Lolita Revisited: Controversy, Language and Image

The article proposes a reevaluation of Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita (1955), considering the controversy surrounding the novel’s theme: the sexual obsession of an adult man with a preadolescent girl. It questions whether the text is addressed to a male, heterosexual public. Furthermore, it shows how readership has shifted with the rise of feminist, gender and sexuality studies as it debates the relevance of the novel in terms of its formal choices. As such, the article considers Nabokov’s exilic condition and adoption of English as a language for literary production, examining how these issues contribute to the development of Lolita, particularly with regard to the figure of its unreliable narrator. Additionally, two filmic adaptations are analyzed: Stanley Kubrick’s (1962) and Adrian Lyne’s (1997), taking into account representations of misogyny and narrative voice.