted up the s h i n i n g road, which one c o u l d 
make out narrowing to a thread of g o l d i n the 
s o f t m i s t where h i l l a f t e r h i l l made beauty of 
distance,: and where there was simply no saying 
what m i r a c l e might happen (Pnin, p. 191). 



135 

But i n a sense Pnin i s escaping from the a r t i f i c e of the c r u e l 

n a r r a t o r who i s t e l l i n g h i s s t o r y . The phrases sound romantic 

( s o f t m i s t , thread of g o l d ) , but one should keep i n mind another 

romantic, M a r t i n of G l o r y . Nabokov has e x p l a i n e d t h a t h i s 

working t i t l e f o r the book, Romanticheskiy vek, which Nabokov 

says t r a n s l a t e d as "romantic times," was chosen not to i n d i c a t e 

escape from the r e a l world, but escape from the i l l u s i o n s of 

j o u r n a l i s t s . He says, "I had had enough of h e a r i n g Western 

j o u r n a l i s t s c a l l our age ' m a t e r i a l i s t i c , 1 ' p r a c t i c a l , ' ' u t i l i t -

a r i a n , ' " and he wanted to s t r e s s i n G l o r y the t h r i l l of "the 

most o r d i n a r y p l e a s u r e s " (Glory, p. x ) . So perhaps Pnin's s t a t e 

where anything can happen i s the r e a l world, as opposed to the 

n a r r a t o r ' s world, j u s t as the escape of C i n c i n n a t u s t o a world 

where t h e r e are beings a k i n to him i s an escape from the f a l s e 

and t r a s h y world of a d i c t a t o r s h i p , and " a l l of t h i s t h e a t r i c a l , 

p a t h e t i c s t u f f --

the promises of a v o l a t i l e maiden, a mother's 
moist gaze, the knocking on the w a l l , a neigh-
bor's f r i e n d l i n e s s , and, f i n a l l y , those h i l l s 
which broke out i n a deadly r a s h ( I n v i t a t i o n , 
p. 53) . 

Behind d e t a i l s which seem to be mere metaphors, whimsical 

e x e r c i s e s of fancy, there i s a metaphysic which i n c o r p o r a t e s 

metaphor i n t o r e a l i t y . In The G i f t we l e a r n t h a t "a very success-

f u l ant f l i g h t was staged: ... i n p l a c e s where nobody bothered 

them they kept c r a w l i n g along the g r a v e l and shedding t h e i r 

f e e b l e prop-room wings" (p. 72). These metaphors a l l u d i n g to 

the i l l u s i o n s of s t a g e c r a f t d i s g u i s e the f a c t t h a t the n a r r a t o r 

has i n mind the process of metamorphosis i n the n a t u r a l world, 



136 

a process he invokes l a t e r i n the paragraph: i ;The l i n d e n s 

went through a l l t h e i r i n v o l v e d , aromatic, messy metamorphoses." 

When Nabokov was asked whether h i s a e s t h e t i c t r i c k s and s l e i g h t -

of-hand served any purpose o t h e r than amusement, he r e p l i e d by 

r e l a t i n g d e c e p t i o n to " t h a t other V.N., V i s i b l e Nature." An 

i n d i v i d u a l s t y l e , he says, i s " o r g a n i c . " "The s l e i g h t - o f - h a n d 

you mention i s h a r d l y more than an i n s e c t ' s s l e i g h t - o f - w i n g " 

(Strong Opinions, p. 153). 

Rather than arguing t h a t Nabokov and h i s n a r r a t o r s are 

h o s t i l e to r e a l i t y , one should note t h a t r e a l i t y i s h o s t i l e 

to them. Pnin i s t o r t u r e d not only by the n a r r a t o r , but by 

grim h i s t o r y : 

In order to e x i s t r a t i o n a l l y , Pnin had taught 
h i m s e l f , d u r i n g the l a s t ten years, never to 
remember M i r a B e l o c h k i n ... because, i f one 
were q u i t e s i n c e r e w i t h o n e s e l f , no conscience, 
and hence no consciousness, c o u l d be expected 
to s u b s i s t i n a world where such t h i n g s as 
M i r a ' s death were p o s s i b l e (Pnin, pp. 134-35). 

The n a r r a t o r of "The Leonardo" attempts to r o m a n t i c i z e an unworthy 

hero, one Romantovski, who the n a r r a t o r b e l i e v e s i s " triumphing 

over the world through p o e t r y . The t r u t h of t h i n g s convinces 

him otherwise, and h i s f a i t h i n the hero d i s s i p a t e s , as does 

h i s a b i l i t y to assemble a s u i t a b l e stage s e t : 

My poor Romantovski! ... I b e l i e v e d , l e t me 
c o n f e s s , t h a t you were a remarkable poet whom 
poverty o b l i g e d to dwell i n t h a t s i n i s t e r 
d i s t r i c t . I b e l i e v e d , on the strength of c e r t a i n 
i n d i c e s , t h a t every n i g h t , by working on a l i n e 
of v e r s e or n u r s i n g a growing i d e a , you c e l e b r a t e d 
an i n v u l n e r a b l e v i c t o r y over the b r o t h e r s . My 
poor Romantovski! I t i s a l l over now. A l a s , 
the o b j e c t s I had assembled wander away. The 
young p o p l a r dims and takes o f f •— to r e t u r n where 
i t had been f e t c h e d from. The b r i c k w a l l d i s s o l v e s . 



137 

The house draws i n i t s l i t t l e balconies one by 
one, then turns, and f l o a t s away. Everything 
f l o a t s away. Harmony and meaning vanish. The 
world i r k s me again with i t s variegated void 
(Russian Beauty, pp. 23-24). 

P a t r i c i a Merivale argues that the t i d a l p u l l of the 

r e a l world distinguishes Nabokov from Borges: 

These Prosperos, the p o e t - c o n j u r o r s of our 
own day, flaunt the complex a r t i f i c e s of t h e i r 
revels with equal s k i l l ; but while Nabokov 
usually dismisses his actors "into t h i n a i r " 
and returns us to the r e a l world, Borges takes 
the argument to i t s conclusion, and perpet-
u a l l y reminds us that both author and reader 
"are such s t u f f / As dreams are made on.",,, 

46 

An example of the ways i n which Nabokov returns us to the r e a l 

world occurs i n "An A f f a i r of Honor." The hero of the story, 

Anton Petrovich, i s a f e a r f u l man unfortunately involved i n a 

duel. Although the story i s t o l d to a large extent i n the 

thoughts of the hero, the narrator interrupts at one stage of 

Anton Petrovich's sleepless night to comment on his hero's 

mental state: "And then Anton Petrovich did the very worst 

thing a man i n his s i t u a t i o n could have done: he decided to 

reason out what death r e a l l y meant" (Russian Beauty, pp. 100-101). 

That l i n e , so matter of fact and experienced, demonstrates that 

the intrusion of a self-conscious narrator does not necessarily 

imply f a n c i f u l a r t i f i c e . 

Later the hero runs frightened from the duel, and to com-

pensate for his f a i l u r e i n courage begins to imagine a happy 

ending for himself. He imagines his friends t e l l i n g him every-

thing i s f i n e : 

(46; Patricia Merivale, "The Flaunting of Artifice in Vladimir 
Nabokov and Jorge Luis Borges," in Dembo, p. 224. 



138 

"And you came out of i t honorably, while he [Berg, 
the d u e l l i s t ] i s d i s g r a c e d f o r e v e r . And, most 
important, your w i f e , when she heard about i t , 
immediately l e f t Berg and r e t u r n e d to you. And 
you must f o r g i v e her." 

Anton P e t r o v i c h smiled b r o a d l y , got up, and 
s t a r t e d f i d d l i n g w i t h the r i b b o n of h i s monocle. 
His smile s l o w l y faded away. Such t h i n g s don't 
happen i n r e a l l i f e (p. 115). 

In s h o r t , Nabokov's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s are not 

merely imps l e a d i n g the reader through l a y e r s of a r t i f i c e towards 

an i n f i n i t e l y r e g r e s s i v e s o l i p s i s m . Nabokovian s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s 

i n v o l v e s a marriage of a r t i f i c e and r e a l i s m , and a t times i m p l i e s 

t h e i r i d e n t i t y . Nabokov's metaphysic i s d i f f i c u l t to d e f i n e , 

but i t seems c l e a r t h a t the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , a major 

c o n t r i b u t o r to Nabokov's f i c t i o n , i s n e i t h e r a s o l i p s i s t nor 

a r e a l i s t , but the spokesman o r agent of a much more comprehen-

s i v e and s u b t l e world view. I t i s the s p e c i a l g i f t of Nabokov's 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s to i n v o l v e the reader i n the complicated 

i n t e r p l a y of r e a l i s m and a r t i f i c e ; the reader's a e s t h e t i c 

p l e a s u r e s are i n c r e a s e d , and, p a r a d o x i c a l l y enough, he i s made 

aware of what Kinbote c a l l s the "human r e a l i t y " of p l o t s and 

metaphors, poems and commentators. He l e a r n s to sympathize 

w i t h f i c t i o n a l c h a r a c t e r s l i v i n g i n imaginary d i c t a t o r s h i p s . 



i n 

THE MURDEROUS SELF-CONSCIOUS NARRATOR: 

THE FICTION OF DONALD BARTHELME 

Introduction 

Modernist writing i s e b u l l i e n t l y p a r r i c i d a l 
and c a n n i b a l i s t i c . ^ 

[T]he o r i g i n a l , authentic s e l f ... i s a d i r t y 
great v i l l a i n ....^ 

C r i t i c s r a r e l y attempt to place Nabokov i n the t r a d i t i o n of 

American l i t e r a t u r e , despite his insistence that he i s as Ameri-

can as apple pie and Arizona. There have been more numerous 

attempts to place him i n the Russian t r a d i t i o n ; for example, 

Simon Karlinsky tentatively - f i t s Nabokov, Chekhov and perhaps 

Pushkin into what Karlinsky c a l l s " b i o l o g i c a l humanitarianism," 

as opposed to the i d e o l o g i c a l humanitarianism of Dostoevsky, 
3 

Tolstoy and others. Although the emigre" c r i t i c s were for the 

most part disappointed by Nabokov's divergence from Russian 

l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n , some consoled themselves by discerning 

(1) Morris D i c k s t e i n , " F i c t i o n Hot and Kool: Dilemmas of the 
Experimental:. Wrifeer.," TriQuarterly, No. 33 (1975) , 261. - • " 

'(2) Donald Barthelme'; "Daumier," in Sadness (New York: Farrar, 
Straus', and Giroux, 1972), p. 163. Subsequent references to works by 
Barthelme in t h i s chapter w i l l consist of page numbers and t i t l e s in 
parentheses- The publishing data for works not documented previously 
are as follows: C i t y L i f e (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux,1970); 
The Dead Father (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1975); G u i l t y  
Pleasures (New York: Farrar Straus and Giroux, 1974); Unspeakable P r a c t i c e s , 
Unnatural Acts (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1973). 

(3) Simon Karlinsky, "Nabokov and Chekhov: The Lesser Russian 
T r a d i t i o n , " in Nabokov: C r i t i c i s m , p. 16. 



140 

a f f i n i t i e s w i t h Gogol and c o n c l u d i n g t h a t Nabokov had i n h e r i t e d 

the " i r r a t i o n a l , comic and l i n g u i s t i c a l l y i n v e n t i v e t r a d i t i o n 
4 

which passed through Dostoevsky to Andrey Bely 

N e v e r t h e l e s s , Nabokov's f i c t i o n o f t e n appears to be o u t s i d e 

l i t e r a t u r e ' s n a t i o n a l boundaries, programmatically s u i g e n e r i s . 

Ivan Bunin remarked to a f r i e n d i n 19 30 t h a t Nabokov had i n t r o -

duced "a new k i n d of l i t e r a r y a r t , " "a whole new u n i v e r s e , " ^ 

and Nabokov h i m s e l f , never l o a t h e to p r e s e n t h i m s e l f as someone 

o u t s i d e the r u l e s that govern the rest of us, once, said, "I'm the shuttle-

cock over the A t l a n t i c , and how b r i g h t and blue i t i s t h e r e , 

i n my p r i v a t e sky, f a r from the pigeonholes and the c l a y pigeons" 

(Strong Opinions, p. 117). The impression of s e l f - s u f f i c i e n c y i s 

p a r t l y due to Nabokov's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t i v e methods, i n 

which the p l o t i s always under the o v e r t c o n t r o l of an a e s t h e t i c 

s e n s i b i l i t y , and p a r t l y due to the i m p l i e d correspondence between 

the r u l e s of the u n i v e r s e and the v i s i o n s of the i m a g i n a t i o n . 

A sense of s e r e n i t y and a t l e a s t p o t e n t i a l order i s strengthened 

by Nabokov's f a i t h i n the good o f f i c e s of the i m a g i n a t i o n ; as 

he says i n the Foreword to The Eye, the ''forces of the imagin-

a t i o n " are, i n the long run, "the f o r c e s of good" (p.LO). 

Nabokov's a e s t h e t i c s e r e n i t y i s unknown i n the f i c t i o n of 

Donald Barthelme. Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are e q u a l l y s e l f -

c o n s c i o u s , but i n t h e i r e g o c e n t r i c worlds the c r e a t i v e i m a g i n a t i o n 

has gone sour. When Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s attempt to emulate 

(4) Jane Grayson, Nabokov Translated (London: Oxford Univ. Press, 
1977), p. 218. 

(5) Galina Kuznetsova, Grasskii dnevnik, as quoted in Karlinsky, 
"Nabokov and Chekhov," p. 16. 



141 

Nabokov's z e s t f o r a n t i - b o u r g e o i s thought and a c t i o n , they j o i n 

an i n t i m i d a t i n g crowd of e q u a l l y s o p h i s t i c a t e d e l i t i s t s . 

I d i o s y n c r a t i c behavior has become the s o c i a l norm, and the con-

v e n i e n t t a r g e t s once presented by lumbering p h i l i s t i n e s have 

disappeared. Worse s t i l l , the Utopian o p t i o n s w i t h i n Nabokov's 

f i c t i o n have been d i s c r e d i t e d , s i n c e the i m a g i n a t i o n no longer 

works i t s way towards u n i v e r s a l o r d e r , but towards chaos and 

c o n f u s i o n . Consider, f o r example, the n a r r a t o r ' s a t t i t u d e towards 

l i t e r a t u r e i t s e l f . Nabokov mocks and p a r o d i e s l i t e r a t u r e , 

p a r t i c u l a r l y bad l i t e r a t u r e , but t h e r e i s an u n d e r l y i n g reverence 

f o r a r t — choosing Pushkin over Thomas Mann i s a moral a c t . 

In Barthelme a r t i t s e l f i s suspect, and h i s many n a r r a t o r - a r t i s t s 

complain b i t t e r l y about t h e i r r o l e . 

Some of the themes o u t l i n e d i n the p r e v i o u s paragraph are 

p l a t i t u d e s of the avant garde — the breakdown of a r t , p h i l o s o p h i c 

chaos, the D e c l i n e and F a l l of C i v i l i z a t i o n As We Know I t . 

There i s a s p i r i t of s a t i r e i n Barthelme t h a t mocks f a s h i o n a b l e 

angst and p a c e - s e t t i n g e x i s t e n t i a l gloom. However, Barthelme's 

s a t i r e d i f f e r s from the g r e a t models of the e i g h t e e n t h century, 

i n which s a t i r e s o f t e n presented p o s i t i v e a l t e r n a t i v e s : Pope's 

reason, S w i f t ' s Houyhnhnms, the exemplary l a t e r l i f e of Mr. 

Wilson i n Joseph Andrews — each suggesting the l o s t Golden 

World of reasonable and v i r t u o u s conduct. In Barthelme's 

f i c t i o n , the n a r r a t o r ' s impulse towards s a t i r e on the c u r r e n t 

s t a t e of a f f a i r s i s matched by h i s c o m p l i c i t y i n those a f f a i r s . 

Barthelme h i m s e l f may be above the s t r u g g l e , but h i s n a r r a t o r s 

o f t e n m i r r o r the g e n e r a l l o s s of nerve, the d e b i l i t a t i n g s e l f -



142 

consciousness of the s e l f i s h modern world, and there i s no way 

out f o r them, e i t h e r i n p e r s o n a l conduct or i n a r t . The n a r r a t o r s , 

l i k e t h e i r s o c i e t y , are b r a i n damaged: 

Oh t h e r e ' s b r a i n damage i n the e a s t , and b r a i n 
damage i n the west.... B r a i n damage caused 
by a r t . I c o u l d d e s c r i b e i t b e t t e r i f I weren't 
a f f l i c t e d with i t . . . ( " B r a i n Damage," C i t y L i f e , 
p. 146). 

However, Barthelme's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s techniques do not 

"celebrate"..layers of a r t i f i c e i n which e v e r y t h i n g i s f u t i l e and 

nothing i s r e a l . S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s a l s o a means of s e l f -

d i s c o v e r y ; u n f o r t u n a t e l y , what i s d i s c o v e r e d i s unpleasant. 

In terms of the p e r v e r s e C a t h o l i c i s m t h a t permeates Barthelme's 

f i c t i o n l i k e a b l a c k mass, man i s d i s c o v e r e d to be i n h e r e n t l y 

s i n f u l and wicked. His attempts to confess h i s s i n s are f a i l u r e s 

s i n c e there i s no a u t h o r i t a t i v e f i g u r e to determine value --

no p r i e s t s , no Pope, no o r d e r . A sense of i n h e r e n t s i n f u l n e s s , 

p a r t i c u l a r l y s i n f u l n e s s without recourse to c o n f e s s i o n , connects 

Barthelme with both America's r e a l i s t t r a d i t i o n and the e a r l y 

P u r i t a n t r a d i t i o n . C e r t a i n l y N o r r i s would have no d i f f i c u l t y 

r e c o g n i z i n g Barthelme's d i r t y g r e a t v i l l a i n o u s s e l f . Hawthorne's 

nightmares i n c l u d e d Young Goodman Brown's d i s c o v e r y of f a i t h l e s s 

F a i t h , and the d i s e a s e d i m a g i n a t i o n of the Reverend Dimmesdale. 

One t h i n k s a l s o of M e l v i l l e ' s C l a g g a r t , and Poe's imp 

of the perverse, and of course the doomed s i n n e r s of Wiggles-

worth and the other New England keepers of the f l o c k . Under-

l y i n g Barthelme 's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a r t i f i c e i s a sense of the 

American r e a l i t y which i s as strong as t h a t of h i s more convention-

a l l y r e a l i s t i c contemporaries. In Jack Ludwig's terms, 

Barthelme i s another devotee of America's " l o n g e s t s t a n d i n g , 



1 4 3 

most profound f i x " ; t h a t i s , d e l i b e r a t i o n s about "the nature 

and meaning of r e a l i t y , " based on what Ludwig c a l l s "the t e r r i f y -
1 6 

i n g p e r v a s i v e n e s s of the a c t u a l l y o r d i n a r y . " 

P a r t l y by means of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , who, as 

we s h a l l see, has a r e a l i s t i c v o i c e as w e l l as an a r t i f i c i a l 

v o i c e , Barthelme both m i r r o r s a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s o c i e t y and 

p e n e t r a t e s through to the motive f o r s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s . At the 

heart o f s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s he d i s c o v e r s the r e a l American 

p e r s o n a l i t y ; d e s p i t e c e r t a i n q u a l i f i c a t i o n s and f i t f u l attempts 

a t optimism, the e s s e n t i a l p e r s o n a l i t y i s murderous, the o l d 

b a r b a r i a n , C a i n the k i l l e r . 

The Urban N e u r o t i c 

L e t us d e l i n e a t e Barthelme's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s s o c i e t y , 

as r e p r e s e n t e d by the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . U n l i k e Nabokov's 

n a r r a t o r s , Barthelme's do not c u l t i v a t e t h e i r s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s 

as p a r t of the h e a l t h y e x p r e s s i o n of t h e i r l i f e - g i v i n g d i f f e r -

ences. They are h e l p l e s s l y , a u t o m a t i c a l l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , 

s i n c e t h e i r s o c i e t y now i n d u l g e s i n an a c t i v i t y t h a t has 

r e p l a c e d , say, farming i n an a g r i c u l t u r a l s o c i e t y , or r e l i g i o n 

i n a theocracy. S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s i n e v i t a b l e when the 

s a l i e n t f e a t u r e of the s o c i a l context i s i t s l a c k of context. 

The n a r r a t o r s are c i t y d w e l l e r s w i t h l i t t l e sense of t h e i r 

c i t y ' s h i s t o r y , or i t s r e l a t i o n s h i p to the surrounding n a t i o n ; 

they have no f a m i l y t i e s , and t h e i r sense of the n a t u r a l world 

i s l i m i t e d to a dim impression of t a l l b u i l d i n g s . T h e i r very 

names are bland and u n r e v e a l i n g ; i n the case of Snow White's 

(6) Ludwig, pp. 347, 348. 



144 

seven communal dwarfs — Clem, Hubert, Dan, Kevin, B i l l , e t c . — 

the names, l i k e the c h a r a c t e r s , are d e l i b e r a t e l y i n t e r c h a n g e -

a b l e . The n a r r a t o r s ' jobs are g e n e r a l l y absurd or i r r e l e v a n t . 

They are simply of the c i t y , anonymous c i t i z e n s . The novel's 

t r a d i t i o n a l g r i d c o - o r d i n a t e s of community and the n a t u r a l 

world have disappeared. 

Rather than b u i l d up a composite p i c t u r e of Barthelme's 

r o o t l e s s n a r r a t o r from the many examples i n h i s f i c t i o n , l e t us 

use as a r o l e model Barthelme h i m s e l f . Although he i s l e s s 

r e l e n t l e s s l y a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l than Nabokov, the a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l 

glimpses i n h i s f i c t i o n , n o n - f i c t i o n and r a r e i n t e r v i e w s seem 

very c l o s e to the enervated, i n t r o s p e c t i v e i n t e l l e c t u a l f e a t u r e d 

i n the s t o r i e s . Barthelme's range of p e r s o n a l i t y types i s 

i n f a c t very l i m i t e d ; the n a r r a t o r s , c h a r a c t e r s and the author-

i a l v o i c e i t s e l f a l l speak i n s i m i l a r p a t t e r n s , and perhaps 

they a l l c o u l d have had the background of "the most i m i t a t e d 
7 

f i c t i o n i s t i n the U n i t e d S t a t e s today." 

Barthelme was brought up and educated i n Houston, Texas, 

where h i s f a t h e r was an a r c h i t e c t . "He was something of an 

anomaly i n Texas i n the t h i r t i e s , " says Barthelme about h i s 

f a t h e r . "The atmosphere of the house was p e c u l i a r i n t h a t 

there were very l a r g e a r c h i t e c t u r a l books around and the c o n s i d -

e r a t i o n s were: What was Mies doing, what was A a l t o doing, 

what was Neutra up t o , what about Wright?" 

(7) According to P h i l i p Stevick, as quoted in Jerome Klinkowitz, 
"Donald Barthelme," in Bellamy, p. 45. 



145 

In the l a t e t h i r t i e s my f a t h e r b u i l t a house 
f o r us, something not too d i s s i m i l a r to Mies's 
Tugendhat house. I t was wonderful to l i v e i n 
but strange to see on the Texas p r a i r i e . 
On Sundays people used to park t h e i r c a r s out 
on the s t r e e t and s t a r e . We had a r o u t i n e , 
the f a m i l y , on Sundays. We used to get up 
from Sunday d i n n e r , i f enough c a r s had parked, 
and run out i n f r o n t of the house i n a s o r t 
of chorus l i n e , doing high k i c k s . g 

One can immediately d i s c e r n the s o p h i s t i c a t e d i n t e r n a t i o n a l 

i n f l u e n c e s t h a t l e d Barthelme to develop a s t y l e t h a t minimizes 

the context of l o c a l e . Doing high k i c k s i n the f a c e s of the 

l o c a l y o k e l s might l e a d to f i c t i o n f a r removed from t h a t of 

h i s f e l l o w Texan author, L a r r y McMurtry. In h i s e x c e l l e n t 

novels, McMurtry a l l o w s h i s c o l o r f u l Texas c h a r a c t e r s and the 

s p i r i t of the p l a c e to u n f o l d i n a l e i s u r e l y , o l d - f a s h i o n e d 

manner. His n a r r a t o r s , g e n e r a l l y omniscient and o b j e c t i v e , 

or e l s e a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l f i r s t - p e r s o n , never s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y 

d i s r u p t the smooth flow of the n a r r a t i v e ; the f i c t i o n a l process 

i s subordinated to Texas and Texans. 'By c o n t r a s t , Barthelme mocks 

l o c a l c o l o r with arch r e f e r e n c e s to tumbleweeds and dogies. 

The f o l l o w i n g v i g n e t t e from Snow White, i n which Paul the P r i n c e 

poses by a Western fence, suggests Barthelme's i r o n i c d i s t a n c e 

from myths of the Marlboro man: 

I f I had been born w e l l p r i o r to.1900, I 
c o u l d have r i d d e n w i t h Pershing a g a i n s t Pancho 
V i l l a . A l t e r n a t i v e l y , I c o u l d have r i d d e n w i t h 
V i l l a against 'the landowners and c o r r u p t government 
o f f i c i a l s of the time. In e i t h e r case, I would 
have had a horse. How l i t t l e o p p o r t u n i t y 
t h e r e i s f o r young men to have p e r s o n a l l y 
owned horses i n the bottom h a l f of the t w e n t i e t h 
century! A wonder t h a t we U.S. youth can s t i l l 

(8) "Donald Barthelme," in Bellamy, pp. 46-47. 



