A Study of Nabokov’s Misreading of Tolstoy

布鲁姆的“诗学误读”理论认为，作者在创作过程中会因受到传统影响而产生焦虑情绪，他们需要有强大的主观创造能力，才能使自己的作品脱颖而出。纳博科夫作为一名享誉世界的作家，在前辈作者影响的焦虑下，也会对俄罗斯文学进行“误读”。文章选取《王、后、杰克》《黑暗中的笑声》和《安娜·卡列尼娜》作为文本分析材料，以布鲁姆的“诗学误读”理论为指导，从对人物形象的误读、对爱情与道德主题的误读两个方面展开分析，探讨纳博科夫对托尔斯泰的误读和修正。研究表明，纳博科夫不仅延续了托尔斯泰作品中的永恒主题，继承了俄罗斯文学富有哲思的传统，还表达出了自己的世界观和伦理标准，实现了创新。通过纳博科夫的误读，托尔斯泰的作品也得以被重新解读。Bloom’s theory of “poetic misreading” posits that authors experience anxiety during the creative process due to the influence of tradition. They require a powerful subjective creative capacity to make their works stand out. As a world-renowned writer, Nabokov, under the anxiety of influence from his predecessors, also “misreads” Russian literature. This paper analyzes “King, Queen, Knave”, “Laughter in the Dark”, and “Anna Karenina” through Bloom’s theory, examining Nabokov’s misreading and revision of Tolstoy in two dimensions: reinterpretation of character portrayals and subversion of love-morality themes. The study reveals that Nabokov not only perpetuates Tolstoy’s timeless themes, inherits Russian literature’s philosophically-infused tradition, but also articulates his unique worldview and ethical standards, achieving innovative expression. Through this misreading, Tolstoy’s works gain renewed interpretive dimensions.