The concept "other worldliness" as the object of parody and reflection in Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire

The problem of author's philosophy of life is one of the key problems in Nabokov studies. In this article the author tries to solve the problem of interpretation of the concept "other worldliness", one of the most discussed by researchers. The object of research here is Nabokov's novel Pale Fire. In this novel the author realized two variants of understanding the "other worldliness" concept and showed it in the double plot. The origin and structure of the novel's double plot is analyzed in this article. Analysis of historical discourses (history of ideas) is used as a research method. The parody aspects of the plot are realized in the sketches of the novel about Zembla King by Charles Kinbote. The object of Nabokov's parody is the idea of consolation after death and acceptance of life as meaningless and wrong experience. The king of Zembla (and so Kinbote) feels the fear of the puzzling world. The reason of the fear is the loss of traditional cultural and religion ways of connection with "other worldliness". The king of Zembla totally mistrusts and detests his life experience. It is the reason why he changes masks and can not find his original personality. Charles Kinbote has a panic fear of death, which made him a mentally-ill person. As a result, fear transforms him into a hypnotist. He tries to control the poet John Shade's personality. The parody aspects of the plot are analyzed in connection with the discourse of American and English Shakespeare's cinema parody that was so popular in the first quarter of the 20th century. On the other hand, Shakespeare's plays Hamlet and Midsummer Night Dream give images for the representation of the "other worldliness" concept both for John Shade's poem and for Charles Kinbote's novel sketches. Reflection aspects of the representation of the "other worldliness" concept are analyzed in connection with the notion "spots of time". The notion "spots of time" has its origin in Wordsworth's poetry. "Spots of time" can be understood as a personal experience of contact with the world where connection with God is possible in the realization of individual subjectivity. John Shade described the same experience in his poem. The author's conclusion is that Nabokov prefers to understand "other worldliness" as a realization of personal subjectivity. By this preference he overcomes the tradition of understanding "other worldliness" that dominates in Russian literature and creates his own language for personal subjectivity.

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