146 

f o r k a saddle a t a l l . . . . Of course there are 
those 'horses' under the hoods of Buicks and 
P o n t i a c s . . . . But those 'horses' are not f o r 
me. They take the tan out of my cheeks and the 
lank out of my arms and l e g s . Tom Lea or Pete 
Hurd w i l l never p a i n t me standing by the fence 
i f I am s i t t i n g i n s i d e an Eldorado, S t a r f i r e , 
R i v i e r a or Mustang...„(pp. 78-79). 

Note Paul's symptomatic ambivalence towards q u e s t i o n s of 

p r i n c i p l e - whether he f i g h t s f o r Pershing or V i l l a , he gets 

what he wants, a horse to pose on. Note the mockery of the 

western ethos i n such phrases as f o r k i n g a saddle and the 

d e s i r a b l e lankness of l e g . Note most of a l l t h a t the n a r r a t o r 

i s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y aware of h i m s e l f as an i n a p p r o p r i a t e 

urban cowboy i n a p a i n t e d Western scene. 

Meanwhile the r e a l Donald Barthelme was not a cowboy i n 

Texas, but i n 1957 the founding e d i t o r of the U n i v e r s i t y of 

Houston Forum, " w h i c h - - w i t h i t s e a r l y p u b l i c a t i o n of Walker 

Percy, W i l l i a m H. Gass, Joseph Lyons ... — w a s f o r a time 
9 

as much a l o c a l anomaly as the Barthelme Tugendhat home." 

Barthelme moved to New York, where he was f i r s t the managing 

e d i t o r of an a r t s and o p i n i o n p e r i o d i c a l c a l l e d L o c a t i o n , and 

then a New Yorker w r i t e r . "The Teaching of Don B. : A Yankee Way 

Knowledge" p r o v i d e s a s e l f - p o r t r a i t i n a New York c o n t e x t : 
While doing a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l f i e l d work i n 
Manhattan some years ago I met, on West 
E l e v e n t h S t r e e t , a male Yankee of i n d e t e r -
minate age whose name, I was t o l d , was Don 
B. I found him l e a n i n g a g a i n s t a b u i l d i n g 
i n a profound t o r p o r - perhaps the profoundest 

(9) Jerome Klinkowitz, L i t e r a r y Disruptions: The Making of a  
Post-Contemporary American F i c t i o n (Urbana, I l l i n o i s : Univ. of I l l i n o i s 
Press, 1975), p. 63. 



147 

t o r p o r I have ever seen. He was a t a l l i s h 
man w i t h an unconvincing beard and was dressed, 
i n the f a s h i o n of the V i l l a g e , i n jeans and a 
blue work s h i r t (Guilty P l e a s u r e s , p. 53). 

Even a l l o w i n g f o r the C a r l o s Castaneda parody, here are the 

a t t r i b u t e s of a Barthelme n a r r a t o r : indeterminate age, u n c e r t a i n 

beard, c l o t h e s t h a t meekly conform to the blue urban uniform. He 

i s not a unique and a s p e c i a l i n d i v i d u a l , but a s t a t i s t i c 

i n someone's a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l r e s e a r c h . The source of h i s 

p r o f o u n d l y p a s s i v e t o r p o r i s the non-context of the c i t y . The 

anonymity and l o n e l i n e s s of the c i t y encourage the n a r r a t o r 

to look i n t o h i m s e l f f o r v a l u e , but a t the same time the c i t y 

denies him any c o n n e c t i o n w i t h t r a d i t i o n a l sources of v a l u e . 

In "The Indian U p r i s i n g , " f o r example, a c i t y vaguely r e m i n i s c e n t 

of New York i s conquered by Commanches. The i n h a b i t a n t s are 

unable to defend themselves, d e s p i t e d e f e n s i v e q u o t a t i o n s from 

such c u l t u r a l touchstones as T.S. E l i o t and Hamlet: "On the map 

we c o n s i d e r e d the s i t u a t i o n w i t h i t s strung-out i n h a b i t a n t s and 

merely p e r s o n a l emotions" (Unspeakable, pp. 6-7). Cohesive 

s t r a t e g y i s i m p o s s i b l e : 

"What i s -the s i t u a t i o n ? " I asked. 
"The s i t u a t i o n i s l i q u i d , " he s a i d . "We 

h o l d the south q u a r t e r and they h o l d the n o r t h 
q u a r t e r . The r e s t i s s i l e n c e . " (p. 7) 

Instead of s t r e e t s i g n s t h a t r e f e r to the n a t u r a l world (Elm, 

Maple) or i n t e l l e c t u a l s t r u c t u r e (Main) or t r a d i t i o n (Washington 

Ave.), Barthelme's s t r e e t s are named a f t e r ephemeral c u l t u r e 

heroes: "She ran o f f down George C. M a r s h a l l All'ee ..." (p. 7). 

The b a r r i c a d e s themselves are composed of ceramic a s h t r a y s , 

b o t t l e s of Black and White, corkscrews and Y u g o s l a v i a n carved 



148 

f l u t e s . The c i t y i s composed of pop t r a s h , and i t i s not worth 

defending: 

I spoke to S y l v i a . "Do you t h i n k t h i s i s 
a good l i f e ? " The t a b l e h e l d apples, books, 
l o n g - p l a y i n g r e c o r d s . She looked up. "No." 
(p. 3). 

The n a r r a t o r h a l f welcomes the Commanches. He looks i n t o t h e i r 

savage b l a c k eyes and imagines the end of what semblance of 

order the c i t y possesses, the " c l e a r , neat rows of houses i n 

the s u b d i v i s i o n s " (p. 1 2 ) . 

The P h i l o s o p h y of Chaos 

The urban environment f o r c e s Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s to 

l e a d a r i d , s t e r i l e l i v e s , which n a t u r a l l y enough o c c a s i o n s 

a r i d and s t e r i l e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s . T h i n k i n g never leads 

to i n t e l l e c t u a l d i s c o v e r y ; a n a l y s i s never leads to a c t i o n ; 

c l e v e r and f a c i l e a r t i c u l a t i o n and pseudo-eloquence never q u i t e 

l e a d to the s a t i s f a c t i o n s of a r t . Whenever the n a r r a t o r s 

attempt t o surmount the d r e a r y urban p a r t i c u l a r s of t h e i r 

l i v e s , and t r y to see over the t a l l . / f o r b i d d i n g b u i l d i n g s , 

they must contend w i t h the \ d i s o r d e r l y f i c t i o n a l -

cosmos. They dwell i n p h i l o s o p h i c chaos, f r u s t r a t e d by i n t e l -

l e c t u a l dead ends and random phenomena. When Barthelme was 

asked i f any g e n e r a l conceptions of space and time were r e f l e c t e d 

i n h i s f i c t i o n , he answered "No";^ the s t o r i e s present p l e n t y 

of reasons f o r t a k i n g him a t h i s word: 

(10) "Donald Barthelme," in Bellamy, p. 51. 



149 

t h a t ' s chaos can you produce chaos? A l i c e 
asked c e r t a i n l y I can produce chaos I s a i d I 
produced chaos she regarded the chaos chaos 
i s handsome and a t t r a c t i v e she s a i d and more 
durable than r e g r e t I s a i d and more n o u r i s h i n g 
than r e g r e t she s a i d 

t w i r l i n g around on my piano s t o o l my head 
begins to swim my head begins to swim t w i r l i n g 
around on my piano s t o o l t w i r l i n g around on 
my piano s t o o l a d i z z y s p e l l eventuates 
t w i r l i n g around on my piano s t o o l I begin to 
f e e l d i z z y t w i r l i n g around on my piano s t o o l 

chaos i s t a s t y AND USEFUL TOO 

( " A l i c e , " Unspeakable, pp. 120,119,122) 

S i m i l a r l y , i n "Up, A l o f t i n the A i r , " the n a r r a t o r e x p l o r e s 

America from an untrustworthy a i r p l a n e : 
"In case of orange and blue flames," he wrote 
on the wing, "disengage y o u r s e l f ""from the  
a i r c r a f t by chopping a h o l e i n i t s bottom i f  
necessary.... I suggest t h a t you be alarmed. 

You are up i n the a i r perhaps 35.000 f e e t , 
with orange and blue flames on the o u t s i d e 
and a ragged hole i n the f l o o r b o a r d s . What 
w i l l you do?" ( C a l i g a r i , p. 127). 

The confused, d i z z y , t e r r i f i e d n a r r a t o r o f t e n proposes 

an e x i t to some b e t t e r u n i v e r s e next door. A f t e r the d u l l 

round of events i n "The P a r t y , " the n a r r a t o r t u r n s to h i s f r i e n d 

and says: 

Dear Francesca, t e l l me, i s t h i s a s u c c e s s f u l 
p a r t y , i n your view? ... I know t h a t you have 
always wanted to meet [King] Kong; now t h a t you 
have met him and he has s a i d whatever he has s a i d 
to you ... can we go home? I mean you to your 
home, me to my home, a l l those o t h e r s to t h e i r 
own homes, c e l l s , cages? I am f e e l i n g a l i t t l e 
ragged. What made us t h i n k we c o u l d escape 
t h i n g s l i k e bankruptcy, a l c o h o l i s m , being 
d i s a p p o i n t e d , having c h i l d r e n ? Say "No," r e f u s e 
me once and f o r a l l , l e t me t r y something e l s e 
(Sadness, p. 62). 



150 

The concept of something e l s e , some o t h e r country, r e c u r s i n 

Barthelme's f i c t i o n , as i t does i n Nabokov's f i c t i o n ; however, 

Barthelme i s even more vague than Nabokov about the terms of 

any p r o s p e c t i v e Utopia, probably because the context of h i s 

f i c t i o n makes i t c l e a r t h a t there i s no p h i l o s o p h i c a l escape 

hatch. S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s l e a d s the s e l f nowhere. The demoral-

i z i n g search f o r v a l u e sometimes l e a d s the n a r r a t o r s to wonder 

whether t h e i r c o n t i n u e d e x i s t e n c e serves any purpose. In a 

review of a Graham Greene n o v e l , Barthelme q u e s t i o n s the n o t i o n 

t h a t any a c t i o n , a good or an e v i l a c t i o n , i s p r e f e r a b l e to 

p a s s i v e i n d i f f e r e n c e : 

The c h i e f modern l i t e r a r y e x p r e s s i o n of t h i s 
p o s i t i o n i s T.S. E l i o t ' s , i n h i s 1930 essay 
on B a u d e l a i r e : "So f a r as we are human, what 
we do must be e i t h e r e v i l or good; so f a r as 
we do e v i l or good, we are human; and i t i s 
b e t t e r , i n a p a r a d o x i c a l way, to do e v i l than 
to do n o t h i n g : a t l e a s t , we e x i s t . " Mr. E l i o t ' s 
remarks, u n f o r t u n a t e l y , are themselves a t 
the mercy of an unexamined assumption, t h a t i t 
i s b e t t e r to e x i s t than not to e x i s t . T h i s , 
t o say the l e a s t , has not been proved, and i t 
i s the genius of a n o v e l i s t l i k e Beckett 
t h a t h i s c h a r a c t e r s a c t p r e c i s e l y i n the area 
of the unexamined assumption: they yearn 
toward;:) n o n e x i s t e n c e . ^ 

The n a r r a t o r s ' c o n f u s i o n and d e s p a i r i s d i s g u i s e d by the 

comic tone. The n a r r a t o r s tend to t r e a t e x i s t e n c e l i g h t l y , and 

r a r e l y seem tempted to demonstrate u n i v e r s a l n i h i l i s m by such 

apt a c t i o n s as s u i c i d e . They a v o i d any such a c t i o n because even 

n i h i l i s m i m p l i e s a system of thought, an orthodoxy, and the 

(11) Donald Barthelme, "The Tired Terror of Graham Greene," 
Holiday, A p r i l 1966, pp. 148-49. 



151 

n a r r a t o r s r a r e l y h o l d to any i n t e l l e c t u a l p o s i t i o n f o r l o n g . 

I t i s d i f f i c u l t f o r the c r i t i c to demonstrate t h a t the n a r r a t o r s 

are confused and thrown back on themselves because they l a c k 

the mental landmarks of l o g i c and order; i t i s d i f f i c u l t because 

such lumbering terms as " n i h i l i s m " and " s o l i p s i s m " are c o n t i n -

u a l l y undercut by Barthelme's use of t e r s e , i r o n i c , d i s r u p t i v e 

statements t h a t never c o a l e s c e i n t o a philosophy of meaning or 

non-meaning. The n a r r a t o r s speak and t h i n k i n fragments. 

According to one n a r r a t o r , "Fragments are the o n l y form I t r u s t " 

("See the Moon?" Unspeakable, p. 157). 

That l i n e has become a catch-phrase among Barthelme's 

admirers and enemies. I t i s taken almost metonymically as the 

substance of Barthelme 1 s a e s t h e t i c . For example, Joyce C a r o l 

Oates too f r e e l y a s s o c i a t e s the n a r r a t o r w i t h the author: 

"Fragments are the o n l y form I t r u s t . " T h i s 
from a w r i t e r of arguable genius, whose work 
r e f l e c t s the a n x i e t y he h i m s e l f must f e e l , 
i n book a f t e r book, t h a t h i s b r a i n i s a l l 
fragments ... j u s t l i k e e v e r y t h i n g e l s e . . . . 
[E]ven the c o n s t r u c t i o n of h i s sentence i s 
symptomatic of h i s r o l e : I t begins w i t h 
"fragments," the s t e r n h e a l t h y noun, and con-
c l u d e s with the weak " I " . But. There i s a 
p o i n t i n h i s t o r y a t which Wilde's remark 
comes h o r r i b l y t r u e , t h a t l i f e w i l l i m i t a t e 
a r t . And then who i s i n charge., who b e l i e v e d 
h i m s e l f so c l e v e r l y impotent, who supposed he 
had a b d i c a t e d a l l conscious d e s i g n •••?^2 

Speaking f o r the a f f i r m a t i v e , as i t were, R i c h a r d S c h i c k e l 

says, 

(12) O a t e s , " G u e s t . W o r d , " p . ' 6 3 . 



152 

You w i l l perhaps r e c a l l Barthelme's most quoted 
dictum: "The o n l y forms I t r u s t are fragments." 
[ s i c ] We p e r c e i v e i n fragments, l i v e i n 
fragments, are no doubt dying by fragments; 
should we not, then, w r i t e i n fragments, emphas-
i z i n g thereby the strange d i s j u n c t i o n s , the even 
s t r a n g e r j u x t a p o s i t i o n s , t h a t are p a r t of the 
everyday experience of modern l i f e ? - ^ 

Although one applauds S c h i c k e l ' s attempt to oppose a r e a l i s t i c 

a e s t h e t i c ("everyday experience of modern l i f e " ) to Oates' 

p r e d i c t a b l e a c c u s a t i o n t h a t Barthelme has s u b s t i t u t e d the impotent 

v a l u e s of a r t f o r h e a l t h y l i f e , i t remains dangerous to a s c r i b e 

to Barthelme any f i x e d a e s t h e t i c philosophy, p a r t i c u l a r l y one 

taken verbatim from a n a r r a t o r . Barthelme has p u b l i s h e d a 

humorous r e t r a c t i o n of the fragments l i n e , which he says i s a 

"statement by the c h a r a c t e r about what he i s f e e l i n g a t t h a t 

p a r t i c u l a r moment." 

I hope t h a t whatever I t h i n k about a e s t h e t i c s 
would be a shade more complicated than t h a t . 
Because t h a t p a r t i c u l a r l i n e - i has been r i c h l y 
misunderstood so o f t e n ... I have thought of 
making a p u b l i c r e c a n t a t i o n . I can see the 
s t o r y i n , say, Women's Wear D a i l y : WRITER 
CONFESSES THAT HE NO LONGER TRUSTS FRAGMENTS 
T r u s t 'Misplaced,' Author D e c l a r e s DISCUSSED 
DECISION WITH DAUGHTER, SIX W i l l Seek 'Wholes* 
In Future, He >Says New York, June 24 (ASP) 
- Donald Barthelme, 41-year-old w r i t e r and 
well-known f r a g m a t i s t , s a i d today t h a t he 
no l o n g e r t r u s t e d fragments.... The author, 
l o o k i n g tense and drawn a f t e r what was des-
c r i b e d as " c o n s i d e r a b l e t h o u g h t " . . . . ^ 

Although she may have e r r e d i n g e n e r a l i z i n g too f r e e l y 

about Barthelme's a e s t h e t i c , Oates was p e r c e p t i v e i n n o t i n g a 

c e r t a i n l a c k of e d i t o r i a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y . "We a l l doubt our 

(13) Richard Schickel , "Freaked out on Barthelme," New York Times  
Magazine, 16 August 1970, p. 14. 

(14) "Donald Barthelme," in Bellamy, pp. 53-54/ the typography of 
the o r i g i n a l has been s i m p l i f i e d . 



153 

a u t h o r i t y , " Barthelme once said.. "We're not sure we understand 
15 

i t . We doubt our competence to understand i t . " His n a r r a t o r s 

have d i f f i c u l t y s u s t a i n i n g an argument, or, as we s h a l l see 

i n "Daumier," a persona. Although the n a r r a t o r s might appear 

a t times to be c o n f i d e n t s a t i r i s t s , the s a t i r e has no f i x e d 

and immutable niora 1 base. I f t h i s i s s a t i r e , i t i s s a t i r e i n 

a l l d i r e c t i o n s , w i t h no sense of progress towards a moral norm. 

Furthermore, the p l e t h o r a of p h i l o s o p h i c n o t i o n s makes i t 

d i f f i c u l t to a l i g n Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s with the a r t i c u l a t e 

spokesmen of those w r i t e r s u s u a l l y c l a s s i f i e d as a b s u r d i s t s , or 

b l a c k humorists, or e x i s t e n t i a l i s t s , or any other L a b e l i s t . 

Barthelme i s always ready w i t h h i s r e t r a c t i o n s , and the n a r r a t o r s 

are anything but c o n s i s t e n t (there are even sunny patches of 

optimism). 

Readers who search f o r a message, a "world view," are 

t h e r e f o r e p l a c e d under s t r e s s . Tom Wolfe i s of the o p i n i o n 

t h a t Barthelme has no c h o i c e but to w r i t e s h o r t s t o r i e s : 

"As long as he's w r i t i n g i n a s h o r t space, I t h i n k people can 

enjoy the i n t r a c r a n i a l e x e r c i s e he's p u t t i n g you through.""*"^ 

Whether or not a novel r e q u i r e s some a i r - t i g h t cosmology as 

l i t e r a r y b a l l a s t , the p o i n t i s t h a t Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s must 

contend w i t h a f i c t i o n a l world i n which ideas are banished t h a t 

can't be expressed i n a s h o r t , snappy phrase; a world i n which 

ideas c a n c e l out, l i k e f a s h i o n s i n c l o t h e s ; mental pop, i n t r a -

c r a n i a l angst, a chaos of v a l u e s i n which o n l y a d v e r t i s i n g men 

(15) Schickel , p. 42. 
(16) "Tom Wolfe," in Bellamy, p. 88. 



154 

c o u l d s u r v i v e . Although Guerard, l i k e Oates, confuses the author 

with h i s spokesmen, Guerard has a p o i n t i n c a l l i n g Barthelme 
17 

"a c h e e r f u l h i s t o r i a n of c o l l a p s e . " 

Language Problems; The L i s t 

P h i l o s o p h i c i n s t a b i l i t y i s r e v e a l e d i n the n a r r a t o r s ' 

use of language. That the n a r r a t o r s would be arch and a r t i -

f i c i a l i n t h e i r s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t i v e s one would expect; 

t h a t they d i s r u p t t r a d i t i o n a l models of r e a l i s t i c n a r r a t i v e s 

one accepts as a matter of course; but what i s l e s s p r e d i c t a b l e 

i s t h a t the n a r r a t o r s are d i s t u r b e d by t h e i r i n a b i l i t y to use 

language as a medium of communication. Whereas Nabokov's 

n a r r a t o r s are e x h i l a r a t e d by the c r e a t i v e use of d o c i l e nouns 

and v i t a l verbs, Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are demoralized by 

the endless d i n of meaningless language t h a t d r i v e s them 

"around the bend" (Snow White, p. 30)'. 

Barthelme h i m s e l f does not g e n e r a l l y s u f f e r from an 

i n a b i l i t y to o r g a n i z e a coherent n a r r a t i v e t h a t w i l l g i v e h i s 

readers a e s t h e t i c p l e a s u r e . But h i s n a r r a t o r s do s u f f e r ; 

they seem to be d i s a p p o i n t e d i n h e r i t o r s of the f a i l e d dreams 

of such modernist w r i t e r s as E z r a Pound, who s a i d , c o n f i d e n t l y 

enough, t h a t we are a l l "governed by words, the laws are graven 

i n words, and l i t e r a t u r e i s the s o l e means of keeping these 
18 

words l i v i n g and a c c u r a t e . " I t was hoped t h a t language might 

a c t as p a r t of a momentary stay a g a i n s t c o n f u s i o n , a d i k e a g a i n s t 

(17) Guerard, p. 28. 
(18) As quoted in McCaffery, p. 19. 



155 

the r i s i n g t i d e of h i s t o r y . But Pound a l s o expressed the counter-

impulse, to Make I t New, an i d e a extended by Wallace Stevens 

i n t o the formula of "The Man w i t h the Blue G u i t a r " : "Throw 

away the l i g h t s , the d e f i n i t i o n s , / And say of what you see i n 

the dark/ That i t i s t h i s or i t i s t h a t . / But do not use the 
19 

r o t t e d names." Such l e x i c a l freedom i s taken to excess i n 

a manifesto from t r a n s i t i o n i n 1929, a manifesto signed by Hart 

Crane among o t h e r s : 
6. The l i t e r a r y c r e a t o r has the r i g h t to 

d i s i n t e g r a t e the p r i m a l matter of words imposed 
on him by text-books and d i c t i o n a r i e s . . . . 

7. He has the r i g h t to use words of h i s 
own f a s h i o n i n g and to d i s r e g a r d e x i s t i n g 
grammatical and s y n t a c t i c a l laws.... 20 

A s i d e from a q u a i n t a n t i q u a r i a n impulse, Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s 

r a r e l y a c t to p r e s e r v e the language; they f o l l o w the r e v o l u t i o n -

ary s i d e o f Pound's d i a l e c t i c , i n the f o o t s t e p s of Stevens 

and the t r a n s i t i o n r a d i c a l s . But i n s t e a d of freedom they f i n d 

anarchy, and i n s t e a d of u n c o n s t r a i n e d s e l f - e x p r e s s i o n they are 

unable to a r t i c u l a t e t h e i r thoughts and emotions. 

I t might seem, t h e r e f o r e , t h a t Barthelme's f i c t i o n i s 

a l l i e d w i t h c r i t i c s such as R u s s e l l , who argues t h a t language 

can no longer be t r u s t e d to communicate meaning. I t might seem 

t h a t Barthelme's f i c t i o n conforms to Hansen's premise t h a t s e l f -

consciousness i s r e s o l v e d i n s o l i p s i s m , or to the argument of 

. Sontag and o t h e r s t h a t r e a l i s m , which i m p l i e s language t h a t 

r e f e r s to the common r e a l i t y of a r t i s t and reader, has been 

(19) Wallace Stevens, "The Man with the Blue Guitar," in The Palm at  
the End of the Mind (New York: Vintage-Random House, 1972), p. 149. 

(20) "Proclamation," t r a n s i t i o n , No. 16-17 (1929), p. [13J . 



156 

f i n a l l y d i s c r e d i t e d . Such assumptions, however,, would not be 

c o r r e c t . The s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r remains enough of a 

r h e t o r i c i a n to i n v o l v e the reader i n the s t o r y , and a t times 

t h i s involvement i n c l u d e s r e f e r e n c e s to the reader's r e a l world 

(as we s h a l l see i n "The Glass Mountain"). At times, i n f a c t , 

the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r adopts the o l d - f a s h i o n e d r o l e of the 

omniscient i n t r u s i v e n a r r a t o r to o f f e r comments on the moral 

s i g n i f i c a n c e of the s t o r y (as i n "Rebecca"). Although the l a n g -

uage of contemporary America i s d e s e r v e d l y s a t i r i z e d ( p a r t i c u l a r l y 

t e c h n i c a l and s o c i o l o g i c a l j a r g o n ) , o f t e n the n a r r a t o r ' s s e l f -

consciousness about language i n d i c a t e s a f a i l u r e on the p a r t of 

the n a r r a t o r r a t h e r than a f a i l u r e on the p a r t of language. 

S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s a symptom, not a cause, of the n a r r a t o r ' s 

d e b i l i t a t e d s t a t e , and a d e v i c e to a v o i d f a c i n g unpleasant 

t r u t h s . But l e t us look i n d e t a i l a t some of the n a r r a t o r ' s 

problems w i t h language, beginning w i t h the l i s t . 

