112 The Novelist and the Witch-Doctor – Unpacking Nabokov’s Case Against Freud (with Joshua Ferris)

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Arts, Books

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2017

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“I admire Freud greatly,” the novelist Vladimir Nabokov once said, “as a comic writer.” For Nabokov, Sigmund Freud was “the Viennese witch-doctor,” objectionable for “the vulgar, shabby, fundamentally medieval world” of his ideas. Author Joshua Ferris (The Dinner Party, Then We Came to the End) joins Jacke for a discussion of the author of Lolita and his special hatred for “the Austrian crank with a shabby umbrella.” Learn more about the show at historyofliterature.com. Support the show at patreon.com/literature. *** This show is a part of the Podglomerate network, a company that produces, distributes, and monetizes podcasts. We encourage you to visit the website and sign up for our newsletter for more information about our shows, launches, and events. For more information on how The Podglomerate treats data, please see our Privacy Policy. Since you're listening to The History of Literature, we'd like to suggest you also try other Podglomerate shows surrounding literature, history, and storytelling like Storybound, Micheaux Mission, and The History of Standup. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglamorate Network and LIT Hub Radio.
0:07.0	Hello, I'm Jack Wilson.
0:12.0	Welcome to the History of Literature. Okay, here we go. Let's jump right in. We've got a great episode today. Joshua Ferris is here.
0:37.0	I hope you're all familiar with Joshua Ferris.
0:41.0	Author, his books are great. The dinner party is his collection of short stories.
0:46.1	That's the most recent one, but his novels are excellent too. He's a smart guy, a very, very
0:52.1	perceptive observer and a beautiful writer.
0:55.6	Highly recommended.
0:57.2	So on today's show, Joshua Ferris stops by to discuss Vladimir Nabokov and Sigmund Freud to to
1:05.0	Tite
1:10.0	Titeans of the 20th century and their relationship,
1:08.0	if that's the right word, their connection,
1:10.6	their spiritual connection, Nabokov had a particular animosity towards Igman Freud, which he returned to again and again.
1:19.0	He can't quit Freud.
1:21.0	He discusses his hatred for Freud in the prefaces to many of his novels.
1:26.5	The novels themselves are often suffused with Freudian characters and thoughts and commentary, told in a satirical or venomous way. He cites Freud, he borrows from Freud,
1:39.0	he mocks him, he satirizes him, and he can hardly give an interview without bringing him up.
1:44.0	Here's an example.
1:46.0	Or you know what, let's save the example. Let's save that for the end.
1:49.0	Let's do this like a mystery that we're going to unlock a puzzle that's appropriate given our people
1:59.1	today Freud spent his career trying to unlock the puzzle of human consciousness and Nabokov was a great fan of inventing problems and chess puzzles.
2:09.0	All his life, that's how he entertained himself, studying butterflies and writing novels and devising
	...

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