Imagery in Vladimir Nabokov's Last Russian Novel ("The Gift"), Its English Translation and Other Prose Works of the 1930s

Based on a modified version of Roman Jakobson's theory of metaphor and metonymy, structural and thematic analyses of imagery in Vladimir Nabokov's last Russian novel, Dar / The Gift, and in other prose works of the 1930s show growing complexity in the employment of images which can form intricate patterns throughout an entire work. The results confirm that Dar / The Gift constitutes the culmination of Nabokov's Russian prose. Some of his Russian works were translated into English soon after their publication; others were tackled decades later. A comparative analysis of imagery in Nabokov's autotranslations or rewritten English versions grants insights into long-term artistic developments, and it thus opens doors to further research on the relationship between his Russian and English works.