In "Hiding Man," the n a r r a t o r v i s i t s a movie t h e a t r e and 

encounters the s i n i s t e r Bane-Hipkiss, who c h a l l e n g e s the n a r r a -

t o r ' s u n f a s h i o n a b l e f a i t h i n C a t h o l i c i s m . "You s t i l l b e l i e v e i n 

s a i n t s ? " says Bane-Hipkiss: 

"I b e l i e v e i n s a i n t s , [says the n a r r a t o r ] 
"Holy water, 
"Poor boxes, 
"Ashes on Ash Sunday, 
" L i l i e s on E a s t e r Sunday, 
"Creches, censers, c h o i r s , 
"Albs, B i b l e s , m i t r e s , martyrs, 
" L i t t l e red l i g h t s , 
"Ladies of the A l t a r S o c i e t y , 
"Knights of Columbus, 
"Cassocks and c r u e t s , 
"Dispensations and indulgences, 
"The e f f i c a c y of prayer, 



157 

"Right Reverends and Very Reverends, 
"Tabernacles, monstrances, 
" B e l l s r i n g i n g , people s i n g i n g . . . . " 

( C a l i g a r i , p. 34) 

The l i s t makes a shambles of any coherent attempt to come to 

g r i p s with r e l i g i o u s f a i t h . Free a s s o c i a t i o n l e a d s to the 

j a r r i n g j u x t a p o s i t i o n of m i t r e s and martyrs; the rhythm of 

b e l l s r i n g i n g , people s i n g i n g i s d e l i b e r a t e l y banal; Right 

Reverends f o l l o w e d by Very Reverends mocks the r i g i d pecking 

order of the church; the l i s t i n both i t s i l l o g i c a l o r g a n i z -

a t i o n and i t s c o n t r a d i c t o r y elements i s a good argument 

a g a i n s t f a i t h . In another s t o r y the n a r r a t o r says, "I have 

a deep b i a s a g a i n s t r e l i g i o n which p r e c l u d e s my d i s c u s s i n g 

the q u e s t i o n i n t e l l i g e n t l y " ("Kierkegaard U n f a i r to S c h l e g e l , " 

C i t y L i f e , p. 89). The n a r r a t o r of "Hiding Man" s i m i l a r l y 

attempts to a v o i d an i n t e l l i g e n t , or, a t l e a s t , r a t i o n a l , 

d i s c u s s i o n of the i s s u e ; i n s t e a d he o f f e r s a l i s t which i s 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s and p r i v a t e to the p o i n t of being hermetic. 

The reader l e a r n s l i t t l e about r e l i g i o n , but much about the 

emotional t e n s i o n of the n a r r a t o r . 

In "Perpetua," on the other hand, the reader i s l e f t 

u n e d i f i e d when an a r c h i t e c t named Henry brags of h i s many 

b e a u t i f u l churches: 
A r c h i t e c t u r e i s memory, Henry s a i d , and the 
n a t i o n t h a t had no c a t h e d r a l s to speak of had 
no memory to speak of e i t h e r . He d i d i t a l l , 
Henry s a i d , w i t h a 30-man crew composed of I 
superintendent I masonry foreman I ironworker 
foreman I c a r p e n t e r foreman I p i p e f i t t e r foreman I 
e l e c t r i c i a n foreman 2 journeyman masons 2 
journeyman ironworkers.... (Sadness, p. 43). 

Henry's unpunctuated s t r i n g of t i t l e s p r o v i d e s both an over-



158 

abundance of i n f o r m a t i o n and no i n f o r m a t i o n -- j u s t as a telephone 

book, t h a t model of a l p h a b e t i c a l coherence, i s i n one sense an 

incomprehensible assemblage of s t r a n g e r s . 

Since the l i s t s can o b v i o u s l y be expanded to i n f i n i t y , 

they tend t o mock the a b i l i t y of words t o t e l l a s t o r y and 

impart a message: 

Q: I have a number of e r r o r messages I'd l i k e 
to i n t r o d u c e here and I'd l i k e you to study 
them carefully„... they are numbered. I ' l l 
go over them w i t h you: u n d e f i n a b l e v a r i a b l e 
... improper sequence of o p e r a t o r s ... improper 
use of hierarchy. • . m i s s i n g o p e r a t o r ... mixed 
mode, t h a t one's p a r t i c u l a r l y grave ... argument 
of a f u n c t i o n i s f i x e d - p o i n t ... 
A: I l i k e them very much. 

("The E x p l a n a t i o n , " C i t y L i f e , p. 73) 

When the l i s t s are of o b j e c t s , the e f f e c t i s something l i k e the 

apocalypse of r e a l i s m , as though r e a l i s m had gone mad, and swamped 

both the n a r r a t o r and the reader w i t h more i n f o r m a t i o n than the 

mind can comprehend or language can c o n t r o l . L e t us r e t u r n to 

those b a r r i c a d e s a g a i n s t the Commanches i n "The Indian U p r i s i n g " : 

I analysed the composition of the b a r r i c a d e 
n e a r e s t me and found two a s h t r a y s , ceramic, 
one dark brown and one dark brown w i t h an 
orange b l u r a t the t i p ; a t i n f r y i n g pan; two-
l i t r e b o t t l e s of red wine ... a q u a v i t , cognac, 
vodka, g i n , Fad # 6 sherry; a hollow-core 
door i n b i r c h veneer on b l a c k wrought-iron l e g s ; 
a b l a n k e t , red-orange w i t h f a i n t blue s t r i p e s 
... a yellow-and-purple p o s t e r ; a Y u g o s l a v i a n 
carved f l u t e , wood, dark brown; and other items. 
I decided I knew nothing (p. 5). 

The l a s t l i n e i s a 'reference to a John Updike s t o r y , which, 

l i k e "The Indian U p r i s i n g , " f i r s t appeared i n The New Yorker. 

Updike's s t o r y a l s o d e s c r i b e s the breakdown of s o p h i s t i c a t e d 

urban l i f e , and ends, d r a m a t i c a l l y , "Sunday's events repeated 



159 

themselves i n h i s mind, bending l i k e nacreous f l a k e s around 

a c e n t r a l i n f r a n g i b l e i r r i t a n t , becoming the p e r f e c t and 
21 

luminous thought: You don't know anything." Thus the 

n a r r a t o r of Barthelme 1 s s t o r y adds an u n a t t r i b u t e d q u o t a t i o n 

to h i s p i l e of random urban o b j e c t s . In Updike's s t o r y the 

l i n e i s meant to bear the i t a l i c i z e d weight of a moral, or message; 

i n Barthelme's s t o r y i t i s j u s t a meaningless c u l t u r a l r e f e r e n t , 

a l i n e from a magazine s t o r y l y i n g beside the carved Y u g o s l a v i a n 

f l u t e . Barthelme's n a r r a t o r i s perhaps the more c o n v i n c i n g 

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e of a communication breakdown, s i n c e h i s l i s t s 

do not c o n t r i b u t e to a comprehensive sense of n i h i l i s m or 

s o l i p s i s m or any other " p e r f e c t , and luminous thought"; the l i s t s 

are i n the s p i r i t of what M i c h e l F o u c a u l t c a l l s H e t e r o t o p i a s : 
H e t e r o t o p i a s are d i s t u r b i n g , probably because 
they s e c r e t l y undermine language, because 
they make i t i m p o s s i b l e to name t h i s and 
t h a t , ... because they d e s t r o y 'syntax' i n 
advance, and not o n l y the syntax w i t h which 
we c o n s t r u c t sentences but a l s o t h a t l e s s 
apparent syntax which causes words and 
t h i n g s ... to 'hold together.' [Heterotopias] 
d e s s i c a t e speech, stop words i n t h e i r t r a c k s , 
c o n t e s t the very p o s s i b i l i t y of grammar a t 
i t s source; they d i s s o l v e our myths and s t e r i l -
i z e the l y r i c i s m of our sentences. 2 2 

Myths are d e l i b e r a t e l y d i s s o l v e d i n Barthelme's f i c t i o n — the 

myth of Snow White, f o r example, — and Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s 

o f t e n undercut the l y r i c i s m of t h e i r own sentences. 

(21) John Updike, "Sunday Teasing," in The Same Door (1959; rpt. 
Greenwich, Conn.: Fawcett Crest, 1963), p. 86. 

(22) Michel- Foucault, The Order of Things (New York: Pantheon 
Books, 1970), p. x v i i i . 



160 

But perhaps i t c o u l d be argued t h a t the n a r r a t o r s ' 

l i s t s are an attempt to p i n down and s p e c i f y the r e a l world; 

perhaps the n a r r a t o r s do not engage i n the decadent c r e a t i o n 

of h e t e r o t o p i a s , but r a t h e r analyze and n e a t l y p r e s e n t the 

raw data of urban experience. Such an argument would be d e f e a t e d 

by an example from one of Barthelme's n o n - f i c t i o n works, an 

assignment from E s q u i r e magazine to review the Ed S u l l i v a n show. 

Barthelme's a t t i t u d e i n the review i s a k i n d of mocking embrace 

of the show's u n r e l e n t i n g b a n a l i t y ; but he ends the p i e c e w i t h 

a long l i s t of the c r e d i t s : 

A s s o c i a t e Producer Jack McGeehan. S e t t i n g s 
Designed by B i l l Bohnert. P r o d u c t i o n Manager 
Tony Jordan. A s s o c i a t e D i r e c t o r Bob Schwarz... 
Program C o o r d i n a t o r . . . ("And Now L e t ' s Hear i t 
f o r the Ed S u l l i v a n Show," G u i l t y P l e a s u r e s , 
p. 108). 

The reader i s not being o f f e r e d u s e f u l data; i n s t e a d , by slowing 

down the c r e d i t s to the s t a t e l y pace of p r i n t (rather than 

the embarrassed speed of t e l e v i s i o n ) , Barthelme emphasizes 

the i r r e l e v a n c e of the i n f o r m a t i o n . J u s t as Ed's guests 

perform songs t h a t are "submemorable" (p. 107), the reviewer 

i n d i c a t e s h i s i n a b i l i t y to respond by o f f e r i n g non-information. 

"The Ed S u l l i v a n Show i s over. I t has stopped" (p. 108). 

However, Barthelme the reviewer i s not (.totally i n c a p a b l e 

of response. Faced w i t h what i s undeniably the b o r i n g and 

s t e r i l e experience of a t t e n d i n g the t a p i n g of a mediocre 

t e l e v i s i o n show (apparently mediocre even by S u l l i v a n ' s s t a n d a r d s ) , 

the reviewer p r o f e s s i o n a l l y maintains enough of an open mind 

to be moved by a song c a l l e d "Those Were the Days": "Song i s 



161 

e r s a t z Kurt W e i l l but n e v e r t h e l e s s a very n i c e song, very 

n o s t a l g i c , days gone by, t e a r s rush i n t o eyes (mine)" (p. 105). 

Many of Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are too d e b i l i t a t e d f o r any such 

d i s p l a y of emotion, suggesting t h a t Barthelme the reviewer 

uses language to m i r r o r the s t e r i l i t y of the scene b e f o r e him, 

while the n a r r a t o r s ' use of language m i r r o r s t h e i r own s t e r i l i t y . 

The l i s t o f o b j e c t s i n "The Indian U p r i s i n g " captures the 

t r i v i a l i t y of the c i t y , but i t a l s o expresses the d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n 

of the n a r r a t o r , who suspects there should be something more 

to h i s l i f e than sanding y e t another hollow-core door f o r a 

c o f f e e t a b l e : "I had made a f t e r a l l other t a b l e s , one while 

l i v i n g with Nancy, one w h i l e l i v i n g with A l i c e , one w h i l e 

l i v i n g w i t h Eunice, one while l i v i n g w i t h Marianne" (p. 4) . 

Language Problems: M a l f u n c t i o n 

L i s t s a t l e a s t p r o v i d e the empty form of order, and o f f e r 

an empty promise t h a t the n a r r a t o r ' s thoughts can be o r g a n i z e d . 

But-" i n s e v e r a l s t o r i e s the n a r r a t o r seems to l o s e c o n t r o l of 

language a l t o g e t h e r . The language tends to " l o s e d i r e c t i o n and 

s l i d e i n t o pure i r r e l e v a n c i e s . The d i g r e s s i v e method i s not 

the one found, say, i n T r i s t r a m Shandy, f o r i t i s not based on 
23 

an a s s o c i a t i o n a l l o g i c and does not 'lead anywhere.'" 

McCaffery quotes a passage from Snow White i n which one of the 

dwarfs d e s c r i b e s another dwarf's new pyjamas, and then wanders 

i n t o a c u r i o u s d i g r e s s i o n about the grade of pork ears used 

(23) McCaffery, p. 30. 



162 

i n the baby food v a t s , and the f a c t t h a t s a l e s nationwide 

"are b r i s k , b r i s k , b r i s k . . . . The pound i s weakening. The 

cow i s c a l v i n g . The c a c t u s wants watering. The new b u i l d i n g 

i s a b u i l d i n g w i t h l e a s e s c o v e r i n g 45 per cent o f the r e n t a b l e 

space a l r e a d y i n hand. The weather tomorrow, f a i r and warmer" 

(pp. 119-r20) . The r h e t o r i c of business had invaded the dwarf's 

p e r c e p t i o n of the n a t u r a l world ("The pound i s weakening. The 

cow i s c a l v i n g . " ) ; even h i s weather r e p o r t seems to i s s u e from 

the o f f i c e s of M e r r i l l Lynch. 

"Bone Bubbles" goes even f u r t h e r ; too f a r , i n f a c t : 

o f f e r l a s t gesture smooth man of p o s i t i o n p u r e l y 
c i n e m a t i c v i c e s l a p and t i c k l e z i p p e r e d wallpaper 
two b e a u t i f u l ' heavy books, boxed hears n o i s e goes 
to window 220 t r e a s u r e s from 11 c e n t u r i e s f i x e r 
g r e a t and s t u p e f y i n g Ring minimum of three i f i t 
hadn't been f o r Y. I never would have g o t t e n 
my lump l o c a l white Democrats... ( C i t y L i f e , p. 122). 

Numerous p a i n f u l r e r e a d i n g s suggest t h a t a n a r r a t i v e of s o r t s 

l u r k s i n the v e r b i a g e of "Bone Bubbles," but i t seems s a f e 

to say t h a t the n a r r a t o r has r e t i r e d i n t o a w i l l f u l o b s c u r i t y . 

One source of h i s d i s d a i n f o r communication i s suggested i n 

a passage from The Dead Father, i n which the l e a d i n g c h a r a c t e r s 

encounter two unpleasant c h i l d r e n and ask them what they have 

l e a r n e d a t s c h o o l : 

We are i n v i g o r a t e d w i t h the sweet s e n s u a l i t y 
of language. We l e a r n to make sentences. 
Come to me. May I come to your house? 
Christmas comes but once a year. I ' l l come 
to your q u e s t i o n . The l i g h t comes and goes. 
Success comes to those who s t r i v e . Tuesday 
comes a f t e r Monday. Her a r i a comes i n the 
t h i r d a c t . Toothpaste comes i n a tube.... 
She comes from Warsaw. He comes from a 
good f a m i l y . I t w i l l come easy w i t h a l i t t l e 
p r a c t i c e . I ' l l come to thee by moonlight ... 
(pp. 15-16). 



163 
There i s no l i t t l e charm i n the c h i l d ' s demonstration that): 

the verb "to come" i s a b s u r d l y overloaded w i t h s y n t a c t i c a l f u n c t i o n s , 

and t h a t the o s t e n s i b l e r a t i o n a l i t y of language i s c o v e r t l y 

sensual; n e v e r t h e l e s s , her speech i s t y p i c a l of the attempts 

of Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s and c h a r a c t e r s to subvert language as 

a n a t u r a l means of communication. P h i l i p S t e v i c k has attempted 

to d e f i n e the axioms of what he c a l l s new f i c t i o n : 

New f i c t i o n c o n s o l i d a t e s an attempt r a r e 
i n f i c t i o n b e f o r e the modern p e r i o d to 
present elements of i t s t e x t u r e as devoid 
of v a l u e ; y e t new f i c t i o n , i n c o n t r a s t to ' 
c e r t a i n areas of modern f i c t i o n , seeks t h i s 
v a l u e - l e s s q u a l i t y not as an a c t of sub-
t r a c t i o n , or dehumanization, or metaphysical 
m y s t i f i c a t i o n , not as a gesture of d e s p a i r 
or n i h i l i s m , but as a p o s i t i v e a c t i n which 
the joy of the observer i s allowed to p r e -
v a i l as the primary q u a l i t y of the experience.^^ 

Barthelme the author may or may not be f i l l e d w i t h j o y a t the 

thought of composing h i s b r i l l i a n t s t o r i e s , and perhaps the 

reader f e e l s a e s t h e t i c b l i s s , tempered by h i s awareness of 

the p a i n and d e s p a i r a t the h e a r t of the s t o r i e s ; but the 

primary o b s e r v e r — t h e n a r r a t o r — i s s u r e l y not f i l l e d w i t h 

joy. Joy does not " p r e v a i l . " Despite an o p t i m i s t i c impulse 

i n Barthelme's f i c t i o n , the o v e r r i d i n g f a c t of l i f e f o r Barthelme's 

p r o t a g o n i s t s i s moral p a r a l y s i s , and much of t h i s p a r a l y s i s i s 

expressed i n t h e i r use of language. The language i s s e l f -

conscious i n the sense of being processed through a willfully, 

d e c e p t i v e i n t e l l e c t which e l i m i n a t e s emotion and v a l u e , and l e a v e s 

(24) P h i l i p Stevick, "Scheherazade runs out of plots, goes on t a l k i n g ; -
the king, puzzled, l i s t e n s : an Essay on New F i c t i o n , " TriQuarterly, No. 26 
(1973), pp. 332-62; rpt. in The Novel Today, ed. Malcolm Bradbury (n.p.: 
Fontana, 1977), p. 210. 



164 

just the dry bones of language; one has an image of desperate 

clever dogs picking at a dessicated skeleton. It i s true that 

part of the problem l i e s with language i t s e l f , p a r t i c u l a r l y the 

s t e r i l e lingua franca of contemporary America, but i t should not 

be forgotten that the narrators sometimes deliberately d i s t o r t 

the language as a sign of t h e i r confusion, despair and g u i l t . 

Let us consider Snow White, which several c r i t i c s i n s i s t i s a 

book that centres on language. McCaffery's opinion i s represent-

ative : 

If we now turn to the central question of 
the role of language i n fSnow White1, we 
f i n d that, more than anything_else^, the book 
seems to be "about" the condition of lang-
uage. 2 5 

Any c r i t i c a l consensus engenders suspicion. Perhaps Snow White 

i s not mainly about language, but about one of Barthelme's 

favorite themes, the f a i l u r e of romance i n mundane modern times. 

Nevertheless, most readers notice the overwhelming buzz of 

language. A l l the narrators are self-conscious c o n v e r s a t i o n a l i s t s ; , , 

they struggle to soothe Snow White's complaint which she voices 

i n her f i r s t speech of the novel: "Oh I wish there were some 

words i n the world that were not the words I always hear!" (p. 6). 

Although there i s an impersonal omniscient narrator, the 

narrative i s mainly carried on b y ". \ the dwarfs, who sometimes 

speak i n a kind of c o l l e c t i v e (or, considering the sleeping 

arrangements, communal) "we." One c r i t i c amusingly describes 

(25) McCaffery, p. 27. See also Dickstein, p. 268, and Guerard, 
p. 28. 



165 

the n a r r a t i v e v o i c e as " t h i r d person dwarf." In the s t r u g g l e 

of the n a r r a t o r s to f i n d words to s a t i s f y Snow White, they n e g l e c t 

i n f o r m a t i o n customary i n the t r a d i t i o n a l r e a l i s t i c n a r r a t i v e ; 

the p r o f e s s i o n s , a c t i v i t i e s and even the i d e n t i t i e s of the seven 

dwarfs are o f t e n f a r from c l e a r . The n a r r a t o r s tend to n e g l e c t 

the p l o t i n f a v o r of p h i l o l o g i c a l .debates. For example, Henry 

the dwarf, w i t h a nod to our theme of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s , notes 

h i s weaknesses on a pad: 

Process comparable to s e a r c h i n g a dog's 
u n d e r b e l l y f o r f l e a s . The weaknesses pinched 
out of the s o u l ' s e c s t a s y one by one. Of 
course " e c s t a s y " i s being used here i n a 
very s p e c i a l sense, as misery, something 
t h a t would be i n German one of three aspects 
of something c a l l e d Lumpwelt i n some such 
sentence as, "The Inmitten-ness of the Lump-
welt i s a t u r n i n g toward misery." So t h a t 
what i s meant here by e c s t a s y i s something 
on the order of " f i t , " but a k i n d of slow 
one, perhaps a s e m i - a r r e s t e d one, and one 
t h a t i s d i v i s i b l e by three (p. 29). 

S e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s leads to misery, and one cause of the 

misery i s Henry's f a i l u r e to use words as a n a l y t i c a l t o o l s . His 

thoughts can't be c o n f i n e d to the neat p r e c i s i o n of German 

p h i l o s o p h i c semantics (which i s why the sudden i n t r o d u c t i o n of 

" f i t " l e a d s to a n o n s e n s i c a l refinement — "divisible by t h r e e " ) . 

Immediately f o l l o w i n g Henry's l i n g u i s t i c f i t , another dwarf 

d e f i n e s the i n t e r r u p t e d screw as "'a screw w i t h a d i s c o n t i n u o u s 

h e l i x , as i n a cannon breech, ' " formed by "'cutting away part or parts of 

the thread, and sometimes p a r t of the s h a f t . Used w i t h a l o c k 

nut having corresponding male s e c t i o n s . 1 " 

(26) Betty Flowers, "Barthelme's Snow White: The Reader-Patient 
Relationship," C r i t i q u e , 6, No. 3 (1975), 37. 



166 

" T h i s f i l t h y , " Henry s a i d , " t h i s language 
t h i n k i n g and s t i n k i n g e v e r l a s t i n g of sex, 
screw, breech, 'part', s h a f t , nut, male, 
i t i s no wonder we are a l l going round the 
bend w i t h t h i s language d i n n i n g f o r e v e r i n t o 
our eyes and e a r s . . . . " "I am not going round 
the bed," Dan s a i d , "not me." "Round the 
bend," Henry s a i d , "the bend not the bed, 
how i s i t t h a t I s a i d 'bend' and you heard 
'bed, 1 you see what I mean, i t ' s i n e s c a p a b l e . " 
"You l i v e i n a world of your own Henry." 
"I can c e r t a i n l y improve on what was g i v e n , " 
Henry s a i d (pp. 29-30). 

Nabokov's n a r r a t o r s a l s o f e l t an impulse towards a p r i v a t e 

world, but they thought of language as a s e r v i c e a b l e medium 

i n which to a r t i c u l a t e t h a t p r i v a t e world; Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s 

are not supported by language, but " d r i v e n round the bend." 

Humbert Humbert c e l e b r a t e d the magical power of language, i t s 

"durable pigments"; Barthelme's Dan the dwarf t h i n k s of language 

as j u s t another junk product. "'You know,'" he says, i n a parody 

of c o l l o q u i a l , u n s e l f - c o n s c i o u s ease, 

" K l i p s c h o r n was r i g h t I t h i n k when he spoke of the 
' b l a n k e t i n g ' e f f e c t of o r d i n a r y language, r e f e r r i n g , 
as I r e c a l l , to the p a r t t h a t s o r t o f , you know, 
' f i l l s i n " between the other p a r t s . That p a r t , 
the ' f i l l i n g ' you might say, of which the e x p r e s s i o n 
'you might say' i s a good example.... might a l s o 
be c a l l e d the ' s t u f f i n g ' . . . . 

Dan argues (or s p e e c h i f i e s i n t o a void) t h a t s t u f f i n g has two 

q u a l i t i e s , an 'endless' q u a l i t y and a 'sludge' q u a l i t y : 

"The 'endless' aspect of ' s t u f f i n g ' i s t h a t 
i t goes on and on, i n many d i f f e r e n t forms, 
and i n f a c t our exchanges are i n l a r g e measure 
composed of i t , i n l a r g e r measure even, perhaps, 
than they are composed of t h a t which i s not 
' s t u f f i n g . ' " 

Dan combines t h i s d e s p a i r i n g theory of language w i t h a r a t i o n a l e 

f o r the dwarfs' p r o f e s s i o n , which might be running a p l a n t t h a t 



167 

produces t o t a l l y u s e l e s s b u f f a l o humps. Since the per c a p i t a 

p r o d u c t i o n of t r a s h i s going up s t e a d i l y , the percentage of t r a s h 

to e v e r y t h i n g e l s e w i l l soon be 100 per cent, a t which p o i n t the 

q u e s t i o n of d i s p o s i n g of the t r a s h becomes a q u e s t i o n " 'of apprec-

i a t i n g i t s q u a l i t i e s , because, a f t e r a l l , i t ' s 100 per cent, right?*:'."\ 

"'It's t h a t we want to be on the l e a d i n g edge of the t r a s h phenom- . 

enon,'" says Dan, "'and t h a t ' s why we pay p a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n , too, 

to those aspects of language t h a t may be seen as a model of the 

t r a s h phenomenon""(pp. 96-98). 

