The Motif of Death in V. Nabokov's Novels of the 1930s

The degree thesis researches into the motif of death in the novels of Vladimir Nabokov of the 1930s (“The Luzhin Defense”, “Camera Obscura” (“Laughter in the Dark”), “Despair”, “Invitation to a Beheading”, “The Gift”). The motif of death in Nabokov’s works is closely linked with the problem of understanding the past and overcoming it, since death itself is an irreversible past. The analysis in the first chapter of the research allows us to trace how the perception of death by all characters depends on their age and creativity. It also establishes a connection between the perception of death by the characters and the presence of the author's “salvation” power in the novels. An important category here is “being-toward-death” as the possibility of perceiving one's own death. The second chapter of the study analyzes the inextricable sequential connection of the death motive with a number of other motives - loneliness, duality and madness. It is established that overcoming all these phenomena is possible only through creativity.