Le allusioni puškiniane in Dar di Vladimir Nabokov. Alcune riflessioni sull’intertestualità e la sua traduzione

Abstract

Examining the case of Vladimir Nabokov’s Russian novel Dar and its English translation The Gift, this paper offers a reflection on translatability of an intertextual presence in a literary text. In particular, the paper focuses on the allusions to the works and life of Alexander Pushkin, whose figure plays a significant role in the development of the novel’s main character. Pushkin’s presence permeates the text at several levels and the maintenance of this intertextual connection was indeed one of the challenges for the American version of the book, which was translated by Michael Scammell and Dmitri Nabokov with the collaboration of the author.