Vladimir Nabokov, Glory

Emily Collins (University of Bristol)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

's title, both in Russian [

Podvig

] and in English, indicates its relationship to chivalric ideals of the knightly quest. Written in Russian in 1930, while Nabokov was living in Berlin, and first published serially in 1931-32, the novel was given at least three tentative titles before Nabokov (then writing as “Sirin”) arrived at

Podvig

(“Deed” or “Exploit”). Two of these,

Zolotoi vek

(“Golden Age”) and

Romanticheskii vek

(“Romantic Times”) indicate the centrality of chivalric romance to the novel. But Nabokov's first working title invokes rather the idea of completion, of triumphant consummation, of becoming real: this was

Voploshchenie

, which means “Embodiment”.

Podvig

combines the romantic overtones and the emphasis on the climactic end of the quest. When he…

1655 words

Citation: Collins, Emily. "Glory". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 January 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4947, accessed 19 March 2024.]

4947 Glory 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.