The Symbol of the Mirror

Paper Summary:

The paper relates that in Russian literature the symbol of the mirror plays an important role, as in literature in Germany, France and in other lands since the early 1800s. The paper discusses how the two Russian writers, Vladimir Nabokov and Yuri Olesha, treat the themes of the mirror and perspective in two passages selected from their books, "The Gift" and "Envy", respectively. The paper shows how Nabokov uses the mirror as a closeup picture of the character of Fydor while Olesha employs it as a technique to analyze the world and its relationship to himself.

From the Paper:

"Yuri Olesha is playing around with perspectives in this long passage which ends with the phrase above. The scene takes place when he is looking into a street mirror, excited at the tricks it plays, for when he sees a pedestrian coming in the mirror, it turns out he or she is coming from the opposite way they are actually coming from and creates a surprise when the pedestrian brushes against him on the side he is not expecting. The mirror is the focus of this scene in the street."
"The mirror also creates an effect the opposite of a telescopic effect, making things appear very small, as if looking in the wrong end of binoculars, and then they suddenly are large when seen with the naked eye. This admission that perspective is warped and distorted is an image of how he sees things in life, as all people do."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Cornwell, Neil "Dar [The Gift]." The Literary Encyclopedia. 30 June 2002. <http://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5747>.
• Maslenikov, Oleg A. "Russian Symbolists: The Mirror Theme and Allied Motifs." Russian Review, Vol. 16, No. 1 (Jan., 1957), pp. 42-52
• Nabokov, Vladimir. The Gift. New York: Vintage. Reissue edition, 1991.
• Olesha, Yuri K. (Translated by Thomas Berczynski). Envy. New York: Ardis Publishers. 1979.

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