“Nabokov’s Philosophy of Art,” in Nabokov Studies (2017)
This essay is an attempt to infer and systematize Nabokov’s philosophy of art. Constantine Muravnik uses the phrase “philosophy of art” in two senses: one refers to the philosophical study of art, that is, the relation of art to aesthetics, ethics, and metaphysics; the other to the ontological foundation of artistic production. Consequently, Nabokov’s philosophy of art simultaneously stands for a study of the philosophical aspects of his oeuvre, including his own theoretical statements on art and the network of affinities with certain aesthetic theories, as well as for a transcendental deduction of the original and practical source of his artistic genius.