2. Justifications
In my reading for writers journalism class we were assigned to read Nobody Better, Better Than Nobody written by Ian Frazier. On the third page of the profile there's an allusion to Lolita, "In Illinois, I passed a motor home with a large metal nameplate on the back saying 'The Humberts'" (92). This isn't a pop culture reference; however, I thought it was ironic that there was an allusion to Lolita in my other class's reading.
What is a "Lolita" in the popular imagination?
"Lolita" in the popular imagination is like jailbait. Perhaps a little like toddlers in tiaras, a popular t.v show about crazy mothers dressing up their very young daughters and entering them in beauty pageants. These young girls know there is something special about them from the attention they're receiving, but they're too young to understand why they're getting the attention. Their moms are dressing them in dresses designed for a slutty senior prom, with pounds of make-up caked on their faces, and sticking them in mini stilettos. The young girls are being sexualized by their moms in order to win the pageant. The connection to Lolita comes from the mom putting their daughters in this sexualized position. Similar to a mix of Humbert's forcing and his late wife putting her daughter in his care.
I am visiting to suggest a "theme" for you blogs. You haven't posted in a while, and you may have slept through the theme discussions, but... you would hunt around in the book looking for examples of a motif that appears and reappears in the text. Actually, the sexualization of little girls (subject of reality shows?) does appear in Lolita, but in a '50s style: her culture has made her more experienced and "depraved" than the old-fashioned Humbert expects. There are lots of examples of this if you're game to do it as a step towards the research paper.
ReplyDeleteI am visiting to suggest a "theme" for you blogs. You haven't posted in a while, and you may have slept through the theme discussions, but... you would hunt around in the book looking for examples of a motif that appears and reappears in the text. Actually, the sexualization of little girls (subject of reality shows?) does appear in Lolita, but in a '50s style: her culture has made her more experienced and "depraved" than the old-fashioned Humbert expects. There are lots of examples of this if you're game to do it as a step towards the research paper.
ReplyDelete