Vladimir Nabokov - purysta językowy / Vladimir Nabokov - a linguistic purist

Vladimir Nabokov, a Russian-American writer who wrote in two languages, Russian and English, is one of the most outstanding writers of the twentieth century. Nabokov's bilingualism is the source of his success, and this article tries to answer the question: is it the source of the Lolita author's linguistic purism? Brought up in an Anglophile family, fluent in two languages, Nabokov had to strive for linguistic perfection, which was both an expression of his talent, as well as hard work with the language and his experience as a translator. The perfection of his literary language, his mastery of style expressed in allusions, cryptic quotations, repetitions, made Nabokov a virtuoso, a master of words and a literary authority, allowing him to adopt a critical and radical attitude towards literary texts, especially those translated into foreign languages. Thus, Nabokov's linguistic purism is due to his artistic manner and creative consistency and also the high demands the writer made on himself. Hence, he categorically judged other authors and translators. According to Nabokov, literary talent obliges one to linguistic purism, and true masterpieces are characterized by artistically perfect language that delights the readers.