Language Problems: The Loss of Emotion 

Dan's speech might be understood i n terms of d e l i b e r a t e l y 

s u p e r f i c i a l pop a r t ; or perhaps he d e s c r i b e s the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

a e s t h e t i c o f "camp," i n which the observer's i r o n i c d i s t a n c e from 

the o s t e n s i b l e value of the a r t i f a c t i s the s o l e source of pleasure.. 

In any event, Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s s u f f e r the emotional e f f e c t s 

of being on the l e a d i n g edge of the t r a s h phenomenon. T h e i r p o s i t i o n 

i s a long way from Nabokov's c h e e r f u l a s s e r t i o n t h a t nothing i s 

more e x h i l a r a t i n g than p h i l i s t i n e v u l g a r i t y . The i n t e l l e c t u a l 

high s p i r i t s of some of Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s should not f o o l us 

i n t o i g n o r i n g t h a t they are trapped i n a mean s i t u a t i o n . Because 

they d i s t r u s t language, and attempt to t r e a t e v e r y t h i n g w i t h s e l f -

conscious i r o n y , they transform t h e i r n a r r a t i v e s i n t o f u t i l e word 

games. They t r y to remain untouched by circumstances, a t tremen-

dous emotional c o s t . The r e s u l t of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s towards 

language i s an i n a b i l i t y to express emotion, f o l l o w e d by the l o s s 

of emotion. 



1 6 8 

The e m o t i o n a l l o s s i s r e v e a l e d i n t h e d e t a i l s o f p u n c -

t u a t i o n : 

C h a r l e s ! I r e n e e x c l a i m e d . Y o u ' r e h u n g r y ! 
And y o u ' v e b e e n c r y i n g ! Y o u r g r a y v e s t i s 
s t a i n e d w i t h t e a r s ! L e t me make y o u a ham 
and c h e e s e s a n d w i c h . 

" A l l r i g h t J a n e g e t i n t o t h e c a r . " 

I n t h e f a l l t h e w a r was a l w a y s t h e r e , b u t 
we d i d n o t go t o i t a n y m o r e . ^ 

The f i r s t e x a m p l e u s e s e x c l a m a t i o n m a r k s a s f a l s e s i g n a l s ; t h e 

ham a n d c h e e s e s a n d w i c h d e f l a t e s any p o s s i b l e t e n s i o n o r e x c i t e -

ment. I n t h e s e c o n d e x a m p l e , s p o k e n b y t h e v i l l a i n o f Snow W h i t e , 

t h e a b s e n c e o f commas h e l p s r e d u c e t h e p h r a s e t o a m a c h i n e - l i k e 

m o n o t o n e , t h e t o n e o f some f a v o r i t e Snow W h i t e t e r m s , b l a g u e and 
2 8 

d r e c k - t h e t o n e o f p l a s t i c f i c t i o n . The t h i r d e x a m p l e , f r o m 

Hemingway's " I n A n o t h e r C o u n t r y , " d e m o n s t r a t e s how h i s c e l e b r a t e d 

u n d e r s t a t e m e n t r e t a i n s a k i n d o f r o m a n t i c r e s o n a n c e ; B a r t h e l m e ' s 

t o n e l e s s n e s s i s somewhat more s i n i s t e r . 

What i s s i n i s t e r i s t h e s e n s e o f i r o n i c d i s t a n c e . The 

n a r r a t o r w o n ' t t a k e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r w h a t he s a y s , a n e v a s i o n 
t h a t i r k s G o r e V i d a l : 

Mr. B a r t h e l m e t e l l s u s t h a t h i s f a t h e r was 
"a 'modern' a r c h i t e c t . " I n c i d e n t a l l y , i t 
i s now t h e f a s h i o n t o p u t q u o t e s a r o u n d a n y 
s t a t e m e n t o r w o r d t h a t m i g h t be c h a l l e n g e d . 
T h i s means t h a t t h e q u e s t i o n a b l e w o r d o r 
s t a t e m e n t was n o t meant l i t e r a l l y b u t i r o n -
i c a l l y o r " i r o n i c a l l y . " A n o t h e r way o f s a y -
i n g , "Don't h i t me. I d i d n ' t r e a l l y 'mean' 
i t " ( p p . 3 1 - 3 2 ) . 

(27) Donald Barthelme, "Will You Tell Me?" in Caligari, p. 48; Snow  
White, p. 113; Ernest Hemingway, "In Another Country," in The Short Stories of  
Ernest Hemingway (New York: Scribner's, 1938), p. 267. 

(28) See Gore Vidal, "American Plastic: The Matter of Fiction," 
The New York Times Review of Books, 15 July 1976, pp. 31-39. 



169 

The l i n k between s e l f - c o n s c i o u s language and the l o s s of emotion 

i s made apparent i n two s t o r i e s i n v o l v i n g a c h a r a c t e r named 

Bloomsbury. In the f i r s t , "The Big Broadcast of 1938," Blooms-

bury a c q u i r e s a r a d i o s t a t i o n i n which he broadcasts f a v o r i t e 

words: "The word m a t r i c u l a t e had engaged h i s a t t e n t i o n , he pro-

nounced i t i n t o the microphone f o r what seemed to him a p e r i o d 

l o n g e r than normal, t h a t i s to say, i n excess of a quarter-hour. 

He wondered whether or not to regard t h i s as s i g n i f i c a n t " ( C a l i g a r i , 

pp. 76-77). Bloomsbury a l s o broadcasts a "commercial announce-

ment" to h i s estranged w i f e (p. 69). He remembers t h e i r v i s i t to 

the movies: 

The f i r s t t h i n g I knew I was i n s i d e your 
s h i r t w i t h my hand and I found there some-
t h i n g v e r y l o v e l y and, as they say, d e s i r a b l e . 
... I simply ... h e l d i t i n my hand, i t was, 
as the saying goes, s o f t and warm (p. 71). 

The s t o r y i s f i l l e d w i t h such e x p r e s s i o n s as "as they say," "as 

the e x p r e s s i o n runs," "as the saying has i t " - and a l l these 

q u a l i f i c a t i o n s are a p p l i e d to concepts and t h i n g s g e n e r a l l y taken 

f o r granted. Thus, when h i s w i f e a r r i v e s a t the r a d i o s t a t i o n , 

"With a s i n g l e s t r i d e , such as he had o f t e n seen p r a c t i s e d i n the 

f i l m s , Bloomsbury was 'at her s i d e ' " (p. 79). The s t o r y ends i n 

d e s p a i r : 

[The] e l e c t r i c company, which had not been p a i d 
from the f i r s t to the l a s t , r e f u s e d a t l e n g t h 
to supply f u r t h e r c u r r e n t f o r the r a d i o , i n 
consequence o f which the b r o a d c a s t s , both 
words and music, ceased. That was the end of 
t h i s p e r i o d of Bloomsbury's, as they say, 
l i f e (p. 81). 

Bloomsbury's detached s t y l e merges w i t h the n a r r a t o r ' s , and 

both t r e a t l i f e , " l i f e , " as though i t were observed from a 



170 

g r e a t d i s t a n c e . Both Bloomsbury and the n a r r a t o r are a f r a i d 

to r e v e a l too much: " A f t e r t h i s announcement was broadcast 

Bloomsbury h i m s e l f f e l t c a l l e d upon to weep a l i t t l e , and d i d , 

but not 'on the a i r ' " (p. 7 1 ) . That i s , not p u b l i c l y , not i n 

f u l l view of the reader. 

In "For I'm the Boy Whose Only Joy i s Loving You," 

Bloomsbury's w i f e has l e f t him again. While h i s unpleasant 

f r i e n d s attempt h a l f - h e a r t e d c o n s o l a t i o n s , Bloomsbury imagines 

a l o v e d i a l o g u e w i t h a g i r l who adopts a s e r v a n t - t o - l i e g e - l o r d 

tone: "Have ye heard the news P e l l y , t h a t Martha me w i f e has 

l e f t me i n a yareplane? ... 0 yer wonderfulness, wot a cheeky 

l o t to be p u l l i n ' the p l o g on a l o v e l y man l i k e y e r s e l f " ( C a l i g a r i , 

p. 6 0 ) . D i a l e c t i s g e n e r a l l y used mockingly i n Barthelme, to 

i n d i c a t e the d i s t a n c e between the olden days of d i r e c t and p a s s i o n -

ate e x p r e s s i o n and modern s t e r i l i t y , . When one of Bloomsbury's 

f a l s e f r i e n d s says, "So now ... g i v e us the f e e l i n g , " Blooms-

bury answers, "We can d i s c u s s ... the meaning but not the 

f e e l i n g " (p. 6 2 ) . Bloomsbury's f r i e n d a t t a c k s him a t the s t o r y ' s 

c o n c l u s i o n : 

and b e a t i n g Bloomsbury i n the face f i r s t w i t h 
the brandy b o t t l e , then w i t h the t i r e i r o n , 
u n t i l a t l e n g t h the hidden f e e l i n g emerged, 
i n the form of s a l t from h i s eyes and b l a c k 
blood from h i s e a r s , and from h i s mouth, a l l 
s o r t s of words (p. 6 3 ) . 

The Bloomsbury s t o r i e s suggest t h a t one a l t e r n a t i v e to 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s language i s an o r g i a s t i c r e l e a s e of unconsidered 

words, which breaks down the emotional b a r r i e r of language. A 

more s i n i s t e r a l t e r n a t i v e i s t h a t the n a r r a t o r has no emotions 

l e f t to express, s i n c e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s has l e f t him s t e r i l e 



171 

and empty. I t has been argued t h a t Barthelme, B r a u t i g a n and Coover 

have i n common a post-Joycean i m a g i n a t i o n which i s marked by 

"an e x t r a o r d i n a r y innocence, e i t h e r genuine or f e i g n e d , even a 

k i n d of common prose rhythm d e r i v i n g from the u n w i l l i n g n e s s to 

subordinate and complicate t h a t i s an a t t r i b u t e of the innocence," 

and "a r e a d i n e s s to c o n f r o n t c e r t a i n e x t r e m i t i e s of l i f e ... but 

an i n v e s t i n g of these e x t r e m i t i e s w i t h an odd and t e r r i b l y d i s t a n t 
29 

a r t i f x c e . . .." W r i t i n g about Snow White, B e t t y Flowers notes t h a t 

the " b a s i c s t y l e takes a d e c e p t i v e l y simple and s t u d i e d l y innocent 

s u b j e c t - v e r b - o b j e c t form. Yet a s t y l e which i s s t u d i e d l y innocent 
. 30 

i s u l t i m a t e l y mock-innocent and, t h e r e f o r e , b a s i c a l l y devious." 

The language i s devious and mock-innocent and c h a r a c t e r i z e d 

by a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s c o o l i r o n y . The i r o n y i s d i f f e r e n t i n k i n d 

from the p e r v a s i v e i r o n y of modern l i t e r a t u r e . The n a r r a t o r i s 

perhaps not i r o n i c but c a t a t o n i c . He i s a development of the hero 

i n Robert M u s i l ' s The Man Without Q u a l i t i e s , who t h i n k s o f h i m s e l f 

as a v i c t i m of ambivalent r e a l i t y : " A l l moral events," says the 

hero, U l r i c h , "took p l a c e i n a f i e l d of energy, the c o n s t e l l a t i o n 

of which charged them with meaning.... [An] endless system of 

r e l a t i o n s h i p s arose i n which there was no longer any such t h i n g 

as independent meanings, such as i n o r d i n a r y l i f e , a t a f i r s t crude 
31 

approach, are a s c r i b e d to a c t i o n s and q u a l i t i e s . " 

U l r i c h i s i n d e s p a i r , perhaps a r a t h e r i n t e l l e c t u a l i z e d 

d e s p a i r , but Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are beyond d e s p a i r : 
(29) Stevick, p. 188. 

(30) Flowers, p . 39. 

(31) Robert Musil, The Man Without Q u a l i t i e s , as quoted i n Wylie 

Supher,Loss of the Self i n Modern Literature and Art (New York: Vintage-

Random House, 1962), p. 11. 



J 

172 

I t was p r e t t y b o r i n g shooting up mesquite 
bushes, so we hunkered down behind some rocks, 
Father and I, he hunkered down behind h i s • 
rocks and I hunkered down behiwd my r o c k s , 
and we commenced to shooting a t each o t h e r . 
That was i n t e r e s t i n g ("Views of My Father 
Weeping," C i t y L i f e , p. 13). 

" I n t e r e s t i n g " i s n ' t an adequate term. " I n t e r e s t i n g " seems a•, 

touch weak to cover d u e l s w i t h one's f a t h e r . S i m i l a r l y , the hero 

of "Up, A l o f t i n the A i r " 

walked the r e s i l i e n t s t r e e t s of Akron. His 
head was aflame w i t h c o n f l i c t i n g i d e a s . 
Suddenly he was a r r e s t e d by a s h r i l l c r y . 
From the top of the Zimmer B u i l d i n g ... a 
group o f Akron l o v e r s consummated a f o u r -
handed s u i c i d e l e a p . The a i r ! Buck thought 
as he watched the t i n y f i g u r e s f a l l i n g , 
t h i s i s c e r t a i n l y an air-minded country, 
America! But I must make myself u s e f u l . 
He entered a bunshop and purchased a sweet 
green bun, and d a l l i e d w i t h the sweet 
green g i r l t h e r e , c a l l i n g her "poppet" 
and " f u n i c u l a r . " Then out i n t o the s t r e e t 
again to l e a n a g a i n s t the warm green facade 
of the Zimmer B u i l d i n g and watch the work-
men scrubbing the crimson sidewaUk (p. 130). 

T h i s i s indeed an "odd and t e r r i b l y d i s t a n t a r t i f i c e . " The u s e l e s s 

n a r r a t o r d a l l i e s with words, green on green and t a s t y r e d . 

S e l f - C o n s c i o u s L i t e r a t u r e 

Given the n a r r a t o r ' s d e b i l i t a t i n g s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s towards 

language, i t i s not s u r p r i s i n g t h a t he i s e q u a l l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

about h i s r o l e as a n a r r a t o r . Of course, the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r t r a d i t i o n a l l y opposes h i s i d i o s y n c r a t i c , i n n o v a t i v e 

v o i c e to the l i t e r a r y o r t h o d o x i e s ; however, Barthelme's n a r r a t o r 

a t times appears to be t r u e to the s p i r i t of an age c h a r a c t e r i z e d 

by d i s t r u s t f o r l i t e r a r y conventions, d i s t r u s t which sometimes 



173 

r i p e n s i n t o s u b v e r s i o n . The contemporary avant garde goes f u r t h e r 

than merely g r a f t i n g i n n o v a t i o n to the h e a l t h y organism of l i t -

e r a r y t r a d i t i o n ; t h e r e i s a new s p i r i t of d e s t r u c t i o n and a t t a c k . 
o 

John Hawkes, f o r example, announces, "I began to w r i t e f i c t i o n on 

the assumption t h a t the t r u e enemies of the novel were p l o t , 
32 

c h a r a c t e r , s e t t i n g and theme...." Contemporary w r i t e r s add 
i n s u l t to i n j u r y by i g n o r i n g l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n : 

New f i c t i o n , though a g g r e s i v e l y non-
t r a d i t i o n a l , shows l e s s involvement with  
the t r a d i t i o n of prose f i c t i o n than any  
f i c t i o n s i n c e the beginning of the n o v e l . 
... New F i c t i o n , more than any f i c t i o n 
s i n c e Cervantes, chooses s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y 
to depart from t r a d i t i o n without i n v e s t i n g 
t h a t departure w i t h any p a r t i c u l a r urgency 
or without making t h a t a c t of departure 
the s t a r t i n g . p o i n t of the f i c t i o n a t a l l . . . . ^ 

Wylie Sypher e x p l a i n s w i t h wonderful c o n f i d e n c e t h a t as "everyone 

r e c o g n i z e s , the s c u t t l i n g of l i t e r a t u r e s t a r t e d a century ago." 

He l i s t s V e r l a i n e , Lewis C a r r o l l ' s " a n t i - p o e t r y , " E l i o t , S t r i n d b e r 

J a r r y ' s Ubu Roi, T r i s t r a m Shandy of course, Cervantes, F l a u b e r t , 

Edouard D u j a r d i n - "One can t r a c e a whole t r a d i t i o n of a n t i -
34 

l i t e r a t u r e . " The s c u t t l i n g of l i t e r a t u r e i s not d i r e c t e d j u s t 

a t p a r t i c u l a r techniques, but a t l i t e r a t u r e ' s l i b e r a l promise of 

value and o r d e r . G e r a l d G r a f f says the "conventions of p o s t -

modernist a r t s y s t e m a t i c a l l y i n v e r t the r e s p e c t f o r a r t i s t i c t r u t h 

and s i g n i f i c a n c e which had c h a r a c t e r i z e d modernism." Snow White 

i s "one of the post-modernist works t h a t i s most s k i l f u l - ' i n i t s 
35 

deployment of the l i t e r a r y p a s t i n a s u b v e r s i v e way." 

(32) John Hawkes, as quoted in Bradbury, p. 7. 
(33) Stevick, p.. 208. 
(34) Sypher-.i, pp. 68-69. 
(35) Gerald Graff, "The Myth of the Postmodernist Breakthrough," 

TriQuarterly, No. 26 (1973), pp. 383-417; rpt. in Bradbury, pp. 220,233. 



1 7 4 

Barthelme's a n t i l i t e r a r y tendencies might seem s u f f i c i e n t l y 

l a b e l l e d ("postmodernist") and not worth examining; however, there 

are s e v e r a l q u a l i f y i n g .and even c o n t r a d i c t o r y f a c t o r s . F i r s t , to 

say t h a t Snow White i s r o o t e d deeply " i n a fundamental d i s t r u s t 

of most of the c o n v e n t i o n a l p r i n c i p l e s of f i c t i o n " i s a tiresome 

c r i t i c a l p l a t i t u d e , but l i k e most p l a t i t u d e s i t c o n t a i n s some t r u t h ; 

however, while Barthelme may indeed be f u l f i l l i n g a modern expect-

a t i o n (meeting the outrage q u o t i e n t ) , he does so i n a manner con-
3 6 

s i s t e n t w i t h the l a r g e r themes of h i s f i c t i o n . I t i s one t h i n g 

to compose s e l f - a s s e r t i v e manifestos w i t h which to d a z z l e poetry 

conferences, and i t i s another to show c h a r a c t e r s trapped i n t h e i r 

own s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s . Rather than merely conforming to the r u l e 

of m i s r u l e , Barthelme examines n a r r a t o r s and c h a r a c t e r s whose 

d e b i l i t a t i n g s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s l e a d s them to subvert the very 

a c t i v i t y which might o f f e r them a sense of v a l u e . 

Furthermore, the d o c t r i n a i r e program of the avant garde 

(Down w i t h p l o t ! ) i s a f i t t a r g e t f o r Barthelme's s a t i r i c impulse.: 

A n t i - r e a l i s m i s as much a l i t e r a r y convention as r e a l i s m , and i n a 

sense Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are a n t i - a n t i - r e a l i s t s , s i n c e a t times 

they appeal to the common r e a l i t y of the n a r r a t o r and the reader. 

Barthelme's works are not f i v e - f i n g e r e x e r c i s e s f o r the a e s t h e t i c i a n , 

but moral e x p l o r a t i o n s ; a t the heart of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s of 

Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s and c h a r a c t e r s i s a moral f a i l u r e ; s e l f -

consciousness r e f l e c t s , m i r r o r s , r e p o r t s (to use a good r e a l i s t i c 

term) r e a l problems i n American s o c i e t y , and more i s a t stake 

(36) McCaffery, p. 19. 



175 

than j u s t another v i c t o r y over o u t - o f - f a s h i o n l i t e r a r y conventions. 

(In the s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n s , the most minor a r t -

i s t might emerge triumphant; i n f a c t , a l a c k of t a l e n t might be an 

important weapon i n the s t r u g g l e to a v o i d f o l l o w i n g i n the t r a d -

i t i o n of the g r e a t l i t e r a r y works of the past.) L a t e r we s h a l l 

d e t a i l Barthelme's c o u n t e r - a t t a c k on the avant garde, but a t p r e s e n t 

we must c o n s i d e r the n a r r a t o r ' s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s as i t a p p l i e s 

to h i s s t r u g g l e to f i l l the n a r r a t o r ' s r o l e . 

L i t e r a t u r e as a l i b e r a l e d u c a t i o n i s the n a r r a t o r ' s 

f i r s t problem. There i s a t r a d i t i o n d e r i v i n g from the study of 

the B i b l e and from the study of the c l a s s i c s ( s o r f e s V e r g i l i a e ) 

t h a t l i t e r a t u r e o f f e r s a guide to noble and u p r i g h t conduct. T h i s 

n o t i o n i s not a t the moment i n f a s h i o n . Hence, i n " A l i c e , " the 

n a r r a t o r pauses to c o n s i d e r what he should do next: 

p o s s i b l e a t t i t u d e s found i n books 1) I don't 
know what's happening to me 2) what does i t 
mean? 3) s e i z e d w i t h the deepest sadness, I 
know not why 4) I am l o s t , my head w h i r l s , I 
know not where I am 5) I l o s e myself 6) I ask 
you, what have I come to? 7) I no longer 
know where I am, what i s t h i s country? ... 

but I know where I am, I am on West Eleventh. 
S t r e e t shot w i t h l u s t I speak to A l i c e on 
the s t r e e t . . . (Unspeakable, p. 127). 

The p o s s i b i l i t i e s from books are romantic, suggesting both the 

n a r r a t o r ' s n o s t a l g i a f o r times when someone c o u l d a t l e a s t f e e l 

d e s p a i r (Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s have d i f f i c u l t y f e e l i n g a n y t h i n g ) , 

as w e l l as the n a r r a t o r ' s post-romantic s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s . Words 

from books don't r e l a t e to the n a r r a t o r ' s r e a l s i t u a t i o n — "but 

I know where I am," shot with l u s t , not tender l o v e , on the s t r e e t s 

of the c y n i c a l c i t y . 



176 

When the n a r r a t o r attempts to borrow the f i n e phrases of 

o l d e r l i t e r a t u r e , he f i n d s t h a t something has been l o s t i n the 

temporal t r a n s p l a n t i n g . He s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l y attempts to p l a y a 

r o l e from the p a s t , but the r h e t o r i c of the r o l e now sounds 

hollow. In "The Glass Mountain," f o r example, the n a r r a t o r 

attempts to rescue a symbolic p r i n c e s s who r e s i d e s " i n a c a s t l e 

of pure g o l d " ( C i t y L i f e , p. 61). Despite h i s adherence to a l l 

the " c o n v e n t i o n a l means" ( f o r example, being taken to the tower 

of the g l i t t e r i n g p a l a c e by an e a g l e ) , the n a r r a t o r f i n d s t h a t he 

must adopt modern expedients. Instead of storming the c a s t l e l i k e 

a k n i g h t i n armour, he must ascend the w a l l of a skyscraper w i t h 

the a i d of plumber's h e l p e r s ; and he has f o r g o t t e n h i s Bandaids. 

In s h o r t , the e x p e d i t i o n f a i l s and the enchanted symbol proves 

f a l s e : "Nor are eagles p l a u s i b l e , not a t a l l , not f o r a moment" 

(pp. 63, 65). 

The b e s t way to a t t a c k the f i n e o l d v a l u e s of l i t e r a t u r e 

i s through l i t e r a t u r e ' s heroes. F i r s t A c h i l l e s ' h e e l , then 

A c h i l l e s , then the Aeneid, then the c l a s s i c a l h e r i t a g e . B a r t h -

elme's n a r r a t o r s l i k e to reduce what might be c a l l e d "heroes of 

p o t e n t i a l " to the hopeless q u o t i d i a n . They are removed from 

the context of the h e r o i c book (or comic book, or movie) and 

r e l o c a t e d i n the mundane p r e s e n t . For example, Snow White's 

w i t c h f i g u r e , Jane, attempts an uneasy mixture of modern psycho-

a n a l y s i s and a n c i e n t f o l k l o r e ; she c u l t i v a t e s her m a l i c e : "Now 

I must w i t c h someone, f o r t h a t i s my r o l e , and to f l e e one's r o l e , 

as Gimbal t e l l s us, i s i n the f i n a l a n a l y s i s b o o t l e s s " (p. 158). 

Snow White's l e a d i n g v i l l a i n , Hogo de Bergerac, i s such a s e r i o u s 



177 

student of h i s adopted r o l e t h a t he s t u d i e s a t r o c i t y books f o r 

t i p s . He complains t h a t no one maintains the f i n e standards of 

e v i l of the p a s t , and expresses h i s i n d i g n a t i o n i n pseudo-

Shakespearean jargon, which he a p p a r e n t l y a s s o c i a t e s w i t h the 

f i n e s t f l o w e r i n g of v i l l a i n y (presumably Edmund and Iago are h i s 

r o l e models). Of course the o l d r h e t o r i c f a i l s , and the f i n e 

phrases d i s s i p a t e : 

Kiocfo was r e a d i n g a book of a t r o c i t y s t o r i e s - . 
"God, what f i l t h y beasts we were," he thought, 
"then. What a t h i n g i t must have been to be a 
Hun! A f i l t h y Boche! ... And today? We c o - e x i s t , 
we c o - e x i s t . F i l t h y deutschmarks! That so e c l i p s e 
the v e r y mark and t e x t u r e ... That so e c l i p s e 
the v e r y mark and bosom of a man, that v i l e n e s s 
h e r s e l f i s v i l e l y overthrown. That so e n f o l d 
. . . That so enscarp . .. Bloody deu.ts'chmarks! 
t h a t so enwrap^ the very warp and t e x t u r e of 
a man, t h a t what we c h e r i s h e d i n him, v i l e -
ness, i s ... D i e s , h i s ginger o'erthrown. Bald 
p e l f ! t h a t so i n g u r g i t a t e s the very wrack and 
mixture of a man, t h a t i n him the sweet s t i n g s 
of v i l e n e s s are, a l l ginger f l e d , he..." (p. 64). 

