The DIVIDED SELF metaphor: A cognitive-linguistic study of two poems by Nabokov1

Abstract

This paper will approach two of Nabokov’s poems from the perspective of embodied realism in Cognitive Linguistics. We will shed light on the reasons why we believe that Nabokov makes use of the DIVIDED SELF metaphor in his poetry. In the analysis of the poems we will explain how the Subject is understood in the author’s life in exile whereas the Self is understood in the author’s feelings of anguish and longing for his Russian past. Finally, we will also explain how Nabokov’s use of the DIVIDED SELF metaphor thematically structures both poems.

Este artículo explicará dos poemas de Nabokov desde la perspectiva de la lingüística cognitiva. Se razonará porqué consideramos que Nabokov utiliza la metáfora del YO DIVIDIDO en su poesía. En el análisis se explicará cómo el sujeto se entiende en la vida del exilio del autor mientras que el ego se aprecia en los sentimientos de angustia y nostalgia por su pasado ruso. Finalmente, también explicaremos cómo el uso de la metáfora del YO DIVIDIDO estructura temáticamente ambos poemas.