Abstract:In response to recent debates about surface reading, critical description, and symptomatic interpretation, this article argues that the philosopher and literary theorist Richard Rorty offers new methodological possibilities for critics concerned with theories and practices of close reading. I suggest that, though Rorty's own analyses fail to respond to the aesthetic distinctiveness of the works he discusses, his accounts of "inspired reading" and "liberal irony" together pave the way for a more compelling critical practice. The article substantiates this claim through a reading of Vladimir Nabokov's Pale Fire—a novel that powerfully raises fundamental questions about reading and interpretation.

中文翻译：

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细读、认识论和影响：罗蒂之后的纳博科夫

摘要：针对最近关于表面阅读、批判性描述和症状解释的争论，本文认为哲学家和文学理论家理查德·罗蒂为关注细读理论和实践的批评家提供了新的方法论可能性。我认为，尽管罗蒂自己的分析未能回应他所讨论作品的审美独特性，但他对“启发性阅读”和“自由反讽”的描述为更引人注目的批判实践铺平了道路。这篇文章通过阅读弗拉基米尔·纳博科夫 (Vladimir Nabokov) 的《苍白之火》(Pale Fire) 证实了这一说法——这部小说有力地提出了有关阅读和解释的基本问题。