The heroes are r e v e a l e d to be o r d i n a r y c i t i z e n s , plagued/ 

with second thoughts, s e l f - c o n s c i o u s about t h e i r h e r o i c personae, 

and f a t i g u e d with the e f f o r t of s u s t a i n i n g them. In "The P a r t y , " 

f o r example, King Kong i s an adjunct p r o f e s s o r of a r t h i s t o r y a t 

Rutgers; s t i l l t e r r i f y i n g , of course, but now he i s "simply 

t r y i n g to make h i m s e l f i n t e r e s t i n g " (p. 58). The n a r r a t o r of 

"The Phantom of the Opera's F r i e n d " g r a d u a l l y t i r e s of the Phantom's 

self-doubts:" 

O c c a s i o n a l l y he [the Phantom] i s overtaken 
by what can o n l y be c a l l e d f i t s of g r a n d i o s i t y : 

"One hundred m i l l i o n c e l l s i n the b r a i n ! 
A l l i n t e n t on being the Phantom of the Opera!" 

"Between t h r e e and four thousand human  
languages! And I am the Phantom of the Opera  
i n every one of them!" 

T h i s i s q u i c k l y f o l l o w e d by the deepest 



178 

d e s p a i r . He s i n k s i n t o a c h a i r , passes a hand 
over h i s mask. 

" F o r t y years of i t ! " ( C i t y L i f e , p. 100) 

The Phantom r e c e i v e s r a t h e r a low blow to the persona when the 

n a r r a t o r d e s c r i b e s the r e l u c t a n c e of Gaston Leroux to continue 

w i t h the s t o r y : 
Gaston Leroux was t i r e d of w r i t i n g The  

Phantom of the Opera. He r e p l a c e d h i s pen i n 
i t s penholder. 

"I can always work on The Phantom of the  
Opera l a t e r — — i n the f a l l , perhaps. Jdght 
now I f e e l l i k e w r i t i n g The S e c r e t o f the  
Yellow Room" (p. 100). 

In a s p e c t a c u l a r scene, Batman and Robin speed o f f i n the Batmobile 

to i n t e r c e p t The Joker! But f i r s t they have to ask d i r e c t i o n s : 

"Well i f I were you [says the Commissioner], 
I'd go out 34th S t r e e t u n t i l you h i t the 
War Memorial,. then take a r i g h t on Memorial 
D r i v e u n t i l i t connects w i t h Gotham Parkway! 
A f t e r you're on the Parkway i t ' s c l e a r s a i l i n g ! " 
he i n d i c a t e d . 

"Wait a minute!" Batman s a i d . "Wouldn't 
i t be q u i c k e r to get on the Dugan Expressway 
where i t comes i n there a t 11th S t r e e t and 
then take the North Loop out to the R i c h a r d -
son Freeway? Don't you t h i n k t h a t would save 
time?" 

"Well I come to work t h a t way!" the Commis-
s i o n e r s a i d . "But they're p u t t i n g i n another 
two l a n e s on the North Loop..." ("The Joker's 
G r e a t e s t Triumph," C a l i g a r i , p. 152). 

In other words, comic book heroes are imprisoned i n the same 

d r e a r y d a i l y round of s e l f - s e r v e gas s t a t i o n s as the r e s t of us, 

and "the hot meat o f romance i s c o o l e d by the d u l l gravy of 

common sense once more" ("Phantom," p. 103). The tiresome con-

s c i o u s n e s s of p l a y i n g a r o l e d e f e a t s the hero: Robin t e l l s Bat-

man t h a t the Joker may have l e a r n e d t h e i r s e c r e t i d e n t i t y . "Great 

S c o t t ! " Batman says. " I f he r e v e a l s i t to the whole world i t 

w i l l mean the end of my c a r e e r as a c r i m e - f i g h t e r ! W e l l , i t ' s a 



179 

problem" ("Joker," p. 156). 

Since l i t e r a t u r e does not p r o v i d e a l i b e r a l guide to 

moral conduct, and s i n c e i t s heroes are s p i r i t u a l l y bankrupt, 

Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s view the a n c i l l a r y a c t i v i t y of l i t e r a r y 

c r i t i c i s m with s k e p t i c i s m . Contemporary f i c t i o n attempts "to 

mock, subvert and pre-empt any t r a d i t i o n a l attempts a t c r i t i c a l 
37 

i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of i t s e l f " ; but t h i s should not imply t h a t 

i n n o v a t i v e attempts a t c r i t i c a l i n t e r p r e t a t i o n would be any more 

s u c c e s s f u l . Nabokov's n a r r a t o r s want to p r o s e l y t i z e the reader 

and the c r i t i c a l i k e i n t o a c c e p t i n g the l i f e - g i v i n g v a l u e s of 

n a r r a t i v e s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s ; Barthelme 1 s n a r r a t o r s , conscious 

not of t h e i r l i t e r a r y s t r e n g t h s but t h e i r weaknesses, attempt 

to convince the reader t h a t l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m i s a waste of time. 

In "The G l a s s Mountain," f o r example, the n a r r a t o r s c a l e s 

the mountain by adhering as b e s t he can to both the mountain and 

the b e s t procedures of romance l i t e r a t u r e . He achieves the summit 

and the symbol: 
97. I approached the symbol, with i t s l a y e r s 
of meaning, but when I touched i t , i t changed 
i n t o o n l y a b e a u t i f u l p r i n c e s s . 
98. I threw the b e a u t i f u l p r i n c e s s h e a d f i r s t 
down the mountain to my acquaintances. 
99. Who c o u l d be r e l i e d upon to d e a l with 
her (pp.64-65). 

The n a r r a t o r presents an anti-romance, a c o u n t e r - f a i r y t a l e , 

which subverts the honoured p r a c t i c e of d e l v i n g beneath the 

s u r f a c e of the s t o r y f o r the b u r i e d t r e a s u r e s of u n i v e r s a l l y 

s i g n i f i c a n t symbols. A f t e r a l l , the G l a s s Mountain n a r r a t o r 

i s o s t e n s i b l y on a c r i t i c a l quest, an e x p l i c a t o r s e a r c h i n g f o r 

(37) Stevick, p. 192. 



180 

meaning i n the t e x t , hoping f o r luminous symbols to i l l u m i n a t e 

murky prose. Thus he muses a t the 206-foot mark: 

71. "The c o n v e n t i o n a l symbol (such as the 
n i g h t i n g a l e , o f t e n a s s o c i a t e d w i t h melancholy), 
even though i t i s r e c o g n i z e d o n l y through 
agreement, i s not a s i g n ( l i k e the . t r a f f i c 
l i g h t ) because, again, i t presumably arouses 
deep f e e l i n g s and i s regarded as p o s s e s s i n g 
p r o p e r t i e s beyond what the eye alone sees." 
.('A D i c t i o n a r y - of L i t e r a r y Terms) 
72. A number of n i g h t i n g a l e s w i t h t r a f f i c 
l i g h t s t i e d to t h e i r l e g s flew past me (p. 
63) . 

The o b j e c t of statement 72 i s to make Sylvan Barnet's handbook 

d e f i n i t i o n seem l u d i c r o u s l y d o c t r i n a i r e , and, by e x t e n s i o n , 

make any and a l l reader's guides, t w e n t i e t h century views, and 

C o l e s ' notes and q u e r i e s seem f u t i l e . 

I remember reading those l i n e s i n "The G l a s s Mountain" 

some years ago, j u s t a f t e r they were p u b l i s h e d i n C i t y L i f e 

(1970), and i n c o r p o r a t i n g them i n an essay which was f i l l e d 

w i t h e x h i l a r a t i o n a t the thought of a l l the s t u f f y c a t h e d r a l s 

of outmoded l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m being razed to the ground (without 

g i v i n g any thought to what might r e p l a c e them). On one of the 

more e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y a n a r c h i s t i c pages, my p r o f e s s o r wrote i n 

the margin, "That way madness l i e s ! " Q u i t e t r u e , and l a t e r i n 

the chapter i t w i l l be demonstrated t h a t many of the n a r r a t o r s 

are l i t e r a l l y mad. A t t h i s p o i n t however, i t should be emphasized 

t h a t the n a r r a t o r ' s a t t i t u d e towards l i t e r a r y c r i t i c i s m i s not o n l y 

d e s t r u c t i v e of phoney r h e t o r i c and cheap p l a t i t u d e s , but a l s o any 

form of i n t e l l e c t u a l c r i t i c i s m , p a r t i c u l a r l y criticism which has as i t s 

o b j e c t the d i s c o v e r y of v a l u e . S a t i r i c elements i n the s t o r i e s 

are r a r e l y balanced with any sense of p o s i t i v e moral a b s o l u t e s , 



181 

and attacks on patently absurd methods of l i t e r a r y c r i t i c s m are 

not balanced by proposals of sane alternatives. 

Snow White, for example, attempts to undermine c r i t i c i s m 

by means of the sudden introduction of a reader's quiz: 

1. Do you l i k e the story so far? Yes ( ) No (.) 
2. Does Snow White resemble the Snow White you 

remember? Yes ( ) No ( ) 
3. Have you understood, i n reading to t h i s point, 

. that Paul i s the prince-figure? Yes ( ) No ( ) 
5. In the further development of the story, would 

you l i k e more emotion ( ) or less emotion ( ) ? 

7. Do you f e e l that the creation of new modes of 
hysteria i s a viable undertaking for the a r t i s t 
of today? Yes ( ) No ( ) 

9. Has the work, f o r you, a metaphysical dimension? 
Yes ( ) No ( ) 

10. What i s i t (twenty-five words or less)? 

11. Are the seven men, i n your view, adequately 
characterized as individuals? Yes ( ) No ( ) 

12. Do you f e e l that the Authors Guild has been 
s u f f i c i e n t l y vigorous i n representing writers 
before the Congress i n matters pertaining to 
copyright l e g i s l a t i o n ? Yes ( ) No ( ) 

13. Holding i n mind a l l works of f i c t i o n since the 
war, i n a l l languages, how would you rate . 
the present.-work, on a scale of one to ten, 
so far? (Please c i r c l e your answer) 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 

14. Do you stand up when you read? ( ) L i e down? 
( ) S i t ? ( ) 

(pp. 82-83) 

In t h i s parody of the gentlemanly r h e t o r i c a l exchange between 

reader and narrator, the reader i s reduced to the r o l e of an 

undergraduate answering a mid-term quiz. Besides, the questions 



182 

are loaded; to understand t h a t Paul i s the p r i n c e - f i g u r e i s to 

demonstrate a r e l i a n c e on the outmoded e x p e c t a t i o n t h a t a 

c h a r a c t e r r e p r e s e n t s some l a r g e r a b s t r a c t i o n (we know how 

Barthelme f e e l s about symbols). Of course Paul i s not a 

p r i n c e - f i g u r e a t a l l : Snow White complains, "Paul i s :. f r o g . . . . 

I thought he would, a t some p o i n t , c a s t o f f h i s mottled w e t t i s h 

green-and-brown integument to reappear washed i n the hundred 

g l i s t e r i n g hues of p r i n c e l i n e s s . But he i s pure f r o g " (p. 169). 

The q u i z demonstrates a d i s t r u s t f o r the e n t e r p r i s e of 

a r t . When a r t i s b i g b u s i n e s s ("matters p e r t a i n i n g to copy-

r i g h t l e g i s l a t i o n " ) , i t seems u n l i k e l y t h a t a r t w i l l have a 

metaphysical dimension. I t i s hard to say which the c y n i c a l 

q u e s t i o n s 9 and 10 damn more: the t r a d i t i o n t h a t a r t has 

more than a s u r f a c e , or the t r a d i t i o n t h a t a r t can be e x p l a i n e d , 

e x p l i c a t e d and i n t e r p r e t e d . 

Snow White and "The Glass Mountain" are symptomatic of 

a malaise t h a t permeates a l l of Barthelme's s t o r i e s . The poor 

d i s e a s e d n a r r a t o r , i n s t e a d of running t h i n g s w i t h calm and 

c o n t r o l , f i n d s h i m s e l f f i l l e d w i t h s e l f - d o u b t . How should he 

know what should be i n c l u d e d i n h i s s t o r y ? As one of the 

Snow White dwarfs says, "We l i k e books t h a t have a l o t of dreck 

i n them, matter which p r e s e n t s i t s e l f as not wholly r e l e v a n t 

(or indeed, a t a l l r e l e v a n t ) but which, c a r e f u l l y attended t o , 

can supply a k i n d of "sense 1 of what i s going on" (p. 106). 

Surrounded by dreck, the n a r r a t o r i s h a r d l y i n the p o s i t i o n 

o f , say, Henry James, t r a c i n g the f i g u r e i n the c a r p e t . "Where 

i s the f i g u r e i n the c a r p e t ? " asks. Kevin the dwarf. "Or i s 



1 8 3 

i t j u s t ... c a r p e t ? " (p. 1 2 9 ) . 

S k e p t i c a l or confused about the p o s s i b i l i t i e s of language 

and l i t e r a t u r e , d e f e n s i v e about c r i t i c i s m , the n a r r a t o r 

doubts h i s own a r t i s t i c powers. In "The P a r t y , " f o r example, 

h i s s p e c u l a t i o n s about h i s s o c i a l r o l e can a l s o be taken as 

a comment on a e s t h e t i c s . He muses t h a t s o c i e t y ' s c r u c i a l 

t a s k s "are o f t e n e n t r u s t e d to people who have f a t a l flaws" 

(p. 5 8 ) . His c o n f i d e n c e has been s h a t t e r e d by h i s w i f e (Barth-

elme wives are g e n e r a l l y P h i l i s t i n e m a t e r i a l i s t s ) , who a t t a c k s 

h i s c u l t u r a l heroes, Kafka and K l e i s t . He w o r r i e s t h a t he has 

run out of i d e a s : "When one has spoken a l o t one has a l r e a d y 

used up a l l of the i d e a s one has. You must change the people 

you are speaking to so t h a t you appear, to y o u r s e l f , to be s t i l l 

a l i v e " (p. 6 1 ) . And i n a r a t h e r a u t o b i o g r a p h i c a l phrase t h a t 

c h a r a c t e r i z e s Barthelme's w r i t i n g s t y l e , the n a r r a t o r condemns 

h i m s e l f : "Wonderful elegance! No good a t a l l ! " (p. 6 2 ) . 

The n a r r a t o r of "At the T o l s t o y Museum" notes evidence 

of f a t a l s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s even i n the monumental f i g u r e 

of T o l s t o y : ".To make h i m s e l f i n t e r e s t i n g , he o c c a s i o n a l l y bowed 

backward" ( C i t y L i f e , p. 4 3 ) . The l i t e r a r y past i s not an 

i n s p i r a t i o n but a weight: "The e n t i r e b u i l d i n g , viewed from 

the s t r e e t , suggests t h a t i t i s about to f a l l on you" (p. 4 5 ) . 

"This the a r c h i t e c t s r e l a t e to T o l s t o y ' s moral a u t h o r i t y , " adds 

Barthelme's n a r r a t o r , a l l u d i n g to the i d e a t h a t a r t i s t s i n the 

past were i n t e g r a t e d and secure--^omniscient, with a h i n t of 

o m n i p o t e n c e — i n t h e i r r o l e s as moral a r b i t e r s f o r s o c i e t y . 

The modern a r t i s t , says Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s , i s anything but 



184 

a figure of certitude and authority. Edgar of "The Dolt," 

for example, repeatedly f a i l s the five-hour, fifty-minute 

National Writer's Examination. He also f a i l s to deal with the 

"son manque": 

Edgar t r i e d to think of a way to badmouth 
t h i s immense son leaning over him l i k e a 
large b l a r i n g building. But he couldn't 
think of anything. Thinking of anything 
was beyond him. I sympathize. I myself 
have these problems. Endings are elusive, 
middles are nowhere to be found, but worst 
of a l l i s to begin, to begin,-to begin 
(Unspeakable, p. 69). 

The idea of an integrated a r t i s t , i n command of his c r a f t , i s 

now seen as a delusion. The a r t i s t i n "A Shower of Gold" . 

objects to the art dealer's scheme of cutting his sculpture 

i n two (small pieces move faster; shorter s h e l f - l i f e ) ; "You 

have a very romantic impulse," says the art dealer, "I admire, 

dimly, the posture. You read too much i n the history of a r t . 

I t estranges you from those p o s s i b i l i t i e s for authentic 

selfhood that inhere i n the present century" ( C a l i g a r i , p. 175). 

Presumably authentic selfhood involves a surrender to 

the ethics of the marketplace. There i s a fine l i n e between 

the writer's unions and i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d imagination of the 

Soviet Union, and the Book of the Month competition of the West. 

A merger of the two systems i s proposed i n Barthelme's a n t i -

utopian story, "Paraguay": 

The problem of a r t . New a r t i s t s have been 
obtained.... Production i s up. Quality-
control devices have been i n s t a l l e d at those 
points where the interests of a r t i s t s and 
audience i n t e r s e c t . . . . The r a t i o n a l i z e d 
art i s dispatched from central art dumps 
to regional a r t dumps, and from there into 
the lifestreams of c i t i e s , . . . Marketing 



185 

c o n s i d e r a t i o n s have not been allowed to 
d i c t a t e product mix; r a t h e r , each a r t i s t i s 
encouraged to m a i n t a i n , i n h i s software, 
h i g h l y p e r s o n a l , even i d i o s y n c r a t i c , standards 
(the s o - c a l l e d "hand of the a r t i s t " c o n c e p t ) . . . 
( C i t y L i f e , pp. 22-23). 

"Highly p e r s o n a l , even i d i o s y n c r a t i c , standards" suggests 

the theme o u t l i n e d i n the f i r s t chapter, t h a t the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r p r o v i d e s an a l t e r n a t i v e to impersonal and o b j e c t i v e 

t h e o r i e s of n a r r a t i o n . But although Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are 

s u b j e c t i v e , and i n t r u s i v e enough to be n o t i c e a b l e , they o f t e n 

appear confused and estranged w i t h i n t h e i r own n a r r a t i v e s . We 

seem to be t r a c i n g a downward s p i r a l . 

The Other Side o f the Avant Garde 

The n a r r a t o r s t r e a t language and l i t e r a t u r e as dangerous 

a c t i v i t i e s . The n a r r a t o r s ' doubts and second thoughts are 

r e f l e c t e d i n both the form and content of the s t o r i e s , r e s u l t i n g 

i n a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s stance which i s a n t i - c o n v e n t i o n a l , sub-

v e r s i v e , d i s r u p t i v e . 

But nothing i n the paragraph above i s s u r p r i s i n g . Barthelme 

as an avant garde a e s t h e t i c i a n - - w h a t c o u l d be more de r i g u e u r 

i n the s e v e n t i e s ? One must t h e r e f o r e c o n s i d e r the n o t i o n 

t h a t Barthelme i s aware of avant garde e x p e c t a t i o n s , and t h a t 

to some extent h i s work i s a r e a c t i o n a g a i n s t them. Perhaps 

a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , mocking stance towards l i t e r a r y conventions 

has i t s e l f become a t e d i o u s convention ("Oh God comma I 
38 

abhor s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s " ) . L e t us examine Barthelme's 

(38) John Barth, " T i t l e , " in Lost in the Funhouse (Garden City, New York: 
Doubleday, 1968), p. 113. 



186 

work f o r what some avant garde c r i t i c s would term r e t r o g r a d e 

tendencies towards emotion and communication, and o u t l i n e some 

of the more s t r i n g e n t avant garde t h e o r i e s under which 

Barthelme might s u p e r f i c i a l l y seem to be subsumed. 

To a n t i c i p a t e the chapter's subsequent argument f o r a 

moment, Barthelme's r e a c t i o n to avant garde e x p e c t a t i o n s 

r e s u l t s i n an i n t e r e s t i n g t w i s t to s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s . I t 

seems t h a t s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s c o n t a i n s w i t h i n i t s e l f an 

escape route from s t e r i l i t y , archness, s o l i p s i s m and the other 

attendant demons. The escape route might be termed p l a i n 

statement, messages s t r a i g h t to the reader. T h i s i s accompl-

i s h e d through a r e v i v a l of the r h e t o r i c a l n a r r a t o r - r e a d e r 

r e l a t i o n s h i p t h a t went out of f a s h i o n i n the n i n e t e e n t h century. 

U n f o r t u n a t e l y , escape from a s t r u c t u r e of s e l f - d o u b t and 

double-edged i r o n y leads to a new k i n d of misery. Although 

the n a r r a t o r ' s v o i c e i s now heard with a new d i r e c t n e s s , h i s 

v o i c e i s not n e c e s s a r i l y more agreeable. Those s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t i v e masks are designed, i t seems, to c o n c e a l the t r u e 

i d e n t i t y of the n a r r a t o r , r e v e a l e d to be an unpleasant person. 

But t h i s new t w i s t i s examined l a t e r i n the chapter; we are 

p r e s e n t l y concerned with Barthelme's conformity, or l a c k of 

conformity, to the i n s t i t u t i o n a l i z e d avant garde. 

The essence of the avant garde p o s i t i o n i s t h a t the 

novel i s i n a s t a t e of c r i s i s . Richard Gilman, f o r example, 

says the novel must once and f o r a l l abandon "dead forms" 
39 

and r e c o g n i z e the " c r i s i s i n l i t e r a t u r e . " He f i n d s t h a t 

(39) Richard Gilman/ The Confusion of Realms (New York: Random House, 
1969), p. 52. 



187 

a s i d e from a few l a p s e s Barthelme s u c c e s s f u l l y redeems f i c t i o n 

from i t s " a n a c h r o n i s t i c s t o r y t e l l i n g r o l e . " By c o n t r a s t , 

W i l l i a m Gass, whom one might have thought s u f f i c i e n t l y inno-

v a t i v e , stops s h o r t of h e a l t h y modernism; Gass1 work i s guilty of 

"burrowing f o r comfort and s a f e t y i n t o the f a m i l i a r , not d a r i n g 

f u l l y to c a s t o f f i t s cargo of l i t e r a r y i n h e r i t a n c e , employing 

c e r t a i n r i t u a l i s t i c n a r r a t i v e procedures which i t s e n t i r e 

p i o n e e r i n g t h r u s t denies and seeks to a b o l i s h " (p. 70). 

One might q u i b b l e t h a t there would be nothing l e f t of 

Nabokov i f he were f o r c e d to abandon h i s massive cargo of 

l i t e r a r y i n h e r i t a n c e ; one might c i t e Hawthorne's wise g l o s s on 

the n o t i o n of abandoning the Good Ship L i t e r a t u r e i n "Earth's 

Holocaust"; but i t seems the f i r s t r u l e i n an avant garde 

c r i s i s i s to abandon the p a s t . Raymond Federman i n v e n t s a new 

term, " s u r f i c t i o n , " i n order to express h i s d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n 

with "the f a i l i n g s of t r a d i t i o n a l f i c t i o n . " " I t i s t h i s ... 

i n s u f f i c i e n c y , t h i s c r i s i s of f i c t i o n which brings"many "contemporary 

w r i t e r s to ... r e w r i t e f i c t i o n i n terms and i n forms t h a t have 
40 

not y e t been d e f i n e d . " Richard K o s t e l a n e t z o f f e r s dark 

warnings about a c o n s p i r a c y a g a i n s t new l i t e r a t u r e on the p a r t 

of the " e s t h e t i c a l l y c o n s e r v a t i v e r e v i e w i n g media-—The New York 

Times Book Review, Saturday Review/World, or The New York Review 

of Books," a l l of which a c t as o b s t a c l e s to t h a t l i t e r a r y 
i n n o v a t i o n which would " r e s u s c i t a t e modern a r t s t h a t are i n c i p -

41 
i e n t l y s e n i l e . " P h i l i p p e S o l l e r s , p r o t e s t i n g outdated n o t i o n s 

(40) Raymond Federman, "A Prefatory Note," S u r f i c t i o n , ed. Federman 
(Chicago: The Swallow Press, Inc., 1975), p. 1. 

(41) Richard <Kostelanetz,"New F i c t i o n in America," in S u r f i c t i o n , pp. 
87,86. 



188 

of genre, g i v e s the c o n s p i r a c y a m i l i t a r y c h a r a c t e r : "A book 

which seems to r e c o g n i z e none of the genre's r u l e s y e t dares 

to c a l l i t s e l f a novel provokes the anger and i r r i t a t i o n of the 
42 

guardians of t h i s law, the l i t e r a r y t r a f f i c cops." 

