The Evolution of Nabokov’s Poetic Style: a Stylochronometric Analysis of Attributive Patterns
The goal of this paper is to investigate attributive constructions in the poetry of Vladimir Nabokov.The material comprises Nabokov’s lyric poetry, published by the author himself in collections representing all major creative periods. The focus is on one of the most significant aspects of his style: the set of attributive types and their relationships, which together form a potential system
Beyond categorizing different grammatical types of attributes (adjectives, participial phrases, subordinate clauses, etc.), we quantified more complex phenomena such as attribute inversion and polyfunctional attributes, which were likely subject to strong interference from English.
The analysis reveals two distinct tendencies of stylistic evolution in Nabokov’s poetry. The first tendency is defined by the specific processes of divergence and declining inversion. While English-language influence accelerated these changes, it did not alter the essential course. The second tendency involves an oscillating dynamic in the use of polyfunctional attributes that persists throughout all phases of his creative work.
These findings demonstrate that Nabokov’s poetic style evolved through gradual transformation rather than radical rupture. External factors such as country of residence and linguistic environment quantitatively modulated the pace and scope of changes but failed to precipitate qualitative shifts in his attribute (adnominal) system.
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