Lolita (term)

Look up lolita (term) in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Lolita was the nickname of one of the principal characters in Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita. Lolita's actual name was Dolores, with whom the narrator, Humbert Humbert, develops a sexual obsession.[1] In the book itself, "Lolita" is specifically Humbert's nickname for Dolores. Nevertheless, "Lolita" and "loli" has come to be used as a general reference to girls considered sexually precocious.[2] (The strongest indicator of sexual abuse is sexual acting out and inappropriate sexual knowledge and interest.)[3][4]

In the marketing of pornography, lolita is used to refer to a young girl, frequently one who has only recently reached the age of consent, appears to be younger than the age of consent, or child exploitation material depicting the sexual abuse of children.[5]

Etymology & Related Terms

Nymphet

A nymphet is a sexually precocious, pubescent girl. [6]

The first recorded use of the term "nymphet", defined by The Century Dictionary as "a little nymph",[7] was by Drayton in Poly-Olbion I. xi. Argt. 171 (1612): "Of the nymphets sporting there In Wyrrall, and in Delamere."

In Lolita, "nymphet" was used to describe the 9- to 14-year-old girls to whom the protagonist is attracted,[8] the archetypal nymphet being the character of Dolores Haze. Nabokov, in the voice of his narrator Humbert, first describes these nymphets in the following passage:

Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as 'nymphets.'[8]

Eric Lemay of Northwestern University writes:

The human child, the one noticed by non-nymphomaniacs, answers to other names, "Lo," "Lola," "Dolly," and, least alluring of all, "Dolores." "But in my arms," asserts Humbert, "she was always Lolita." And in his arms or out, "Lolita" was always the creation of Humbert's craven self.... The Siren-like Humbert sings a song of himself, to himself, and titles that self and that song "Lolita." …To transform Dolores into Lolita, to seal this sad adolescent within his musky self, Humbert must deny her her humanity.[9]

Faunlet

The term faunlet, also coined by Nabokov and used by Humbert Humbert, is used to describe the young male counterpart of a nymphet, in the same way that the mythological fauns were the counterpart of the nymphs. The term appears in the novel twice:

When I was a child and she was a child, my little Annabel was no nymphet to me; I was her equal, a faunlet in my own right, on that same enchanted island of time.[8]
...I met the unblinking dark eyes of two strange and beautiful children, faunlet and nymphet, whom their identical flat dark hair and bloodless cheeks proclaimed siblings if not twins.[8]

The term faunlet is also used in Pale Fire

See also

References

  1. ↑ Nabokov, Vladimir. Lolita. New York: Vintage International, 1955. ISBN 0-679-72316-1.
  2. ↑ lolita in Merriam-Webster Dictionary
  3. ↑ Understanding child sexual abuse: education, prevention, and recovery. American Psychological Association Retrieved 30 October 2012
  4. ↑ Faller, Kathleen Coulborn (1993). Child Sexual Abuse: Intervention and Treatment Issues. Diane Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 0-7881-1669-X.
  5. ↑ Protecting our children from abuse and neglect. American Psychological Association Retrieved 20 March 2016
  6. ↑ nymphet in Merriam-Webster Dictionary
  7. ↑ Search The Century Dictionary at http://www.global-language.com/CENTURY/
  8. 1 2 3 4 Nabokov, Vladimir (1991). Alfred Appel, ed. The Annotated Lolita. Random House. ISBN 0679727299.
  9. ↑ Lemay, Eric. "Dolorous Laughter". p. 2. Retrieved 2 October 2012.

External links

Look up nymphet in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Look up Lolita or lolita in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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