The c o r o l l a r y of the t h e s i s t h a t the novel i s i n a c r i s i s 

i s t h a t the benighted Anglo-Saxon mind i s i n c a p a b l e of recog-

n i z i n g a c r i s i s . Many c r i t i c s use French t h e o r i s t s to b e r a t e , 

condemn and otherwise snub the o l d - f a s h i o n e d American and 

B r i t i s h n o v e l i s t s . The most noteworthy of these c r i t i c s i s 

Susan Sontag, who g r i m l y announces t h a t i n France, "the l i n e 

o f p o s t - n o v e l prose n a r r a t i v e from the S u r r e a l i s t f i c t i o n s to 

those of Borges, Beckett and R o b b e - G r i l l e t , are taken to 

occupy the c e n t r a l p o s i t i o n i n contemporary l e t t e r s , " w h i l e 

most novels " i n t r a d i t i o n a l ' r e a l i s t i c ' forms (such as continue 

to t h i s day to be c r i t i c a l successes i n England and America) 

are regarded as e s s e n t i a l l y u n i n t e r e s t i n g , b a r e l y noteworthy 
43 

products of a r e t a r d e d or r e a c t i o n a r y consciousness." Note 

the i m p l i e d r a d i c a l c h i c equation of r e a c t i o n a r y (conservative) 

views and r e t a r d a t i o n ; o n l y brain-damaged f a s c i s t s would read 

Saul Bellow. 

Sontag argues i n A g a i n s t I n t e r p r e t a t i o n t h a t the novel 

r e q u i r e s " r e n o v a t i o n , " (pop a r t p o s t e r s on the w a l l s , perhaps), 

trapped as i t i s i n the n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y ' s "wholly mundane 
44 

concept of r e a l i t y . " Thus, "the novel as a form of a r t has 
(42) P h i l i p p e S o l l e r s , "The Novel and the Experience of Limits," 

in S u r f i c t i o n , p. 61. 
(43) Sontag, Pref., Writing Degree Zero, p. ix. 
(44) Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation (New York: Farrar, Straus 

and Giroux, 1969), p. 101. 



189 

nothing to l o s e , and e v e r y t h i n g to g a i n , by joining the r e v o l u t i o n 

t h a t has a l r e a d y swept over most of the other a r t s " (p. I l l ) . 

A f t e r the r e v o l u t i o n , when the b a r r i c a d e s have been j o y f u l l y 

removed from the f r e e s t r e e t s , Sontag promises t h a t the novel 

w i l l then and o n l y then recover from i t s present degraded depths; 

the novel a t the moment "has sunk to the l e v e l of an a r t form 

deeply, i f not i r r e v o c a b l y , compromised by philxstinismf", but i n 

t h a t new dawn, the renovated novel w i l l become something "which 

people w i t h s e r i o u s and s o p h i s t i c a t e d t a s t e i n the other a r t s 

can take s e r i o u s l y " (pp.102, 111). 

One i s tempted to embrace what Sontag would c a l l P h i l -

i s t i n i s m , i f p h i l i s t i n i s m i s the a l t e r n a t i v e to her c h i l l i n g 

s o p h i s t i c a t i o n . Perhaps her p o s i t i o n i n the van, f a c i n g f r o n t 

of course, makes i t d i f f i c u l t f o r her to p e r c e i v e the l i t e r a r y 

landmarks behind. Her d i s d a i n f o r the mundane r e a l i t y we 

a l l have i n common and take f o r granted (and, one l i k e s to 

t h i n k , share) c e r t a i n l y p l a c e s her i n the avant garde t r a d i t i o n 

as d e f i n e d by G e r a l d G r a f f : 'The avant-garde e s t h e t i c , whether 

i t m a n i f e s t s i t s e l f as a mandarin formalism consecrated to 

a r e l i g i o n .of h i g h a r t and t r a d i t i o n or as a s u r r e a l i s t i c 

a s s a u l t on e s t h e t i c form, a r t , and c u l t u r e , a s s e r t s the c r e a t i v e 

autonomy of consciousness a g a i n s t the bourgeois r e a l i t y p r i n -

c i p l e . " " The avant garde a e s t h e t i c leads to "a permanent a l i e n -

a t i o n of consciousness from any .fixe.d p o s i t i o n and from a l l previous 
4 5 

modes of consciousness...." 

(45) Gerald Graff, "Babbitt at the abyss: the s o c i a l context of 
postmodern American f i c t i o n , " TriQuarterly, No. 33 (1975), p. 321. 



190 

To a c e r t a i n extent Barthelme f i t s the t e n e t s of the 

avant garde, p a r t i c u l a r l y the avant garde as t r a n s l a t e d from 

the French. Guerard notes shrewdly t h a t "Snow White h e r s e l f 

has a d i s t i n c t l y French m e n t a l i t y . " "Behind the fun are s e r i o u s 

matters: e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l nightmare and the c o l l a p s e of 

language, the widening s e p a r a t i o n of words and experience, 

the phenomenological d i s t r u s t of v a l u e : a l l very French." 

But what i s even more shrewd i s Guerard's c o n c l u s i o n : "Barth-

elme may have taken the b e s t from the French i n t e l l e c t u a l 
46 

while s a t i r i z i n g h i s g l i b n e s s . " One c o u l d argue t h a t B a r t h -

elme 1 s c h a r a c t e r s are not so much a l i e n i s t e s (to c o i n a French 

term) as p a r o d i c or mock or p s e u d o - a l i e n i s t e s : 
For viewed from a c e r t a i n angle, the s p e c t a c l e 
of a b o u r g e o i s i e equipped with i d e o l o g i e s de-
v i s e d by the s p i r i t u a l r e b e l s and a r i s t o c r a t s 
of modernist a r t and l i t e r a t u r e , a b o u r g e o i s i e 
s e l f - a b s o r b e d and n u r t u r i n g an acute consciousness 
of p s y c h o l o g i c a l g r i e v a n c e and v i c t i m i z a t i o n , 
i s a r i c h t o p i c f o r s a t i r e . ^ 

Instead of being one of the a l l i e s i n the avant garde 

f o r c e s , Barthelme i s to some extent a s a t i r i s t of the avant 

garde. I t s t h e o r i e s have f i l t e r e d down through a l l s t r a t a of 

s o c i e t y , from the l o f t y i n t e l l e c t u a l p l a t e a u of Susan Sontag 

to the l o w l i e s t slum of an American n o v e l i s t ; Z e n i t h boosters 

such as George F. B a b b i t t have been r e p l a c e d as s a t i r i c 

t a r g e t s by s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , n e u r o t i c , Jean Luc Godard f a n s . 

Barthelme and o t h e r s "are a b l e to achieve a type of f i c t i o n 

which i n c o r p o r a t e s postmodern s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s w h i l e t r a n s -

(46) Guerard, p. 31. 
(47) Graff, "Babbitt at the abyss," p. 323. 



191 

cending postmodern s u b j e c t i v i s m 1 , (p. 323) . 

However, Barthelme does not i n f a c t "transcend" postmodern 

s u b j e c t i v i t y i f the word i m p l i e s t h a t the i s s u e s t h a t occasioned 

s u b j e c t i v i s m have been somehow surmounted. While the s t o r i e s 

mock the f a l s e r h e t o r i c of the avant garde, they do not r e f u t e 

the i s s u e s c o n f r o n t e d by the avant garde — "<e/pistemologic;al 

nightmare and the c o l l a p s e of language ... the phenomenological 

d i s t r u s t of v a l u e . . . . " The s t o r i e s d e p i c t a s o c i e t y f i l l e d with 

d e b i l i t a t i n g s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s , angst and d e s p a i r , but they 

r a r e l y o f f e r h e a l t h y a l t e r n a t i v e s . The g l i b n e s s of the avant 

garde i s mocked, however, p a r t i c u l a r l y the g l i b n e s s as a p p l i e d 

to a e s t h e t i c s , and mocked i n a manner t h a t a f f e c t s the s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r , a t times t r a n s f o r m i n g him i n t o an o l d -

fashioned communicator, the reader's f r i e n d . 

The N a r r a t o r as Plain-Speaker 

Peterson, the hero of "A Shower of Gold," encounters a 

number o f c h a r a c t e r s who spout avant garde p l a t i t u d e s , and y e t 

belong to the b o u r g e o i s i e ; h i s barber, f o r example, i s the 

author of "four books t i t l e d The D e c i s i o n to Be" ( C a l i g a r i , 

p. 177). Peterson i s i n v i t e d to a t e l e v i s i o n program which 

s p e c i a l i z e s i n prime time e x i s t e n t i a l i s m . A program d i r e c t o r 

d e t a i l s the r a t i o n a l e of Who Am I? : 

People today, we f e e l , are hidden away i n s i d e 
themselves, a l i e n a t e d , desperate, l i v i n g i n 
anguish, d e s p a i r and bad f a i t h . Why have we 
been thrown here, and abandoned? That's the 
q u e s t i o n we t r y to answer, Mr. Peterson. 
Man stands alone i n a f e a t u r e l e s s , anonymous 
landscape, i n f e a r and t r e m b l i n g and s i c k n e s s 
unto death. God i s dead. Nothingness every-



192 

where. Dread. Estrangement. F i n i t u d e . 
Who Am I? approaches these problems i n a r o o t 

r a d i c a l way (p. 174). 

Do these i d e a s i n the program d i r e c t o r ' s mind come from a l i f e -

time o f Kierkegaard s c h o l a r s h i p ? From an i n t u i t i v e understanding 

of the degraded depths of the human heart? Or from d r u g s t o r e 

p h i l o s o p h e r s and n i g h t s c h o o l courses, H i s t o r y of Thought 101. 

(In Snow White the heroine muses t h a t , "the main theme t h a t runs 

through my b r a i n i s t h a t what i s , i s i n s u f f i c i e n t . Where d i d 

t h a t s u l k y n o t i o n come from? From the r e n t a l l i b r a r y , d o u b t l e s s " 

[p. 135].) Peterson r e f u s e s to accept the premise of the TV 

program, and d e l i v e r s an impassioned ( i . e . , o l d - f a s h i o n e d ) 

speech: 
The emcee waved a t the f l o o r manager to 
t u r n Peterson o f f , but Peterson kept t a l k i n g . 
"In t h i s k i n d of a world ... absurd i f you 
w i l l , p o s s i b i l i t i e s n e v e r t h e l e s s p r o l i f e r a t e . 
... Don't be r e c o n c i l e d . . . . [I]ndulge i n a 
mindless optimism. V i s i t g i r l s at dusk.... 
My mother was a r o y a l v i r g i n ... and my f a t h e r 
a shower o f g o l d . My c h i l d h o o d was p a s t o r a l 
and e n e r g e t i c and r i c h i n experiences which 
developed my c h a r a c t e r . As a young man I 
was noble i n reason, i n f i n i t e i n f a c u l t y , i n 
form express and admirable, and i n apprehen-
s i o n ..." Peterson went on and on and although 
he was, i n a sense, l y i n g , i n a sense he was 
not (p. 183). 

The d i r e c t o r ' s phrase about approaching contemporary prob-

lems i n a " r o o t , a r a d i c a l way" c o u l d be found i n v a r i o u s permu-

t a t i o n s i n any number of the c r i t i c a l a r t i c l e s surrounding the 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s New F i c t i o n , and i n any number of a r t i s t i c 

manifestos- and Canada C o u n c i l a p p l i c a t i o n s . I t i s dangerous 

indeed to a s c r i b e to Barthelme the i n t e l l e c t u a l n o t i o n s t h a t 

are thought to be the i n e v i t a b l e concomitants of s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 



193 

f i c t i o n ( s o l i p s i s m , p h i l o s o p h i c chaos, a n t i - r e a l i s m , "Dread. 

Estrangement:.- F i n i t u d e . " ) . However, note how the n a r r a t o r hedges 

h i s e p i s t e m o l o g i c a l bets i n t h a t f i n a l l i n e ("in a sense"). 

Even i n t h i s very e a r l y (1963) and a t y p i c a l l y o p t i m i s t i c 

s t o r y , the t a r g e t i s not n e c e s s a r i l y the h o r r o r s of modern 

l i f e , but the too-easy a r t i c u l a t i o n of these h o r r o r s . 

Thus Jerome Charyn sounds r a t h e r l i k e the program d i r e c t o r 

when he argues t h a t the b e s t postwar American w r i t e r s address 

themselves to a "sense of dread." He concludes t h a t language 

has l e f t c u l t u r e behind and turned i n on i t s e l f . L i t e r a t u r e . 
48 

i s "the language of h y s t e r i a . " Snow White p i c k s up on the i d e a : 

"Do you f e e l t h a t the c r e a t i o n of new modes of h y s t e r i a i s a 

v i a b l e undertaking f o r the a r t i s t of today?" The q u e s t i o n 

exposes the element of jargon i n Charyn 1 s t h e s i s , and one i s 

reminded of the venomous a t t a c k on i n t e l l e c t u a l canned goods i n 

Saul Bellow's Herzog: "The canned sauerkraut of Spengler's 

'Prussian S o c i a l i s m , ' the commonplaces of the Wasteland outlook, 

the cheap mental s t i m u l a n t s of A l i e n a t i o n , the cant and r a n t 
49 

of pipsqueaks about I n a u t h e n t i c i t y and F o r l o r n n e s s . " 

Consider a l s o Ronald Sukenick.. In his: The Death of the Novel and 

Other S t o r i e s , Sukenick says, "The contemporary w r i t e r - — the 

w r i t e r who i s a c u t e l y i n touch with the l i f e of which he i s 

p a r t - - i s f o r c e d to s t a r t from s c r a t c h : R e a l i t y doesn't e x i s t , 
50 

time doesn't e x i s t , p e r s o n a l i t y doesn't e x i s t . " 
(48) Jerome Charyn, Introd., The Single Voice, ed. Jerome Charyn 

(New York: Macmillan, 1969), p. ix. 
(49) Saul Bellow, Herzog (New York: Viking Press, 1964), as quoted 

in Graff, "Babbi'.tt at the- Abyss,"„ p. 305. 
(50) Ronald Sukenick, "The Death of the Novel," in The Death of the Novel  

and Other Stories (New York: Dial Press, 1969), p. 41: my emphasis. 



194 

But i n "Departures," the n a r r a t o r i s i n l o v e w i t h the w i f e of a 

famous poet. He imagines her walking w i t h her husband " i n SoHo, 

seeing what the new a r t i s t s are r e f u s i n g to do t h e r e , i n t h e i r 

quest f o r a s c r a t c h to s t a r t from" (Sadness, p. 108) . In t h a t 

t e l l i n g l i n e , Barthelme's n a r r a t o r d i s a s s o c i a t e s h i m s e l f from 

d o c t r i n a i r e n o t i o n s about the n e c e s s i t y of abandoning r e a l i s m , 

meaningful language and other l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n s . By mocking 

the avant garde a r t i s f ' s quest f o r the a b s o l u t e freedom of an 

e g o i s t i n a vacuum, Barthelme's n a r r a t o r e s t a b l i s h e s a r h e t o r i c a l 

l i n k w i t h the reader. The reader i s suddenly o f f e r e d a guide 

to the b e w i l d e r i n g maze of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s a r t . For example, 

Roland B a r t h e s c l a i m s t h a t w r i t i n g i s " i n no way an instrument 

f o r communication," r a t h e r , i t i s "an anti-communication, i t i s 

51 

i n t i m i d a t i n g . " What would Barthes make of the f o l l o w i n g 

passage from "The Glass Mountain"? 
25. I was new i n the neighbourhood. 
26. In the s t r e e t s were many people w i t h 

d i s t u r b e d eyes. 
27. Look f o r y o u r s e l f . 

(p. 60). 

I s n ' t t h a t an a c t o f communication? "Look f o r y o u r s e l f . " Doesn' 

t h a t l i n e f l a t l y c o n t r a d i c t R o b b e - G r i l l e t when he says, " A r t 

i s based on no t r u t h t h a t e x i s t s before i t ; and one may say t h a t 
52 

i t expresses nothing but i t s e l f . " ? Obviously we are i n v i t e d 

by the n a r r a t o r to look i n our s t r e e t s , and c o n f i r m by sense 
(51) Barthes, pp. 19, 20. 
(52) Robbe-Grillet, as quoted in Gore Vidal, Homage to Daniel Shays 

(New York: Random House, 1972), p. 284. 



195 

impression, r a t i o n a l i t y , a common r e a l i t y and common sense, 

what the n a r r a t o r has p e r c e i v e d and expressed f o r our e d i f i c a t i o n . 

The consequent flow of sympathy between the reader and the 

n a r r a t o r i s based on the two s h a r i n g a common r e a l i t y . I t i s 

an a c t of o l d - f a s h i o n e d communication which supports t h a t naive 

n o t i o n of Holden C a u l f i e l d t h a t a good book prompts the reader 

to phone up the author f o r a t e t e - a - t e t e and a h e a r t to h e a r t . 

In s h o r t , Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s do not ignore the m i s s i n g l i n k 

i n much of modern a e s t h e t i c s , the audience. The s t o r i e s tend 

to bear out Borges' o b s e r v a t i o n t h a t a'/book " i s more than 

a v e r b a l s t r u c t u r e or s e r i e s of v e r b a l s t r u c t u r e s ; i t i s the 

d i a l o g u e i t e s t a b l i s h e s w i t h i t s reader and the i n t o n a t i o n i t 

imposes upon h i s v o i c e and the changing and durable images i t 
53 

leaves i n h i s memory." 

Consider "Sentence," which c o n s i s t s of one long uncompleted 

sentence t h a t proceeds by means of f r e e a s s o c i a t i o n . There are 

sketches of a d e t e r i o r a t i n g marriage and a l u s t f u l doctor, but, 

as the w r i t e r w o r r i e s , the " t h i n wires of dramatic t e n s i o n 

... have been omitted" ( C i t y L i f e , p. 113). The n a r r a t o r f i r s t 

i n t r o d u c e s and then banishes f a c t o r s t h a t would endanger the 

•sentence's a e s t h e t i c autonomy, such as a messenger who avoids 

the sentence's t r a p door long enough to demand some s o r t of 

d o c t r i n a i r e p r o t e s t l i t e r a t u r e : "' Stop making t h i s sentence, 

and begin i n s t e a d to make Mohoiy-Nagy c o c k t a i l s , f o r those are 

what we r e a l l y need, on the f r o n t i e r s of bad behavior....'" 

And with a bow to P i r a n d e l l o , the n a r r a t o r imagines "a p o s s i b l e 
(53) Borges, "A Note on (toward) Bernard Shaw," in Labyrinths, p. 213. 



196 

coup d ' e t a t w i t h i n the sentence, whereby i t s c h i e f verb would 

be ..." (p. 113). 

In one sense t h i s i s a demonstration of the a e s t h e t i c s 

of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s v e r b a l s t r u c t u r e ; the e x p l i c i t moral 

of the s t o r y i s t h a t we should honor such a "man-made o b j e c t " : 

"a s t r u c t u r e to be t r e a s u r e d f o r i t s weakness, as opposed to 

the s t r e n g t h of stones" (p. 114). So f a r , a r t - f o r - a r t ' s - s a k e . 

However, the sentence a l s o f e a t u r e s windows and a i r c o n d i t i o n i n g 

f o r the common reader. We note t h a t pure s t r u c t u r a l i s t s are 

unwelcome: "[H]ere comes Ludwig, the expert on sentence con-

s t r u c t i o n ... [who w i l l ] probably f i n d a way to cure the sentence's 

sprawl, by u s i n g the improved ways of t h i n k i n g developed i n 

Weimar" — but Ludwig d i s a p p e a r s through another t r a p door (p. 114). 

Furthermore, the sentence i s shaped by the pressures of o u t s i d e 

events, as the n a r r a t o r meditates on the contemporary world and 

such phenomena as "the run-mad skimble-skamble of i n f o r m a t i o n 

s i c k n e s s " (p. 113-114). Most i m p o r t a n t l y , the n a r r a t o r i s 

aware of h i s reader, and even permits h i m s e l f some o l d - f a s h i o n e d 

n i n e t e e n t h century c h a r a c t e r - b u i l d i n g advice; he a d v i s e s us 

t h a t setbacks are good f o r the s o u l ; some d e f e a t s are 

good f o r your c h a r a c t e r , t e a c h i n g you t h a t i t 
i s not by success alone t h a t one surmounts 
l i f e , but t h a t setbacks, too, c o n t r i b u t e to 
t h a t roughening of the p e r s o n a l i t y t h a t , by 
p r o v i d i n g a t e x t u r e d s u r f a c e to p l a c e a g a i n s t 
t h a t of l i f e , enables you to leave s l i g h t 
t r a c e s , or smudges, on the face of human h i s t o r y 
--your mark (p. 108). 

T h i s s u r p r i s i n g bildungsroman i n the midst of a modern sentence i s 

not meant i r o n i c a l l y ; the s t o r y i s f u l l of "you," meaning the 



197 

reader, and the n a r r a t o r even worries how much the reader w i l l 

r e t a i n when "the sentence f a l l s out of the mind t h a t holds i t 

(temporarily) i n some k i n d of embrace, not n e c e s s a r i l y an ardent 

one" (p. 107). The use of the a u t h o r i a l "we" c o n t a i n s a d e f i n i t e 

sense o f I and Thou. "Sentence" i s a s t r u c t u r e aimed a t an aud-

i e n c e , not merely Immortality. 

In one of h i s r a r e t h e o r e t i c a l statements, Barthelme 

argues t h a t : 

The reader r e c o n s t i t u t e s the work by h i s 
a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i o n , by approaching the 
o b j e c t , tapping i t , shaking i t , h o l d i n g 
i t to h i s ear to hear the r o a r i n g w i t h i n . 
I t i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c of the o b j e c t t h a t i t 
does not d e c l a r e i t s e l f a l l a t once, i n a 
rush of p l e a s a n t n a i v e t e . Joyce enforces 
the way i n which Finnegans Wake i s to be 
read. He conceived the r e a d i n g to be a 
l i f e t i m e p r o j e c t , the book remaining always 
t h e r e , l i k e the landscape surrounding the 
r e a d e r ' s home or the b u i l d i n g s bounding the 
reader's apartment. The book remains 
p r o b l e m a t i c , u n e x h a u s t e d . ^ 

Sterne s i m i l a r l y evokes the reader's " a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i o n " 

by promising he w i l l do " a l l t h a t l i e s i n my power to keep 

h i s [the reader's] i m a g i n a t i o n as busy as my own," and Denis 

D i d e r o t says i n C e c i n'est pas un conte, "When one t e l l s a s t o r y , 

i t i s to someone who l i s t e n s ; and however b r i e f l y the s t o r y 

l a s t s , i t i s r a r e t h a t the t e l l e r i s not sometimes i n t e r r u p t e d 

by h i s l i s t e n e r . That i s why I have i n t r o d u c e d ... a f i g u r e 
55 

who w i l l p l a y approximately the r o l e of the reader." I t i s 

(54) Donald Barthelme, as quoted in Klinkowitz, L i t e r a r y Disrup- 
tions, p. 77. 

(55) Tristram Shandy, p. 83; Denis Diderot, as quoted in Alter, 
p. 72. 



198 

p a r t of the t r a d i t i o n of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r to pay 

a t t e n t i o n to the reader, and we should c o n s i d e r the l i b e r a t i n g 

e f f e c t on the reader of being c a t e r e d t o , i n an era where 

the audience i s l a r g e l y ignored. That the n o t i o n of c a t e r i n g 

to the reader seems s u b l i t e r a r y and b e s t s e l l e r i s h i s a measure 

of our r e c e n t h u m i l i t y i n the face of A r t ; there i s a t h r i v i n g 

t r a d i t i o n t h a t the reader i s the l e a s t important f a c t o r : 

11. The w r i t e r expresses, he does not 
communicate.... 

12. The p l a i n reader be damned! ̂ .̂  

I f Finnegans Wake or The Cantos seem impenetrable, then the 

f a u l t l i e s i n our inadequate educations or p i t i f u l mental 

c a p a c i t i e s , not i n Joyce and Pound. But Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s 

o f t e n take the o p p o s i t e p o s i t i o n , and a s s i d u o u s l y c u l t i v a t e 

the reader's a t t e n t i o n . 

In " F l o r e n c e Green i s 81," the n a r r a t o r says, I ; I am a 

young man, but v e r y b r i l l i a n t , very i n g r a t i a t i n g , I adopt 

t h i s i n g r a t i a t i n g tone because I can't help myself (for .fear 

of b o r i n g you)." "Reader," he c o n t i n u e s , 

we have r o l e s to p l a y , thou and I : you are 
the d o c t o r (washing your hands between 
hours), and I, I am, I t h i n k , the nervous 
d r e a r y p a t i e n t . I am f r e e a s s o c i a t i n g , 
b r i l l i a n t l y , b r i l l i a n t l y , to put you i n t o 
the problem. Or f o r f e a r of b o r i n g you: 
which? ( C a l i g a r i , p. 4) . 

The n a r r a t o r of "See the Moon?" s i m i l a r l y senses h i s audience 

s l i p p i n g away: "I know you t h i n k I'm wasting my time. You've 

made t h a t p e r f e c t l y c l e a r " (p. 155). He w o r r i e s t h a t the 

(56) "Proclamation," .'transition, p. fi-3} . 



