On July 15-19, 2002, Vladimir Nabokov Museum in St. Petersburg held its first International Vladimir Nabokov Symposium. Its goal was to allow established scholars and their promising young colleagues to share their latest ideas and discoveries in the field of Nabokov studies as well as to explore Nabokov's St. Petersburg.
The Vladimir Nabokov Symposium was organized by the Nabokov Museum with the support of the U. S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg.
Proceedings of the Vladimir Nabokov Symposium are published on this website. Some papers delivered at the Nabokov Museum during the VNS as well as at other conferences are now prepared for publication in the Russian language.
The Symposium focused on:
1. Nabokov and the United States (poetics of VN's later works, VN's “American” biography and bibliography, VN's translations of Russian works into English, VN's influence on contemporary American literature, etc.);
2. St. Petersburg and Russia in Nabokov's Oeuvre (this theme allows a broad range of interpretation of VN's “Russian” and “American” novels with the focus on their reflecting his Russian and especially St. Petersburg background);
3. Beyond Nabokov's Metaphysics: “This world” in VN's fiction and poetry (scholars presenting papers on this theme are encouraged to compare VN's metaphysics with the representations of “so-called 'reality'” in his works);
4. Nabokov's Butterflies (VN's Lepidoptera, butterfly imagery in VN's fiction, comparison of VN's approaches to nature and to fiction, etc.).
English was the official language of the Nabokov Symposium. Exception was made for established Russian scholars who delivered their papers in Russian, with a consecutive translation into English.
On July 19, 2002 VNS participants toured the Nabokov Estates in Rozhdestveno, Vyra, and Batovo.
Two exhibitions - Nabokov in Switzerland by [Horst Tappe] and “Never Odd or Even” by Barbara Bloom (USA) - were on at the Nabokov Museum at the time of the Symposium.
The museum extends its sincere thanks for support of the exhibits to the U.S. Consulate General in St. Petersburg, Pro Arte Institute in St. Petersburg, CEC International Partners, Mr. Christopher Gordon, and the artists themselves.
On July 15-19, 2002, Vladimir Nabokov Museum in St. Petersburg held its first International Vladimir Nabokov Symposium. Its goal was to allow established scholars and their promising young colleagues to share their latest ideas and discoveries in the field of Nabokov studies as well as to explore Nabokov's St. Petersburg.