Literary Criticism as an Autobiographical Form in Vladimir Nabokov’s 'Pale Fire' Humairaa Mayet College

At a first glance, on a surface-level, one may be inclined to believe that the literary criticism executed by Charles Kinbote in Pale Fire is simply critical in form, but upon further inspection, it is made clear that Kinbote has incessantly adjusted and manipulated ‘Pale Fire’, a poem by John Shade, thus resulting in his literary criticism being autobiographical in form. In this essay I will take on the role of “the hapless critic” (Pellérdi, 103), and allow myself to be the victim of Nabokov’s ridicule as I attempt to decipher Pale Fire. In a bid to untangle the complex web Kinbote has woven around Shade’s poem, I will not dismiss his commentary as the ravings of a lunatic, even though in several cases his writing certainly mirrors that of a madman. I will, in fact, focus closely on his interpretations of ‘Pale Fire’, although mostly incorrect – yet somewhat accurate on occasion – and use his analyses to illustrate how Nabokov satirises the genre of literary criticism.

Kinbote forcibly inserts and integrates himself into ‘Pale Fire’, marring Shade’s poetic intentions and altering the reader’s understanding of the poem. Furthermore, Kinbote controls the narrative of Pale Fire – thus he is able to shape perceptions and...