199 

c h a r a c t e r of h i s w i f e , Ann, w i l l i n t e r f e r e w i t h the flow of the 

s t o r y , and t h a t the reader might not be i n t e r e s t e d i n h i s 

p e r s o n a l problems: 

Ann. I'm going to keep her g h o s t l y . J u s t 
the odd b i t o f d i a l o g u e . 

"What i s l i t t l e Gog doing." 
" K i c k i n g . " 
I don'11 want her b u r s t i n g i n on us w i t h 

the f r e s h n e s s and o r i g i n a l i t y of her obser-
v a t i o n s . What we need here i s p e r s p e c t i v e . 
She's good with Gregory though. I t h i n k he 
h a l f l i k e s her. 

Don't go. The greased-pig chase and b a l -
l o o n launchings come next (pp. 160-161). 

The n a r r a t o r tops greased-pigs i n "Can We T a l k , " i n which 

the metaphor f o r a n a r r a t i v e i s a new b u i l d i n g . He composes 

a brochure "to l u r e f o l k i n t o my new b u i l d i n g . T i t l e d 'The 

Human Heart i n C o n f l i c t with I t s e l f . ' Promising 24-hour 

i n c i n e r a t i o n . And other f e a t u r e s " (Unspeakable, p. 106). 

In an e f f o r t to h o l d the reader's a t t e n t i o n , the n a r r a t o r 

becomes the reader's s p i r i t u a l guide, or h i s peer, or some other 

r e l a t i o n s h i p opposed to the c h i l l i n g h i e r a r c h y of e l i t i s t a r t i s t 

and humble reader. In "Rebecca," the n a r r a t o r uses the g e n t l e -

manly l o c u t i o n , "reader": 

I t i s c o r r e c t to f e e l f o r Rebecca i n t h i s 
s i t u a t i o n , but, reader, n e i t h e r can H i l d a ' s 
p o s i t i o n be c o n s i d e r e d an e n v i a b l e one, 
f o r t r u t h , as Bergson knew, i s a hard apple, 
whether one i s throwing i t or c a t c h i n g i t . 

"What remains?" Rebecca s a i d s t o n i l y . 
"I can l o v e you i n s p i t e of — " 
Do I_ want to be l o v e d i n s p i t e o f ? Do 

you? Does anyone? But a r e n ' t we a l l , to 
some degree? Aren't there important p a r t s of 
a l l us which must be, so to say, gazed past? 
I t u r n a b l i n d eye to t h a t aspect of you, and 
you t u r n a b l i n d eye to t h a t aspect of me, and 
w i t h these b l i n d eyes e y e b a l l - t o - e y e b a l l , to 
use an e x p r e s s i o n from the e a r l y 1960's. 
... (Amateurs, pp. 143-44). 



200 

The n a r r a t o r i s here a m o r a l i s t i n the mode of George E l i o t , 

d i r e c t i n g the reader's sympathies. 

The messages from the n a r r a t o r to the reader are not 

without g u i l e ; f o r example, the n a r r a t o r of "Rebecca" e x p l a i n s 

t h a t h i s s t o r y has been w r i t t e n f o r " s e v e r a l reasons," and t h a t 

nine of those reasons are " s e c r e t s " ; but there i s a t l e a s t 

the p o s s i b i l i t y o f d i r e c t communication and t r u s t (p. 144). 

D i r e c t communication r e j e c t s the extreme a e s t h e t i c p o s i t i o n 

t h a t the a r t i s t "expresses, he does not communicate," and i t 

r e j e c t s another fundamental t e n e t of the avant garde, which i s 

t h a t we a l l d w e l l i n p r i v a t e e p i s t e m o l o g i e s : i n f a c t , there 

i s a counter-impulse towards a common r e a l i t y . "I wanted to 

be a p a i n t e r , " says the n a r r a t o r of "See the Moon?": 

They get away w i t h murder i n my view.... 
You don't know how I envy them. They can 
p i c k up a Baby Ruth wrapper on the s t r e e t , 
glue i t on the canvas ( i n the r i g h t p l a c e , 
of course, t h e r e ' s t h a t ) , and l o ! people 
crowd around and c r y , "A r e a l Baby Ruth 
wrapper, by God, what c o u l d be r e a l e r than 
t h a t ! " F a n t a s t i c metaphysical advantage. 
You hate them, i f you're ambitious (p. 157). 

T h i s i s meant p l a y f u l l y , but i t i_s a f a n t a s t i c metaphysical 

advantage; there i s no escaping the g r a v i t a t i o n a l p u l l of 

r e a l i s m . Modern r e a d e r s have an a p p e t i t e f o r escapism, from 

s c i e n c e f i c t i o n to Hobbits, but they have an equal a p p e t i t e 

f o r a sense of the r e a l world, or a t l e a s t the t r a d i t i o n a l 

l i t e r a r y conventions t h a t seem to express the r e a l world (events 

t a k i n g p l a c e i n coherent temporal sequence, c h a r a c t e r s a c t i n g 

through comprehensible m o t i v a t i o n , and so on). D e s p i t e P l a t o ' s 

c o n t e n t i o n t h a t the t h i n g s we see around us are j u s t shadows 



201 

on the cave w a l l of the undeveloped i n t e l l e c t , d e s p i t e Sontag's 

a t t a c k on the "mundane" r e a l i s m of n i n e t e e n t h century l i t e r a r y 

conventions, d e s p i t e the development of a s e l f - c o n s c i o u s l i t -

e r a t u r e t h a t emphasizes the a r t i f i c i a l i t y of the s t o r y and the 

i n h e r e n t s o l i p s i s m of the n a r r a t o r , the reader continues to 

t e s t the s t o r y f o r correspondence to the world he l i v e s i n . 

Despite the s o p h i s t i c a t e d n o t i o n s of l i t e r a t u r e t h a t we have 

been a s s o c i a t i n g with the avant garde, the average reader continues 

to expect from l i t e r a t u r e u s e f u l i n f o r m a t i o n and p e n e t r a t i n g 

i n s i g h t s t h a t he can a p p l y to h i s own c o n d u c t - - a n d i f he 

doesn't f i n d them, he stops r e a d i n g . Hence, the tremendous 

p o p u l a r i t y of j o u r n a l i s m , i n which the reader's agent i s expected 

to d e l i v e r f a i t h f u l r e p o r t s from the i n f o r m a t i o n f r o n t ; hence 

the 24 hour, 15 channel i n f o r m a t i o n bombardment of t e l e v i s i o n ; 

and hence the a r t i s t i c dominance of movies. Compare the s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r who h a l t i n g l y d e s c r i b e s , i n coy, p a r o d i s t i c 

language, a r a i l r o a d s t a t i o n , a b a t t l e and a b e a u t i f u l enchanted 

p r i n c e s s w i t h the movie d i r e c t o r who r e n t s an a u t h e n t i c l o c o -

motive and d a z z l e s h i s audience w i t h smoke and gleaming s t e e l , 

60,000 costumed e x t r a s on the h i s t o r i c a l s i t e of the B a t t l e 

of Waterloo, and J u l i e C h r i s t i e as the p r i n c e s s . The s a t i s f i e d 

audience l u x u r i a t e s i n mimesis of the r e a l t h i n g ; s t e e l , 

blood and l o v e l y wide eyes. 

Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are aware of the g r a v i t a t i o n a l 

p u l l of r e a l i s m , or t h i n g s as they independently are, even 

though the b r u t e f a c t s might a c t as a check on t h e i r imagine 

a t i o n s . The n a r r a t o r of "Departures," f o r example, remembers 



202 

h i s g r a n d f a t h e r ' s c o n t r a c t to b u i l d some wooden barracks f o r 

army r e c r u i t s as green as the lumber. At h i s timber r i g h t s i n 

East Texas, the grandfather- f a l l s i n l o v e w i t h a dryad — 

"a wood nymph ... who dances around t r e e s i n f i n e l e a f - g r e e n 

t u t u and who c a r r i e s a g r e a t s i l v e r - s h i n i n g axe to whack 

anyone who does any k i n d of t h i n g i n i m i c a l to the w e l l - b e i n g 

and mental h e a l t h o f t r e e s " (p. 102). The s t o r y i s f i l l e d w i t h 

s i m i l a r whimsical touches, u n t i l the n a r r a t o r d e l i b e r a t e l y 

s p o i l s the mood: "This i s not r e a l l y how i t went. I am f a n t a s -

i z i n g . A c t u a l l y , he j u s t p l a i n c u t down the t r e e s " (p. 105). 

T h i s p l a i n - s p e a k i n g w i t h a vengeance , i n which the n a r r a t o r 

o f f e r s a c o n c e s s i o n t o t h i n g s as they are i n the r e a l world, 

i s p a r t of a convention i n s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t i v e s , a k i n d 

of i n t e r n a l check and balance on the runaway i m a g i n a t i o n . 

For example, now t h a t Don Quixote i s taken by so many c r i t i c s 

to be the source and f o n t of s e l f - r e f l e x i v e f i c t i o n and f l a g r a n t 

a r t i f i c e , i t might be f o r g o t t e n t h a t Cervantes makes a p e r s o n a l 

appearance without h i s magician's wand and robes to denounce 

a r e c e n t p l a g i a r i z e r : 

What I cannot help r e s e n t i n g i s t h a t he 
upbraids me f o r being o l d and c r i p p l e d , as 
i f i t were i n my power to stop the passage 
of time, or as i f the l o s s of my hand had 
taken p l a c e i n some t a v e r n , and not on the 
g r e a t e s t o c c a s i o n which any age, p a s t , p r e s e n t 
or f u t u r e , ever saw or can ever hope to s e e . ^ 

These l i n e s , touching on Cervantes' wounds a t the B a t t l e 

of Lepanto, a c t as a s t a b l e background to the novel's foreground 

of a r t i f i c e ; or as an index to Don Quixote's courage (which might 

(57) Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote, trans. J.M. Cohen 
(Harmondworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1950), p. 467. 



203 

otherwise be obscured by the Don's c o m i c a l l y exaggerated 

sense of m i l i t a r y honor). 

S i m i l a r l y , Thackeray i n V a n i t y F a i r suddenly t a l k s about 

h i m s e l f : 

T h i s , dear f r i e n d s and companions, i s my 
amiable o b j e c t - - t o walk w i t h you through 
the F a i r , to examine the shops and the 
shows t h e r e ; and t h a t we should a l l come 
home a f t e r the f l a r e , and the n o i s e , and 
the g a i e t y , and be p e r f e c t l y m i s e r a b l e 
i n p r i v a t e (pp. 180- 81) . 

Some c r i t i c s c o n s i d e r such l i n e s to be a r t i s t i c flaws. 

Dorothy Van Ghent says of Thackeray's methods, 

What we f e e l i s t h a t two o r d e r s of r e a l i t y are 
clumsily g e t t i n g i n each o t h e r ' s way: the 
order of i m a g i n a t i v e r e a l i t y , where Becky l i v e s , 
and the order of h i s t o r i c a l r e a l i t y , where 
W i l l i a m Makepeace Thackeray l i v e s . 

... Thackeray seems ... to be v i c t i m i z e d 
or t r i c k e d [by the convention of a u t h o r i a l 
a s i d e s ] i n t o a clumsy mishandling of perspec-

Robert A l t e r , commenting on the Thackeray passage quoted above, 

admits t h a t the l i n e s have resonance, "but i t i s the wrong k i n d 
59 

of resonance." The immediate f i c t i o n a l context of the passage 

i s Thackeray "at h i s e n e r g e t i c b e s t , and i t does not j u s t i f y t h i s 

sense of brooding misery, which would seem to be the author's 

own. In the very a c t , then, of p o i n t i n g to h i s motley garb, 

he removes h i s a r t i s t ' s mask and takes h i s p l a c e as a man among 

m i s e r a b l e men..." (p. 120). 

(58) Dorothy Van Ghent, The English Novel: Form and Function (1953; 
rpt. New York: Harper and Row, 1961), pp. 139-40. Note that she could 
apply the same argument to the Cervantes passage. 

(59) Alter, p. 119. 



204 

But f o r the n a r r a t o r to take h i s p l a c e among m i s e r a b l e 

men i s p r e c i s e l y the e f f e c t r e q u i r e d to put the reader i n 

the problem, to make him c a r e , and make him t r u s t the man-

i p u l a t i v e n a r r a t o r . We a l l know E l i o t ' s l i n e t h a t mankind 

can o n l y stand so much r e a l i t y ; the same goes f o r a r t i f i c e . 

Both Van Ghent and A l t e r argue f o r a k i n d of c r i t i c a l t i d i n e s s ; 

the author can do what he wants as long as he doesn't s l i p 

o u t s i d e the frame and i n t o h i s t o r i c a l circumstance (Van Ghent), 

or shamefully remove the sacred a r t i s t ' s mask ( A l t e r ) . But 

perhaps s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t i o n leads almost i n e v i t a b l y 

to a c o u n t e r - v o i c e t h a t turns away from d e l i b e r a t e l y a r t i f i c i a l 

techniques a s s o c i a t e d w i t h the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t i o n 

i n the d i r e c t i o n of r e a l i s m . In Barthelme's f i c t i o n , t h i s 

c o u n t e r - v o i c e works a g a i n s t the conventions of the avant garde 

by p r e s e n t i n g the p o s s i b i l i t y of d i r e c t communication and 

d i r e c t understanding, from the page to the reader's h e a r t . 

The O r i g i n a l , A u t h e n t i c S e l f as a D i r t y Great V i l l a i n 

Now f o r the f i n a l t h r i l l i n g d i p on the r o l l e r c o a s t e r 

of argument. I t was argued t h a t Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s i n response to t h e i r urban s o c i e t y - a s o c i e t y 

t h a t d i s c o u n t s the p o s s i b i l i t y of v a l u e i n language or l i t e r -

a t u r e . The c o u n t e r - n o t i o n was i n t r o d u c e d t h a t Barthelme's 

n a r r a t o r s n e v e r t h e l e s s r e s i s t the avant garde conventions 

t h a t arose from the breakdown of t r a d i t i o n a l a r t , and t h a t 

the n a r r a t o r sometimes a c t s as a l i a i s o n to the common r e a l i t y 

of the common reader. But now i t i s necessary to conclude 



205 

t h a t Barthelme's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r does not have the 

o p t i o n of c o n s i s t e n t r e a l i s m a t h i s command, f o r the simple 

reason t h a t he f i n d s the r e a l world unbearable. U n l i k e 

Nabokov's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s , who found t h a t t h e i r 

imaginations c o u l d a t times a c t i n c o n c e r t w i t h the laws of 

the r e a l world, Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s f i n d t h a t t h e i r imagin-

a t i v e f o r a y s are c u r t a i l e d by the r e a l world. There i s no 

p o s s i b i l i t y of i n t e g r a t i n g the s e l f with the world by means 

of the a r t i s t i c i m a g i n a t i o n because the world i s i n t r a c t a b l e 

and because the s e l f , the o r i g i n a l , a u t h e n t i c s e l f , i s a d i r t y 

g r e a t v i l l a i n , a c r e a t u r e t h a t c i v i l i z a t i o n w i l l never improve, 

a k i l l e r . 

I n "Departures," the n a r r a t o r r e p u d i a t e d h i s f a n c i f u l 

i m a g i n a t i o n and r e t u r n e d to the f a c t s of h i s g r a n d f a t h e r ' s 

l i f e -- "he j u s t p l a i n cut down the t r e e s . " The f l a t tone 

r e p r e s e n t s the world's a t t a c k on the i m a g i n a t i o n , the t o n a l 

e q u i v a l e n t of the treacherous r e a l i s m of A p o l l o n i u s i n IKeats.1 

Lamia. The world of b r u t e f a c t i s i n i m i c a l to the n a r r a t o r ' s 

i m a g i n a t i o n , l e a d i n g him i n Snow White to p o s i t an 

a l t e r n a t i v e u n i v e r s e : 

T r y i n g to break out of t h i s bag t h a t we are 
i n . What gave us the i d e a t h a t t h e r e was 
something b e t t e r ? How does the concept, 
"something b e t t e r , " a r i s e . What does i t 
look l i k e , t h i s something b e t t e r ? (p. 179). 

The heroes of Snow White n e v e r t h e l e s s "depart i n search of 

a new p r i n c i p l e " (p. 181). "Party" ends w i t h the n a r r a t o r 

saying to h i s w i f e , "Say, 'No,' r e f u s e me once and f o r a l l , 

l e t me t r y something e l s e " (p. 62), The h e r o i n e - n a r r a t o r 



206 

of " C i t y L i f e " imagines t h a t she has become the chosen d a r l i n g 

of the c i t y . When the " m i l l i o n s of u n i t s c r a w l i n g about on 

the s u r f a c e of the c i t y ... began dancing l i t t l e dances of 

suggestion and f e a r , " she imagines t h a t the "dances c o n s t i t u t e 

an i n v i t a t i o n of unmistakable import --an i n v i t a t i o n which, i f 
J 

accepted, l e a d s one down many muddy roads. I accepted. What 

was the a l t e r n a t i v e ? " ( C i t y L i f e , pp. 167-68). „ 

Snow White c o n t a i n s t y p o g r a p h i c a l b i l l b o a r d s which seem 

to be notes to or by the n a r r a t o r ; f o r example, "ANATHEMATIZATION 

OF THE WORLD IS NOT AN ADEQUATE RESPONSE TO THE WORLD" (p. 178). 

Despite t h i s h e l p f u l memo, the n a r r a t o r i s g e n e r a l l y unable to 

r e c o n c i l e h i m s e l f to the world. 

There are two sources of h i s f a i l u r e . One i s t h a t the 

world i s too much f o r him i n h i s d e b i l i t a t e d s t a t e ; the o t h e r 

i s t h a t he i s u n w i l l i n g to f a c e the more c h a o t i c and barbarous 

elements of the world t h a t are rooted i n h i s own psyche. The 

n a r r a t i v e masks, the non-emotions or concealed emotions, the. 

v a c i l l a t i o n of the " B r a i n Damage" n a r r a t o r , who l i v e s i n t h a t 

"gray area where nothing i s done, r e a l l y , but you v a c i l l a t e 

f o r a w h i l e , t h i n k i n g about i t " (p. 13.4), a l l are p a r t of the 

n a r r a t o r ' s n e u r o t i c shame about h i s t r u e p e r s o n a l i t y and h i s 

r e a l emotions. 

The avant garde a e s t h e t i c a s s e r t s "the c r e a t i v e autonomy 

of consciousness a g a i n s t the bourgeois r e a l i t y p r i n c i p l e " 

and demands "a permanent a l i e n a t i o n of consciousness from 

any f i x e d p o s i t i o n and from a l l p r e v i o u s modes of consciousness," 

l e a d i n g "to the i r r a t i o n a l i s m [and] s u b j e c t i v i s m ... t h a t mark 



207 

numerous m a n i f e s t a t i o n s of modernist a r t . " ^ ^ The q u e s t i o n 

i s whether t h i s a r t i s t i c s t r a t e g y has any j u s t i f i c a t i o n , "now 

t h a t i t seems to r e p r e s e n t l e s s a c r i t i c a l departure from the 

s t a t e of e x i s t i n g s o c i e t y than a mere r e f l e c t i n g m i r r o r of " i t " 

(p.321). Here are three attempts a t p s y c h o l o g i c a l s e l f - a n a l y s i s 

by t h r e e t y p i c a l l y s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s ; the l a s t makes an 

e x p l i c i t c o n n e c t i o n between the s o c i e t y and the observer: 

I am not w e l l ("Game," Unspeakable, 
p. ' 1 1 5 ) . 

I s u f f e r from a f r i g h t f u l i l l n e s s of the 
mind, light-mindedness. I t ' s not c a t c h i n g . 
You needn't s h r i n k ("See the Moon?" p. 156). 

T h i s i s the country of b r a i n damage, t h i s 
i s the map o f b r a i n damage, these are the 
r i v e r s of b r a i n damage, and see, those 
l i g h t e d - u p p l a c e s are the a i r p o r t s of b r a i n 
damage, where the damaged p i l o t s l a n d the 
b i g , damaged s h i p s . . . . 

And you can hide under the bed but b r a i n 
damage i s under the bed, you can h i d e i n 
the u n i v e r s i t i e s but they are the v e r y seat 
and s o u l of b r a i n damage - - B r a i n damage 
caused by bears who put your head i n t h e i r 
foaming jaws w h i l e you are s i n g i n g 'Masters 
of War,' ... B r a i n damage caused by a r t . 
I c o u l d d e s c r i b e i t b e t t e r i f I weren't 
a f f l i c t e d with i t ... ("Brain Damage," p. 146). 

The narratbi i s a s m a < ^ a s ^ i s s o c i e t y , and the a r t i s t i c 
process of d e s c r i b i n g the s o c i e t y generates more madness. 

"Kierkegaard U n f a i r to S c h l e g e l " e x p l a i n s j u s t how a r t damages 

the n a r r a t o r ' s p e r s o n a l i t y . I t seems he i s d i s t u r b e d about h i s 

mental h a b i t of i r o n y . A c c o r d i n g to Kierkegaard, the i r o n i s t 

d i r e c t s h i s i r o n y a t the world and "the whole of e x i s t e n c e has 

become a l i e n to the i r o n i c s u b j e c t ..." (p. 88). Kierkegaard 

says t h a t a c t u a l i t y o f i r o n y i s p o e t r y , and thus he i s hard 

(60) Graff, "Babbitt at the Abyss," p. 321. 



208 

on a novel by S c h l e g e l c a l l e d Lucinde. He says t h a t S c h l e g e l 

has c r e a t e d a new r e a l i t y t h a t r e p l a c e s a c t u a l i t y , c o n s t i t u t i n g 

a " v i c t o r y over the world" (p. 89). But what i s wanted i s 

not triumph over the world, which means animosity towards the 

world, but r e c o n c i l i a t i o n w i t h the world. The t r u e recon-

c i l i a t i o n w i t h the world i s r e l i g i o n : 

Without d i s c u s s i n g whether or not the t r u e 
r e c o n c i l i a t i o n i s r e l i g i o n (I have a deep 
b i a s a g a i n s t r e l i g i o n which p r e c l u d e s my 
d i s c u s s i n g the q u e s t i o n i n t e l l i g e n t l y ) l e t 
me say t h a t I b e l i e v e t h a t Kierkegaard i s 
here u n f a i r to S c h l e g e l . . . . I have reasons 
f o r t h i s ... but my reasons are not so 
i n t e r e s t i n g . What i s i n t e r e s t i n g i s my making 
the statement t h a t I t h i n k Kierkegaard i s 
u n f a i r to S c h l e g e l . And t h a t the whole t h i n g 
i s nothing e l s e but a damned shame and a 
crime! 

Because t h a t i s not what I t h i n k a t a l l . We 
have to do here w i t h my own i r o n y . Because 
of course Kierkegaard was " f a i r " to S c h l e g e l . 
In making a statement to the c o n t r a r y ... 
I am t r y i n g to a n n i h i l a t e Kierkegaard i n 
order to d e a l w i t h h i s d i s a p p r o v a l . 

Q: Of S c h l e g e l ? 
A: Of me. 

(pp. 89-91) 

The n a r r a t o r , shown here a t h i s most s p e c t a c u l a r l y 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s , i s c l e a r l y g u i l t y and d e f e n s i v e about both 

h i s i d e n t i t y and h i s a r t i s t i c methods. His defensiveness 

r e c u r s throughout the s t o r i e s . For example, i n a manner . r 

s i m i l a r to t h a t of J.D. S a l i n g e r i n "For E s m e — w i t h Love and 

Squalor," i n which the n a r r a t o r says he has " d i s g u i s e d myself 

so c u n n i n g l y t h a t even the c l e v e r e s t reader w i l l f a i l to 
61 

r e c o g n i z e me," the n a r r a t o r of "The F a l l i n g Dog" r e c e i v e s a 

(61) J.D. Salinger, "For Esm§ --with Love and Squalor," in Nine  
Stories (Boston: L i t t l e , Brown, 1953), pp. 156-57. 



209 

l e t t e r addressed to "Mr. XXXXXXXX" ( C i t y L i f e , p. 34). In 

"See the Moon?" the n a r r a t o r says: 

I was promising once.... 'You w i l l be a 
c r e d i t to us, George,' the admiral s a i d . 
That's not my name. I'm p r o t e c t i n g my 
' i d e n t i t y , what t h e r e i s of i t (p. 161). 

In "Daumier," which i s almost a parody of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t i v e , every stage of the s t o r y i s h e l p f u l l y c a p t i o n e d : 

FURTHER BOILING OF THE PLOT IN SUMMARY FORM, and so on. 

