Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Maniac in the Garden: Lolita and the Process of American Civilization

2012; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 53; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00111619.2011.587475

1939-9138

Paolo Simonetti,

Samuel Beckett and Modernism

In Lolita, Nabokov provided America with a new literary childhood, challenging both the Romantic myth of adolescence and the pastoral myth conveyed by travel narratives to the New World. From a comparative analysis of the novel and its two cinematic adaptations, Lolita stands out as an embodiment of the “garden” described by Leo Marx, soon to be invaded by Humbert's “machine.” The result is a powerful and disturbing representation of America as youth, uncovering the violence and coercion of any act of civilization.