Lolita: When a Literary Character Becomes a Myth

When we talk about Lolita, the conversation almost always revolves around Dolores Haze and Humbert Humbert. But how did Dolores become “Lolita”, a cultural myth that has come to live far beyond the pages of the novel? When we talk about Vladimir Nabokov’s *Lolita* (1955), the conversation almost always revolves around Dolores Haze and Humbert Humbert. But how did Dolores become “Lolita”, a cultural myth that has come to live far beyond the pages of the novel? And what stories remain at its margins? In a short essayistic presentation, poet, art writer and curator Mimmie Bon seeks out the voices overshadowed by one of the 20th century’s most debated novels. Through language, the gaze and the power of storytelling, she explores Nabokov’s intricate literary construction and asks what happens when a story becomes stronger than the person it claims to portray. Dolores Haze is a literary character. Lolita is a cultural myth. Between them lies Humbert Humbert’s gaze. Who gets to own a story? How does a myth arise, and what does it conceal? Mimmie Bon is a poet, art writer and curator, born in Chile and raised in Sweden, with a background in art history and communication psychology. Photo: Zidi Holster