The CONCLUSION c o n t a i n s the e x p l i c i t moral of the s t o r y : 

"The s e l f cannot be escaped, but i t can be, with i n g e n u i t y 

and hard work, d i s t r a c t e d " , (p. 183). By way of escaping the 

s e l f , the n a r r a t o r of the s t o r y , Daumier, performs a k i n d of 

self-slaughter;'"'Not s e l f - s l a u g h t e r i n the crude sense,'" .he 

e x p l a i n s . "'Rather the c o n s t r u c t i o n of s u r r o g a t e s . Think of 

i t as a t r a n s p l a n t ' " (p. 163). He t h e r e f o r e c o n s t r u c t s two 

s u r r o g a t e s , a second-person Daumier and a t h i r d - p e r s o n 

Daumier, who a c t as s t a n d - i n s f o r the n a r r a t o r w i t h i n the 

p l o t . In the c o n c l u d i n g passages the n a r r a t o r f o l d s up the 

s t o r y ' s c h a r a c t e r s , wraps them i n t i s s u e paper, and puts them 

" c a r e f u l l y away i n a drawer" (p. 182). He a l s o saves the 

two surrogate Daumiers. He says, "the second-person Daumier 

e s p e c i a l l y w i l l bear watching and someday when my s o u l i s again 

s i c k l y and f u l l o f sores I w i l l take him out o f the drawer 

and watch him" (p. 183). C l e a r l y the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s manipu-

l a t i o n of the n a r r a t i v e i s a method of purging the n a r r a t o r 

o f sores and d i s e a s e s . T h i s i s made e x p l i c i t a t the b e g i n n i n g 

of the s t o r y : 



210 

I was speaking to Amelia. 
"Not s e l f - s l a u g h t e r i n the crude sense. 

Rather the c o n s t r u c t i o n of s u r r o g a t e s . Think 
of i t as a t r a n s p l a n t . " J 

"Daumier," she s a i d , "you are not making 
me happy." 

"The f a l s e s e l v e s i n t h e i r c l a t t e r and 
b o i s t e r and y o u t h f u l b r i o w i l l s l a y and 
bother and push out and put to a l l types 
of t r o u b l e the o r i g i n a l , a u t h e n t i c s e l f , 
which i s a d i r t y g r e a t v i l l a i n , as can be 
t e s t i f i e d and sworn to by anyone who has 
ever been awake" (p. 163). 

I t i s t r u e t h a t o t h e r Barthelme s t o r i e s are more o p t i m i s t i c 

about the nature of the s e l f . "The Sandman," f o r example, 

c o n s i s t s of a l e t t e r from the n a r r a t o r to h i s g i r l f r i e n d ; 

Susan's p s y c h i a t r i s t ; the l e t t e r proposes an end to the 

t h e r a p e u t i c s e s s i o n s because, i n the n a r r a t o r ' s o p i n i o n , 

"Susan i s wonderful. As i s " (Sadness, p. 95). Furthermore, 

"Daumier" i t s e l f o f f e r s s e v e r a l q u a l i f i c a t i o n s . When Daumier 

says the s e l f i s a d i r t y g r e a t v i l l a i n , Amelia r e p l i e s , "The 

s e l f a l s o dances ... sometimes" (Daumier answers, "I have not-

i c e d t h a t , but one pays dear f o r the o c c a s i o n a l s c h o t t i s c h e " 

[p. 163]). Daumier's f r i e n d d e l i v e r s an amusingly d o c t r i n a i r e 

speech on the n e c e s s i t y o f s e l f - l e a r n i n g , and Daumier makes 

a g r e a t pretense of having g i v e n profound thought to h i s 

c o n c l u s i o n s on innate d e p r a v i t y ^ c i t i n g a LIST OF RESEARCH 

MATERIALS CONSULTED: 

... Self-Abuse by Samuels, The Armed S e l f 
by C r a w l i e , Burt's The Concept of S e l f , 
Se1f-Congratu1a11on by McFee, F i n g a r e t t e ' s 
Se 1f-Deception ... The Many-Colored S e l f by 
Winsor and Newton... (p. 169). 

Despite these u n d e r c u t t i n g i r o n i e s , the f a c t remains t h a t 

the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t i v e techniques are the n a r r a t o r ' s 



211 

attempt to " d i s t r a c t " a t t e n t i o n from the a v i l a t h i s h e a r t . 

Furthermore, the n a r r a t o r ' s p e r s o n a l e v i l i s matched by an 

e v i l and d e s t r u c t i v e a e s t h e t i c : 

A l l modernist w r i t i n g i s i n some ways exper-
imental and r e v i s i o n a r y , t h r i v i n g on the 
decadence of p r e v i o u s forms and norms l i k e 
S w i f t ' s t u l i p s r i s i n g out of dung. Modernist 
w r i t i n g i s e b u l l i e n t l y p a r r i c i d a l and 
c a n n i b a l i s t i c . I t r e v e l s a p o c a l y p t i c a l l y 
i n the end of c u l t u r e --- the death of the 
n o v e l , the death of rhyme, the exhaustion 
o f n a r r a t i v e , the end o f the n i n e t e e n t h 
century — y e t feeds l u s t i l y on i t s murdered 
f o r e b e a r s . . . . ' ~ 62 

One suspects t h a t D i c k s t e i n t r e a t s terms l i k e " p a r r i c i d e " and 

" c a n n i b a l i s t i c " as c o l o r f u l but harmless metaphors. Otherwise 

he might have avoided " e b u l l i e n t . " The d e s t r u c t i o n of the 

l i t e r a r y t r a d i t i o n and the f i n e o l d v a l u e s of the n i n e t e e n t h 

century, a sense of p r e s i d i n g over the c a t a c l y s m i c c o n c l u s i o n 

to c u l t u r e - - t h i s e n t a i l s a c e r t a i n amount of p a i n , p a r t i c u l a r l y 

to the a r t i s t who might be expected to have a g r e a t e r apprec-

i a t i o n o f c u l t u r e and t r a d i t i o n than the average hoodlum. 

The guilty n a r r a t o r o f "Kierkegaard and S c h l e g e l " makes 

i t c l e a r t h a t Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s are aware of the a r t i s t i c 

s i n s they commit; they are not always as " e b u l l i e n t " as the 

humor of t h e i r c u l t u r a l pranks might suggest. One c o u l d 

t r a c e a c e r t a i n lowering of h i g h s p i r i t s from the c h e e r f u l 

e a r l y s t o r i e s to the l a t e s t , as i t g r a d u a l l y becomes more 

and more d i f f i c u l t to s u s t a i n what Daumier c a l l s n a r r a t i v e 

" b r i o . " A c r i t i c has complained t h a t Barthelme "stopped being 

(62) Dickstein, p. 261. 



212 

h i l a r i o u s and became so deadpan you c o u l d n ' t t e l l what he 
6 3 

was up t o " ; but i f one c o n c e n t r a t e s on the longer n a r r a t i v e s , 

Snow White and p a r t i c u l a r l y The Dead Father, there i s s u f f i c i e n t 

evidence t h a t Barthelme's s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s are 

modernist p a r r i c i d e s , depraved a t h e a r t , and s i c k about i t . 

Snow White ends w i t h the murder of B i l l , the l e a d e r 

of the dwarfs. His major s i n , a s i d e from the comic " v a t r i c i d e , " 

i s " f a i l u r e " (p. 180). One presumes t h a t the f o l l o w i n g --"THE 

FAILURE OF SNOW WHITE'S ARSE/REVIRGINIZATION OF SNOW WHITE/ 

APOTHEOSIS OF SNOW WHITE" (p. 181) - - i s a euphemism f o r the 

murder of Snow White as w e l l . P a u l , the o n l y redemptive 

f i g u r e i n the n o v e l , i s poisoned. The last.words 

of the n o v e l , Heigh-Ho, e t c . , are c h e e r f u l enough, but r a t h e r 

i n c o n c l u s i v e , j u s t as Snow White i t s e l f i s a somewhat 

rambling n a r r a t i v e , r e a d i n g l i k e a s e r i e s of tour de f o r c e 

s e t p i e c e s on a comic theme, which i s an o l d f a i r y t a l e 

(more Disney than Grimm) brought up to date. The Dead Father 

on the o t h e r hand, i s c o n c l u s i v e indeed. 

The hero, Thomas, and h i s two g i r l f r i e n d s are conducting 

the Dead Father on an e p i c e x p e d i t i o n to f i n d the golden 

f l e e c e , which the Dead Father hopes w i l l r e v i v i f y h i s f a d i n g 

powers. Such i s the o s t e n s i b l e purpose, o f the journey, 

the purpose the Dead F a t h e r b e l i e v e s i n . The a c t u a l pur-

pose of the t r i p i s to bury him a l i v e i n a g i a n t grave t h a t 

w i l l be f i l l e d i n by the f i n a l word of the s t o r y , "Bulldozers. 1 1 

(63) Joe Goldberg, "Hyperactive Ho-hum?" Creem, May 1978, p. 62. 



213 

The Dead Father i s of course God the.Father. Barthelme's 

s t o r i e s are a l l t i n g e d w i t h r a t h e r s a c r i l e g i o u s eschatology, 

Roman C a t h o l i c g e n e r a l l y , although the i s s u e of Jesus C h r i s t 

r a r e l y , as i t were, a r i s e s . His i n t e r e s t i s i n the one t r u e 

God, the source of v a l u e - — " O n Angels" begins, "The death of 

God l e f t the angels i n a strange p o s i t i o n " ( C i t y L i f e , p. 127). 

The Dead Father i s a l s o the dead t r a d i t i o n of a r t and c u l t u r e , 

although he i s presented as something of an e t h i c a l b a r b a r i a n ; 

he r e p r e s e n t s t r a d i t i o n i n i t s l e a s t a t t r a c t i v e a s p e c t : o p p r e s s i v e 

power. The Dead Father i s a f a t h e r , a parent, and thus h i s b u r i a l 

i s the end of f a m i l y l o v e , r e s p e c t and benign a u t h o r i t y . An 

i n t e r p o l a t e d s e c t i o n c a l l e d A Manual For Sons i s l e s s than r e s p e c t -

f u l ; many of Barthelme's s t o r i e s t u r n on d i v o r c e and a s t r a i n e d 

r e l a t i o n s h i p with c h i l d r e n . In "The Genius," f o r example, "The 

genius has n o t i c e d t h a t he does not i n t e r a c t w i t h c h i l d r e n 

s u c c e s s f u l l y " (Sadness, p. 28). 

In other words, The Dead Father i s a p a r a b l e about 

the death, the murder a c t u a l l y , of v a l u e . Thomas and h i s c o h o r t s 

are moral monsters, c r u e l i n the s u p e r c i l i o u s and i r o n i c modern 

manner, so greedy and u n f e e l i n g t h a t one would sympathize completely 

with the Dead Father, i f h i s O l d Testament q u a l i t i e s weren't 

c o n s t a n t l y emphasized: 

Then h i s anger grew and he c a l l e d f o r a 
brand o f even g r e a t e r weight and l e n g t h 
which was brought him by a m e t a p h o r i c a l l y 
present g i l l i e and s e i z i n g i t with h i s two 
fine-formed and noble hands he r a i s e d 
i t above h i s head, and every l i v i n g t h i n g 
w i t h i n h i s reach trembled and every dead 
t h i n g w i t h i n h i s reach remembered how i t 
got t h a t way... (pp. 52-53). 



214 

The Dead Father i s k i l l e d by Thomas, who f i r s t undergoes a mock 

i n i t i a t i o n r i t e i n which two t o r t u r e r s conduct Thomas to the Great 

Father Serpent, who r i d d l e s Thomas a r i d d l e . Thomas reads the 

c o r r e c t answer i n a s e c r e t p l a c e , and i n h i s h a b i t u a l s t u t t e r 

c o r r e c t l y answers the q u e s t i o n , "What do you r e a l l y f e e l ? " 

L i k e murderinging, I answered.... Why b l e s s 
my s o u l , s a i d the Great Father Serpent, 
he's got i t , and the two r u f f i a n s b l i n k e d 
a t me i n stunned wonder and I myself 
wondered, and marveled, but what I was 
wondering and marveling a t was the c l o s e n e s s 
w i t h which what I had answered accorded w i t h 
my f e e l i n g s , my l o s t f e e l i n g s t h a t I had never 
found b e f o r e . I suppose, the Father Serpent 
s a i d , t h a t the boon you wish granted i s the 
a b i l i t y to c a r r y out t h i s f o u l n e s s ? Of 
course, I s a i d , what e l s e ? Granted then 
he s a i d . . . . I was abroad i n the c i t y w i t h 
murderinging i n mind... (p. 46). 

D e b i l i t a t i n g s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s and a t t e n u a t e d emotions can o n l y 

be d i s p e l l e d by d e s t r u c t i o n . Thomas, who d i s c o v e r s h i s l o s t 

f e e l i n g s , i s the p r i n c i p a l c h a r a c t e r of the s t o r y , and the n a r r a t o r 

of h i s i n t e r p o l a t e d mock r i t e . The "second-person surrogate" 

appears b r i e f l y a t the beginning o f the n a r r a t i v e (which i s gener-

a l l y t o l d i n deadpan t h i r d person omniscience). He seems to be 

a spokesman f o r s o c i e t y , the c i t i z e n s of the c i t y c o n t r o l l e d by 
i 

the g i a n t f i g u r e of the Dead Father. The Dead Father works 

f o r the good o f a l l , but h i s 'leg i s o f t e n punctured by t i n y arrows: 

"We want the Dead Father to be dead," says the v o i c e of the 

murderous people. "We s i t w i t h t e a r s i n our eyes wanting the 
i 

Dead Father to be dead — meanwhile doing amazing t h i n g s w i t h our 
hands" (p. 5). 



215 

C o n c l u s i o n 

T h i s chapter has recorded the f a i l u r e of Barthelme's 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r . Not an a r t i s t i c f a i l u r e , s i n c e there i s 

"enough a e s t h e t i c excitement here to s a t i s y anyone but a damned 

f o o l " ("The Indian U p r i s i n g , " p. 9); but a f a i l u r e i n terms of 

the moral development and p s y c h i c i n t e g r a t i o n of the n a r r a t o r , 

who i s "not w e l l . " S e q u e n t i a l p l o t , r e a l i s t i c s e t t i n g , l o g i c a l 

m o t i v a t i o n , c o n s i s t e n t c h a r a c t e r s and other standard elements 

of the l i t e r a r y n a r r a t i v e have broken down over the century, so 

why not the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r ? 

"To bore the d o c t o r i s to become ... a case s i m i l a r to  

other cases; the p a t i e n t s t r i v e s m i g h t i l y to e s t a b l i s h h i s  

uniqueness" ("Florence Green i s 81," pp. 8-9). U n f o r t u n a t e l y f o r 

the n a r r a t o r h i s case i s not unique; h i s whole s o c i e t y i s s i c k . 

I t has no h i s t o r y , no sense of community, no f a m i l y t r a d i t i o n s , 

no c o n n e c t i o n with nature. There i s no governing code of ethics*, 

hence a l l behavior i s e q u a l l y p e r m i s s i b l e and f u t i l e . Language 

has been r e p l a c e d with v e r b a l t r a s h , and everyone has a problem 

e x p r e s s i n g value and emotion; i n f a c t , the n a r r a t o r ' s prose seems 

c a l c u l a t e d to g i v e nothing away. 

The n a r r a t o r i s aware, however, t h a t h i s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s 

i s t y p i c a l of the s o c i e t y , and t h a t h i s p a r t i c u l a r problems are 

a l s o the c l i c h e s and g l i b g e n e r a l i z a t i o n s o f pop s o c i o l o g y and 

undergraduate l i t e r a t u r e courses; thus he i s r a r e l y the spokesman 

f o r r e c e i v e d i d e a s . Although he s t r u g g l e s w i t h the r e v o l u t i o n a r y 

advances of "experimental" l i t e r a t u r e , he i s not enough of a 

d o c t r i n a i r e avant garde a r t i s t to search f o r a s c r a t c h to s t a r t from. 



216 

Instead, the n a r r a t o r i s o l d - f a s h i o n e d enough to attempt to keep 

i n touch w i t h h i s r e a d e r s , even to the e x t e n t of a p p e a l i n g to 

the reader's common-sense n o t i o n s o f r e a l i t y . Although the avant 

garde c o n t a i n s an impulse to abandon the o r d i n a r y reader i n f a v o r 

of t o t a l l y p r i v a t e f i c t i o n a l worlds, v e r b a l gardens f i l l e d with 

a r t i f i c i a l f l o w e r s and s t a t u e s o f N a r c i s s u s , Barthelme's n a r r a t o r s 

c a t e r to the reader (with mixed motives, to be s u r e ) : 

Reader ... we have r o l e s to p l a y , thou and I: 
you are the d o c t o r (washing your hands between 
h o u r s ) , and I, I am, I t h i n k , the nervous 
d r e a r y p a t i e n t . I am f r e e a s s o c i a t i n g , 
b r i l l i a n t l y , b r i l l i a n t l y , to put you i n t o the 
problem. Or f o r f e a r of b o r i n g you: which? 
("Florence Green i s 81," p. 4). 

The n a r r a t o r ' s s e l f - c o n s c i o u s d i a l o g u e w i t h the reader 

and with h i m s e l f r e v e a l s t h a t h i s problems are not e n t i r e l y due 

to the complex of Breakdowns (language, p h i l o s o p h y , r e l i g i o n ) ; 

i n p a r t , the n a r r a t o r ' s problems l i e w i t h i n h i m s e l f . He knows 

h i m s e l f g u i l t y , irredeemable and depraved. Barthelme uses h i s 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r s to show t h a t c i v i l i z a t i o n i n America i s 
i 

a facade, and t h a t h y p e r c i v i l i z e d s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s a means of 

evading the l i t e r a l l y b r u t a l t r u t h — "We want the Dead Father to 

be dead." 

One wonders what w i l l happen i n Barthelme's f i c t i o n i n the 

f u t u r e . His n a r r a t o r s c e r t a i n l y f o r e s e e a s t r u g g l e , a t y p i c a l l y 

v i o l e n t , " p a r r i c i d a l and c a n n i b a l i s t i c " s t r u g g l e : 
Our r e p u t a t i o n f o r e x c e l l e n c e i s u n e x c e l l e d 
... And w i l l be maintained u n t i l the de-
s t r u c t i o n of our a r t by some other a r t . . . 
("Our Work and Why We Do I t , " Amateurs, 
p. 9). 

Perhaps i n Barthelme's f u t u r e work the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r w i l l 

become the s e l f - d e s t r u c t i v e n a r r a t o r . 



217 

CONCLUSION 

One i s tempted to make pronouncements and p r e d i c t i o n s about 

the f u t u r e of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n o v e l . Has M t h e c y c l e of r e l e x -

i v i t y ... gone about as f a r as i t can," as Maurice Beebe believes,"'" 

or does the good f i g h t remain to be fought a g a i n s t what some c r i t i c s 

t e l l us i s a lumbering superannuated monster, the r e a l i s t i c 

n o v e l : 

[John Gardner's Grendel] i s another f i e r c e 
blow s t r u c k a g a i n s t the r e a l i s t i c n o v e l , 
the dead n o v e l . Good, I say: l e t ' s h o l d 
no more m i r r o r s up to nature. Make nature 
approach the a r t i s t ; make nature g r o v e l ^ 

The temptation to make p r e d i c t i o n s should be r e s i s t e d , because 

i t should be obvious by now t h a t c r i t i c a l o r t h o d o x i e s r e g a r d i n g 

the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r q u i c k l y go out of f a s h i o n . We c i t e d 

Ford Madox Ford as a c r u s t y and p e t u l a n t foe of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s 

n a r r a t o r , but i t i s o n l y f a i r to remember t h a t Ford was aware 

t h a t t a s t e s change: 

That t h i s i s not the f i n a l stage of the Novel 
i s obvious; there w i l l be developments t h a t 
we cannot foresee,, strain our visions;n how we may. 
There are probably -- humanity being s t a b l e , 
change the world how i t may — t h e r e are 
probably e t e r n a l p r i n c i p l e s f o r a l l the a r t s , 
but the a p p l i c a t i o n s of those . p r i n c i p l e s 
are e t e r n a l l y changing, or e t e r n a l l y r e v o l -
v i n g . I t i s f o r i n s t a n c e an obvious and 
unchanging f a c t t h a t i f an author i n t r u d e s 
h i s comments i n t o the middle of h i s s t o r y he 
w i l l endanger the i l l u s i o n conveyed by t h a t 
s t o r y — but a g e n e r a t i o n of readers may come 

(1) Beebe, p. 25. 
(2) D. Keith Mano, as quoted in Ditsky, p. 297. 



218 

along who would p r e f e r w i t n e s s i n g the capers 
of the author to being c a r r i e d away by s t o r i e s 
and t h a t g e n e r a t i o n o f r e a d e r s may c o i n c i d e 
w i t h a g e n e r a t i o n of w r i t e r s t i r e d of s e l f -
o b l i t e r a t i o n . .. . Or you might, again, have 
a world t i r e d of the r e a l l y w e l l c o n s t r u c t e d 

novel every word of which c a r r i e s i t s s t o r y 
forward: then you w i l l have a movement 
towards d i f f u s e n e s s , backboneless sentences, 
d i g r e s s i o n s , and inchoateness.^ 

Ford i s t h i n k i n g of the " i n t r u s i v e author" of the n i n e -

t e e n t h century, and a l s o , i t would seem, of Sterne. Although 

c r i t i c s would now t e l l us t h a t every l i n e of T r i s t r a m Shandy 

c o n t r i b u t e s to a r i g i d , l o g i c a l scheme -- Ford's " w e l l c o n s t r u c t e d " 

n o v e l , p e r h a p s — i t remains t r u e t h a t Sterne g i v e s the impres-

s i o n of being d i f f u s e , d i g r e s s i v e and i n c h o a t e . The s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r i s a d e v i c e a t the d i s p o s a l of the i n n o v a t i v e 

a r t i s t . The f o l l o w i n g i s not an i n t e r c h a n g e a b l e example of 

the t y p i c a l s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r , i t i s an example of Sterne's 

unique n a r r a t o r i n i n i m i t a b l e a c t i o n : 

I have dropp'd the c u r t a i n over t h i s scene 
f o r a minute, — to remind you of one t h i n g , 
-- and to inform you of another,^ 

The very p u n c t u a t i o n — those u b i q u i t o u s dashes — captures the 

e f f e c t of a n a r r a t o r who p r i z e s the s i n g u l a r and the t e l l i n g 

d e t a i l above e v e r y t h i n g , and whose k i n d l y , s e n t i m e n t a l view of 

the world i s expressed, p a r a d o x i c a l l y enough, through an a g i l e , 

indeed r e s t l e s s , i n t e l l e c t . Those dashes seem to be the typo-

g r a p h i c a l e q u i v a l e n t to a s t r a y thought snatched from the t h i n 

a i r i n s i d e the n a r r a t o r ' s head — or a quick t r i p to France. 

Think of the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r as a l i t e r a r y t o o l 

which i s kept i n a k i n d of co-op warehouse open to any w r i t e r i n 

(3) Ford, pp. 148-49. 
(4) Sterne, p. 109'. 



219 

any century. I t should be obvious t h a t the use of the s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r does not imply any promise on the p a r t of 

the a r t i s t to c r e a t e an a n t i - r e a l i s t i c work. Ford says the s e l f -

conscious n a r r a t o r (which he t h i n k s of as an i n t r u s i v e author) 

n e c e s s a r i l y i m p l i e s the breakdown of f i c t i o n a l v e r i s i m i l i t u d e , 

but t h e r e i s no reason why the s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r can't be 

as v i v i d and r e a l i s t i c a presence as a c h a r a c t e r . Such t h i n g s 

don't happen i n r e a l l i f e , says Nabokov's sad n a r r a t o r , s i g n i f y -

i n g h i s w i l l i n g n e s s to p l a y by the r u l e s of the u n i v e r s e . Look 

f o r y o u r s e l f , says Barthelme's b i t t e r n a r r a t o r , s i g n i f y i n g the 

c o r r e l a t i o n between the f i c t i o n a l world and the reader's world. 

But i f each a r t i s t transforms h i s a r t i s t i c d e v i c e s , and 

presents a unique v i s i o n , then i s n ' t the f i c t i o n a l world p r i v a t e , 

s o l i p s i s t i c , e s c a p i s t ...? No, because the a r t i s t g i v e s f r e s h 

and unique e x p r e s s i o n to the o l d and unchanging i s s u e s — which 

i s why l i t e r a t u r e from ages long gone and f o r g o t t e n s t i l l i n t e r e s t s 

us. There i s nothing new under the sun, and i t i s the task of 

the a r t i s t to r e v i t a l i z e such t i r e d c l i c h e s as "There i s nothing 

new under the sun." What o f t was thought, but ne'er so w e l l 

expressed i s s t i l l a d e f i n i t i o n of g r e a t a r t , d e s p i t e the romantic 

r e v o l u t i o n t h a t separates our times from those of Pope. The 

s e l f - c o n s c i o u s n a r r a t o r i s the means by which the reader i s 

seduced to become i n t e r e s t e d once again i n the t i r e d o l d s u b j e c t s 

of l o v e , j u s t i c e , s i n and death. He i s not t h e r e to caper l i k e 

Ford's f o o l f o r the e q u a l l y f o o l i s h reader, or to a c t as the 

spokesman f o r s t e r i l e p h i l o s o p h e r s of meaninglessness. He i s 

there to a c t as a b r i d g e between the a r t i s t ' s v i s i o n and the 



220 

reader's world: 

He wanted to be an Untouchable, Paul d i d . 
That was h i s i d e a of a contemporary c a r e e r . 
But then a g i r l walked up and touched him 
(slapped him, a c t u a l l y ; i t ' s a complicated 
s t o r y ) . And he j o i n e d us, here i n the 
i m b r o g l i o ("See the Moon?."; p. 158). 

J o i n e d us, here i n the common i m b r o g l i o . 

i 



221 

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