Vladimir Nabokov, Izobretenie Val'sa [The Waltz Invention]

Sigrun Frank (University of Oxford)

Ed. by Neil Cornwell, University of Bristol
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 2.2.2.00: Post-1917 Writing and Culture in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, 1917-present.
Vol. editors: Neil Cornwell (University of Bristol), Roman Koropeckyj (University of California, Los Angeles), Andrei Rogatchevski (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1938

Places

Russia (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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Vladimir Nabokov's last drama,

The Waltz Invention

(

Izobretenie Val'sa

), written in Southern France in the autumn of 1938 and published in November in the Russian émigré journal

Russkie zapiski

(“Russian Notes”), built on the success of his previous play

The Event

(

Sobytie

, April 1938). In contrast to the latter,

Izobretenie Val'sa

was never staged by any of the Russian émigré theatres in Paris. A disagreement in December 1938 between the proposed director, Iurii Annenkov, and the management of the “Russkii teatr” (“Russian Theatre”) put paid to any plans for its production. Although Nabokov, presumably in expectation of his move to America, had the play translated for an English-speaking audience, it was staged neither in America nor in England and the translation itself…

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1622 words

Citation: Frank, Sigrun. "Izobretenie Val'sa". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 June 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4433, accessed 16 April 2024.]

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