"That in aleppo once...": uma leitura metaficcional do conto Vladimir Nabokov

Abstract

The present paper proposes a metafictional study of the short story "That in Aleppo Once ..." by Vladimir Nabokov, aiming to identify how metafiction is presented in the work, which resources the author uses for the construction of its metafictionality and the implications of reading and the act of literary criticism. Nabokov, a Russian-American author who gained fame for his novel Lolita (1955) and for his work with prose and metafictional aesthetics, wrote at a time of intense change in the way fiction was done and seen. Nabokov is one of some writers who make use of a type of writing called metafiction, where fiction is included within fiction, either as a theme or through explicit comments on the writing process. Using metafiction theorists such as Linda Hutcheon, Gustavo Bernardo, Patricia Waugh and others, it was observed through the analysis of the story that metafiction is very present in this work and that it manifests itself in several aspects. These include innumerable ambiguities created by the use of the epistolary style, the identity and characterization, word games, insertion of critical and self-reflexive discourse and intertextualities. These elements together cause an enormous multiplicity of possible interpretations for the story, and require from reader to assume a more active role in the construction of meanings. Through critical comments about the writing and construction of the narrative, it is concluded that the metafictional writing denounces the extremely self-conscious role of the writer's fictional creation process and instigates the reader to assume the role of a “writer” and a critic.