SOURCE: “Hiding in Plain Sight: Nabokov and Pedophilia,” in Texas Studies in Literature and Language, Vol. 32, No. 3, Fall, 1990, pp. 468-84.

In the following essay, Centerwall argues that Nabokov sublimated his own unacted-upon pedophilia in the composition of Lolita.

It is thirty years since Lolita hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list, an opportune moment to consider that most heretical of questions, was Vladimir Nabokov a closet pedophile? Heretical, because it is an article of faith among Nabokovians, carefully nurtured by the Master himself, that he was most assuredly not a pedophile, closet or otherwise. Popular dogma notwithstanding, there are adequate grounds for concluding that he was, as this essay will demonstrate. More than a mere intrusion into an author's private sexuality, at stake is the very meaning of Lolita. For however vehemently my thesis may be disputed, there can be no disputing the question's pivotal importance...