Fictional Worlds Theory Problematized: Global Logical Impossibilities in Vladimir Nabokov’s Novels

Abstract

Confronting fictional worlds theory with three novels by Vladimir Nabokov (The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Pale Fire, and Look at the Harlequins!), the author argues that the theory is problematized by Nabokov’s employment of global logical impossibilities. All three novels elicit fluid, fragmentary imaginations of “fictional worlds”; however, by requiring readers to juggle between several logically incompatible interpretations of characters and plots without reaching any synthesis, Nabokov refuses to let these imaginations of “worlds” solidify into fictional worlds in the theoretical sense. This obstruction of world-creation challenges the analytical power of fictional worlds theory and questions some of its basic assumptions. A further examination of three solutions that the theory proposes for logical impossibility shows that they fail to account for cases like Nabokov’s without undermining the soundness or status of the theory itself. This problematization ultimately points to an alternative perception of fiction as a means of real-world communication.